Friday, February 27, 2009

Picture Book Proofs


Editorial Anonymous recently defined some technical book industry terms. She states, "proofs are an example of the book, printed on the big professional printing presses (but not bound), and this is our chance to make sure the alignment of the printing, the page trimming, and the color is correct."

Illustrators don't always get to see proofs. For digital illustrators like myself, we don't have traditional paintings that the publisher can compare to the proofs to make sure the colors match, so we love it if we get to see the proofs for color purposes. The picture book that I illustrated, Cora Cooks Pancit, is coming out in April, and the publisher was so gracious as to let me see the proofs this week. I love the way the colors printed - exactly how I hoped! Here are the individual pages and the jacket.

25 comments:

Ginger*:) said...

Renee is a fantastic person. The proofs, from what I can see show not only great color but your marvelous gift as well! Congratulations on a super job!

Aja said...

Wow, that is SO beautiful!

Kelly H-Y said...

What an absolute thrill for you to see!!! They look beautiful!

Vanessa Brantley Newton said...

Oh my goodness it looks simply beautiful! You must be so very proud! Wow how awesome is this! I can't wait to get my copy. I will be in the bookstore looking for it! It's beautiful! I almost want to cry! My second book will be out in June so I know the feeling! This is awesome and you should be so very, very, proud of yourself for all the hard work you put into this fabulous project! Thanks so much for taking time out of your very busy day to stop by and leave a comment! It's greatly appreciated! Thanks again
V.

Anonymous said...

Absolutely gorgeous. The colors are warm and vibrant at the same time, if that makes any sense. I lvoe your illustrations. I love coming by here just to take a look at what you've done lately. :)

I'm getting a feel for digital illustration. I really hope I can progress to getting close to your level of talent!

Anonymous said...

i agree with Ginger really great lookin drawings looks to be a wonderful book just from the illos alone. michael dailey

Mia Charro said...

O_o
wow, so beautiful, it´s going to be a great book

Angela Matteson said...

How exciting!! The pages look gorgeous! I love your color palettes throughout. I can't wait to see it in the bookstores. :)

Juan said...

Fantastic!

Jannie aka Chickengirl said...

Its so exciting to see the proofs! Lookin' great!!!

Mary Uhles said...

hey kristi, these look great... you must be psyched! can'r wait to see the finsihed thing.

Anonymous said...

An amazing job! I love this little girl's face!

Vicki said...

Oooh, they look great! I'm glad the color came out to your liking- always a worry of mine. Congrats!

Anthony VanArsdale said...

This is wonderful, Kristi! The colors turned out beautifully!

Eric Barclay said...

It looks wonderful! Congratulations!

Phyllis Harris said...

This book looks really beautiful! I love the turquoise and browns! So rich!

Thanks for the comment on my blog. I really enjoyed seeing your blog! I'm going to book mark it.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations. Your illustrations look glorious! I'm looking forward to the release of your book.

MamaDrama77 said...

Your work is simply delightful. I am so excited to discover (and link!)your blog--I'm currently working up a portfolio to illustrate, and your style is so reflective of what I'd like to develop in my own work. You may have addressed this in an older blog entry, but what is your rendering process? I keep reading about "digital illustration" in your comment fields. Forgive my ignorance. What is that?

m said...

Love your work. :) Great style. Kudos on the book - yes pancit is yummy.

Kristi Valiant said...

Thanks for all the encouragement everyone!
MamaDrama77- I illustrate digitally, which means I do everything from sketching to final painting on my computer. I use a Wacom tablet, with is a tablet hooked up to my computer with an electronic pen that measures how hard or soft I press, the angle I hold the pen, everything. In professional art programs I can control the setting of the pen to make it act and look like a pencil or oil pastels or watercolor or any art medium. You can search on Youtube for demonstration of digital art. I love it because there's a lot more freedom in editing my artwork than when I use traditional paint.

MamaDrama77 said...

Thanks so much for the info--Obviously, the right software is a worthwhile investment! What sort of editing software do you recommend?

Kristi Valiant said...

I use Adobe Photoshop CS3 for most of my digital painting; Illustrator CS3 for vector illustrations and single page layouts; InDesign CS3 for multi-page layouts; and Dreamweaver for website design.

Renee Ting said...

Kristi, I had no idea you illustrated this digitally! They looked like pencil sketches and paintings to me-- not that I'm an expert or anything. Anyway, double wow!

Dorina and I had dinner with some Filipino ladies the other night and they all exclaimed about how wonderful the illustrations were and how they conveyed so well the unexplainable sense of Cora's charm and enthusiasm. Yay!

Kristi Valiant said...

Renee, I try to make my digital illustrations look like they were done traditionally,so yay, I'm glad to hear that you couldn't tell that I illustrate digitally! And thank you so much for passing along the comments from the Filipino ladies that you had dinner with. How encouraging!

Paige Keiser said...

This looks absolutely beautiful--BRAVO!