Final drawings

Final ideas development

I've found lots of reference photos of the Hanami festival to draw from. They're going to be helpful for drawing crowds and people in celebration.

Refining the drawings

I've used the photos as reference to draw my characters but also made them controlled line drawings that I've tested with colour. Matt's idea of taking more time on the drawings and then manipulating digitally is what I'll do for all the pages. It'll let me try textures and colour arrangements without having to keep re-drawing everything if it goes wrong.   

I drew her from reference and printed of copies of the line drawing and this was great because I could try a few colour tests.

There is already a more delicate and finished quality with these which is encouraging for the tone of the book and I'm happy with the soft pink colour for the Cherry Blossom.

I will try some digital colouring which might give more control.

I've decided not to trace as I want the drawings to be refined but not copies of the reference photos.

It'll be interesting to see if I can mix them with collage, photography and maybe paper cut outs.