Week 3: Children's Books

I have always been a huge fan of children's books. And a lot, I've bought simply because the art is enticing! I've argued with local language publishers and printers about the lack of good illustrations for children. They will only pick up a book if they find the pictures exciting. Period. No matter how good or bad the story- for kids, its the cover that sells the book!

Alas, I'm no children's book illustrator! But this week we had an assignment to design the cover or an inside spread of the story The Language of the Birds, a Russian folk tale, set in old Russia. Now Russia I've always found intriguing. And years ago, I'd drawn some trees ala Kremlin style which I wanted to bring into this assignment!

Some studies for bids included:

These were fun, as I got to go out of my comfort zone and draw some characters for a change.

Bird by my Eight year old Maha! Love it!

Earlier renditions included:

Battling a cold at the tailend of the week, and some other minor distractions, this is what my final assignment looked like:

My classmates are mega talented. The kind of hours and energy they put into this assignment, had me thinking, I should have just sat on the bleachers and watched this one out- they were awesome!

Will post links to their blogs/sites shortly :)

Ciao people! Have to go on a scavenger hunt now ;)

{you'll find out next week- stay tuned!}