Zoom in the new search-and-find book by Cristina Losantos!
Last week we published Cristina Losantos’ long-awaited title: I Spy with my Little Eye. The City. A wonderful search and find book with more than 800 characters that encourages kids to explore the city escene by scene. To get to know the author’s creative process, we paid Cristina a visit at her studio in Barcelona.
As both the scenes and the characters are many and complex, Cristina started by creating a list of all the elements she wanted to appear in the book – people, buildings, shops, characters, vehicles… – and the actions to distribute them in each scene.
Think that some of the characters feature in every scene, but there are others who pop up once and then disappear, and there are even some who come and go throughout the book.
“When I have the list ready, and therefore I know what will be on each page, I draw a first sketch, where you can already see a bit of how the composition will be, but the characters are not yet finished. As there are so many things in the book, thanks to this sketch I already know how to arrange the elements so that everything fits.
When I have this first sketch done, always at real size to know if things are too big or too small, I make a second sketch a little more complete and with the characters more defined. I also write down the things I want to add, so I don’t get lost and forget to incorporate them. With this sketch finished, and on the bedside table, I trace it in pencil on thick paper and then I ink it with Indian ink and pen“.
Then she scannes the black and white drawing and the digital process of illustration begins. This is the moment to add the colour. A feast for the eyes!
Would you like to receive a copy, don’t hesitate to ask. We’ll be delighted to send you a finished copy for perusal.
