MAISIE AND THE SPECIAL HELPER
Gnomes and horror, what a great combination!
My film-making friend Cosmo had written a darkly comic rhyming tale for inclusion in his short film 'Gnomegeddon'.
I produced a series of 10 full-page illustrations and a cover, which was presented within a mock TV bedtime story scene.
Although the tale is written to sound like a young children's picture book (ages 4-8), the illustrations are rather gory and dark as the film is a comedy horror for adult audiences.
This presented an interesting challenge for me - how to make the images scary, whilst still looking like pictures you'd find in an old children's book?
As I was illustrating the whole book, it required lots of planning and revising.
I had to design all the characters - Grimble the Gnome, Maisie, and all the various animals that appear throughout.
Designing the environments, both inside the house and out, ensuring they match the feel of the text and keep the period of the story ambiguous.
Storyboarding and thumbnailing compositions to play with the pace and drama.
I wanted the artwork to have a dark, mysterious, gothic feel. I'm inspired by the Golden Age of illustration and classic fairy tale literature which fed into the outcomes.
View the full picture book above.
Charcoal on Cartridge.