New images!

Hi everybody!

I've just updated my website! I hope you like it.

I will be posting week by week those images that I didn't include,
not because I don't like them, but because I prefer to keep it
short and simple --And because it is the best way of showing you bits of them
every week! :)

This week is for Mouse, the little one who wanted to go to the Moon
and his friends will help him to achieve such incredible wish.

Well, maybe there is one not so sure about it, but a story is getting there!

Do you imagine the names of these little friends?
If you do, please let me know!
See you next week! 

Love,
Marina

How did Eustace and Clyde started? - Part 3

Hello everyone!


I'm sorry for taking too long to come back to this last post. I've been very busy lately!

Fortunately, I have finished working at the moment and I took a little bit of my time to share this last post about how my book Eustace and Clyde was created. 

Just in case you missed it, here is the first part and the second part of this story.

Today I will let you know a little bit about some special pages, which were the title page and the final page of the book.

I was asked to create a new image for the title page and for the final page of the book.

I wanted to create something inviting to go with the title. So I thought a few options like these:

And the editor and I decided that will be good the one pointed with a red arrow. It was inviting to read as well as ideal to show a nice advance of these two friends.

Here is how it looked in black and white and then the final image:

Then the final was the other page I had to picture.
I had most of the book completed but still the last page was missing.
I first thought in doing a party --because the koalas returned to their home and friends.

And here it's my first option:

But the editor thought it would be nice to end the book with a more calm, silent and hopeful image. So I created a second option. Which was the chosen one fortunately.

And with this image ends the last part of Eustace & Clyde's story, 

the story of how this lovely book was thought, created and made.

I hope you enjoyed it! 

If you like, you can leave a message about which images did you enjoy the most 

or what other things you would like to know about it.

Lots of love,

Marina

How did Eustace and Clyde started? - Part 2

Hello everyone! 

At the last post, I let you know a little bit about how my book Eustace and Clyde first started. 

Just in case you missed it, here is the first part of this story --The story within the story!

Today I will let you know a little bit about some spreads I revised
so that the story had more Australianness --or Australian appeal.

Here is the the dummy I first created and that later would be modified
by collaborating with the book's editor Melissa from Five Mile Press. A pleasure to work with!

Since the publishing house is from Australia, they wanted the book to have more Australian animals and plants. And they asked me if I could change some animals in the book
by adding a few local residents.

That meant fun time and research!

I started looking for Australian plants and animals at the web.
Australia has a gigantic variety of marsupials and lovely birds.
It's exciting learning something new with every book: I love what I do.

After this stage, I printed the images and get back to the other part of the work I love: drawing!
And after a few days these were the results.

The editor was happy with them so I started changing a few pages.

For example at the second spread we can see Clyde in a tree. As they live and eat Eucalyptus
 or Australian Gum Tree, the editor asked me
to modify the leaves I originally drew -- you can look at them at the pdf!

And below, you will find a few more spreads I modified.
 Look at these and the ones from the dummy and see if you can find the differences!
And if you can't, don't worry, I will answer any question or doubt you have about them, just let me know!

I hope you enjoy this story about how this book was born as much as I do.
Next time, I will show you a few pages more that I had to do before finishing the book: end pages, the title page and the final page of the book with acknowledgements.

Love,
Marina

How did Eustace & Clyde started? - Part 1

Last year, my first book as illustrator and writer was released by Five Mile Press.

It was a long way since I started, I think two years went by before it could get its home. 

I wanted to show you the backtage of it, as a friend of mine says, "the kitchen."

Here are some first sketches, searching for the perfect koala pair.

 I remember that in order to make them different I first did Eustace's head squared. 

This was changed to a rounded one later, after a helpful editor's advice. Thank you!!!

Then, the first storyboard and a few corrections. For this stage, I used mostly recicle printed paper drawing them --or pasting with tape, on the non-used side.

A storyboard is the first rough of the book: it is where illustrators are able to organize things, the pace, actions or silences, and the whole story. 

It is the time for drawing, erasing, drawing and erasing, over and over again. 

It is also the moment to get to know your characters better and make them alive!

It is so much fun and some times it can be a little daunting. 

Finally,  the cover of the printed dummy.  A dummy is very important because is what make a publishing house to decide wether they will publish it or not. 

It is also the real object where editors will be able to see how the story works. 

My story was taken to several publishing houses and after a lot of refusals and one almost approval, it finally got its yes in an Australia's publishing house: Five Mile Press. 

And it was there, where I was asked to change the original title 

from "Kokko the koala" to "Eustace & Clyde."

Next week, I will show the rest of the dummy and

how the story continued once it was accepted to be published.

Love, 

Marina

My book in UK and France!

Happy New Year! 

A lovely way to start 2015!!!
The mailman came last week with fantastic news inside: 

My book Eustace and Clyde, first published by Five Mile Press in Australia last year, 

can be found in UK (in soft cover) published by Five Mile Press as well; 

and in France, published by Piccolia Publishing House as Oscar et Eustache!!!

I'm so happy! Je suis heureuse!!!

From France!

From England!

From Australia!

Love,

Marina

Sending love and thanks to special people

I always send my big thank you every end of each year via email, 

to my friends, family and colleagues, 

and specially, to those wonderful people who trust in my work and ideas.

This year I made a twist and prepared a lovely card and special envelopes.

I thought this would be an excellent ritual to repeat every year. 

It is so lovely to receive a real postcard with warm wishes and thanks!

I hope they all arrive safe.

Happy Holidays!!!

Love,

Marina

It's that time of the year again!

It is half December. We are just a few days before the new year begins.

It is a time of joy, get together, celebrate and remember.

Hoping many happy moments will find their way to you, 

leaving lovely memories you’ll treasure all the year through!

Have a lovely Holidays and a great start to 2015!!!

Love,

Marina

Branding illustration and so much fun!

A great project!

I've been a little bit busy lately. Specially because new projects have arrived to my desk.

One in particular was commissioned by an Australian Design Company to create the image for a brand. I cannot tell much about it yet, but I can show you a few images that were not selected by the client.

This project was excellent because I had a lot of liberty and lots of fun while working on it.

 Love,

Marina

New images and updated website!!!

Hello! I have been a little bit busy
and I couldn't post them before!

I'm very proud of finally showing a few new characters 

and invite you to see my updated website!

A bear, a squirrel, a curious orchestra and a little boy and his dog. 

Aren't they just lovely?
I hope this characters find a story soon!

More to come next week.

Love,

Marina

Eustace & Clyde!

This was a fantastic year.
Specially because my first book as writer and illustrator 

was released by Five Mile Press. 

It is called Eustace and Clyde. It's about two lovely koala friends
that are looking for the perfect place to live.

It was promoted at Bologna and London Book Fairs with a lovely backlight!
Many thanks to Five Mile Press!

I'm very very proud of it and so happy of how I worked side by side
with Five Mile Press editor, Melissa. Many thanks for everything!

If you want to buy the book, you can buy it online  or in Australia.
It will be released in UK as well! I will let you know.

Oh! And if you want to see more images of it, please visit my website.

Love,
Marina