Sometimes color tells the story before words do. I love creating color palettes for each of my stories, but this hasn’t always been the case.
But first…
Before I get started on this favorite part of prepping a project, I’d like to share a personal note for an upcoming post. In less than a week, I will be selling bundles of my newest children’s series, the Cat Chronicles, and I have been creating promos and blurbs about my writing process and stories behind the story. Unsurprisingly, one of the very first videos is my favorite, though as I develop more for the final weeks, I’m sure I’ll find more favorites. It was difficult for me to finish this book, and not because of lack of enthusiasm. The publication happened to fall in a week where I was prepping for a new market and working longer hours. I was just stressed. But by spending hours crafting this book in just the way I imagined, I remembered that art is not all about portraying the good times. It is the visual representation that process takes effort, mistakes, and sometimes tears…and yet wonderful things can come out of it!
This one is going to be shared next week, the day before the fourth book, Aware, is available to buy. I’ve included the transcript below the video.
TRANSCRIPT: >>I first learned the importance of figuring out how kids learn through my pre-K teaching position, just three years after graduation. My mentor and my assistant helped guide me as I learned how to rework the way that I did stations, conducted group morning message, redirected behaviors, and even how I evaluated my kiddos throughout the year.
🐈⬛ As a result, I learned that singing is a great way to distract, dancing isn’t just about play, and encouragement is better 90% of the time than giving a stern lecture. These were the years that I learned not to have a bubble of space around me, to switch easily from teacher mode to fun mode, and to not take my work so seriously.
🐈⬛ From a very young age I’ve wanted to be an author (or a flight attendant or a vet), but I always thought that I would be writing books for my peers or adults.
🐈⬛ Last November I was making some changes to how I run my business, and I decided that I needed an outlet for stress. I decided to write my first children’s book titled, Alone, about a cat who learned a lesson. All kids books have to teach a lesson, right? (The answer here is NO). It was completely different from what I had written before, but I used more of my sketchy drawing techniques, trying to capture my personality in this book and the fun that I remembered experiencing when I taught pre-K.
🐈⬛ Since then, I have written four more books, including Inspire, a book about art, geared towards middle schoolers. I am going to continue this cat series through nine books, because every cat has nine lives! I can’t wait to live this dream with you! ✨ Never give up!
Expanding by minimizing
I hope to explain more in my upcoming newsletters about how I began illustrating (subscribers!). But today, I get to explain one of my favorite steps of painting. When I first started creating paintings, I was so excited that I had a tendency to use whatever colors I wanted. The problem with this is that it broken down the cohesiveness of the piece. During one of my (many) online workshops that I attended, the artist explained that by choosing a color palette, we weren’t losing the expression of the piece, rather we were focusing the viewer’s eye to see exactly what we hoped they would.
When I am painting digitally through watercolor or adding color to the background of a penned piece, my color palette is a little more structured because I am choosing off of an actual square of color. The canvas and blobs of acrylic are not always so neat. I do start with ideas of color, and even include it in my initial sketch, but sometimes I run out of a color and have to rework it, or decide that I want to darken a particular part of my painting. As you might know, I use just primary colors and black and white. When I first started, I did buy a tube of teal, but I have since perfected how to create teal. At first all of my attempts produced a gross green or brown, no matter what combinations I tried.
A color wheel is one thing, but color swatches are so fun to organize, to add, and to enjoy! After all, that’s what creating is all about.
My Work Now
The more I paint canvases and illustrate my own books, I realize that I am daily learning new things. The color palette was just one of the first. The amazing thing about creating as my job is that I give myself the freedom to mess up and try something new, all for the sake of my art! My process might change, but I hope my love for exploring does not.
Before I wrap this up, I’ve included examples of how my color palettes have evolved.
Note: this is usually a space where I share the prompt of the week. Unfortunately, this will have to be pushed to next week. Life is crazy right now and while I’m writing, I have not focused on my short stories.
Find the beauty,
Hannah Marie.