Planning The Layout, Pacing and Narrative

This week I have been continuing with media experimentation but decided that it was probably a good time to also start working out how I want the final layout of my pages to look like. I started off by rereading through the text and sectioning off areas that I felt were the major scenes and then the slightly less important ones (as these could be smaller illustrations)
I've also been thinking about how certain images may look better; as a double page spread, vertical/horizontal, one full bleed page, within a frame or even a floating image on its own.
To help with this, I have been researching contemporary (and some old) layouts of children's books and getting ideas from them. Here are a few layouts used in children's books that I found interesting and might be applied into my book:

Using a container with imagery inside

Whole double page of illustration with text on one side

Illustration going on in the back ground with text in front

Sections to show different areas of one place or to show time passing?

I've been sketching different ideas for each scene within the story. Choosing which images to draw will be very important as well so that the story flows naturally. To do this, I've chosen the most important scenes to the story as listed below. Some are quite vague as I'm not sure yet how to approach these.

• The demon/enchanted mirror
• The beginning - Kai and Gerda
• Kai seeing the Snow Queen through the window
• Mirror fragment getting into Kai's eye and heart
• Kai flying away with the Snow Queen
• Snow Queen's kiss
• Gerda/river
• Scene with the Old Lady 
• Scene with the Raven
• The Royal Palace
• Gerda captured by the Robber-girl
• Gerda leaving with Bae
• A scene with the Finnish Lady
• Ice Palace illustration
• Gerda and Kai reunite 
• Ending scene

There are some other ideas for scenes that I've had that, although may not be vital to the story, will make an exciting/vivid illustration or they may just make the story a bit more engaging. These I've made into a separate list:

• Other variations of Kai with the Snow Queen (wrapped in her fur/sitting on sledge etc.)
• The toy soldiers
• Interior of the Old Lady's cottage
• The Old Lady's enchanted garden
• The Old Lady's sun hat
• Gerda sitting under a tree looking at the Raven
• The dream-like shadows in the corridor
• The prince and princess
• Carriage leaving with the Raven watching
• Robber-girl giving Bae to Gerda
• Kai trying to spell the words "Eternity"

Composition sketches for the major scene with The Snow Queen and Kai on the sledge

Kai getting a piece of the mirror in his eye and heart - perhaps use symbolism in surroundings to show the urgency of the situation?

Planning book layout

The meeting between Gerda and the Old Lady who knew magic

Character Designs and Breaking Into The Story

This week I have been sketching designs for the different characters in the Snow Queen. To do this, I have been looking at the time and place the story was set in, the kind of clothes they would each wear, their traits and personalities as well as symbolism throughout the story. As shown in the images below, I've created a mood board filled with images that will inspire me in the creation of the character the Snow Queen, ranging from snowy scenic landscapes to patterned white lace. Meanwhile I've also continued with media experiments.

The Snow Queen character research and design, Selina Quach

The Snow Queen character research and design, Selina Quach

I find it easier to create character designs by drawing the character in a certain scene or doing something related to the story, therefore that is how I went about developing ideas.

The Snow Queen is an isolated figure who according to Kai's old grandmother "never remains on earth, but flies up to the dark clouds". This has understandably given her a reputation as a frightening otherworldly creature. However she shows a lot more human emotions than her icy exterior suggests as she kidnaps Kai due to a mixture of selfishness and loneliness and a desire to fill the emptiness that is actually within her.
Appearance-wise she can be described as beautiful, regal, grand and graceful. She wears a dress that "appeared to be made of the finest white gauze". All of this inspired the illustration below. I have also found that gouache (which is the material used here) is quite successful in recreating the gauze-like effect.

The Snow Queen and Kai, Selina Quach

The Robber Girl is another interesting character that is more complex than you would first expect. Along Gerda's journey to find Kai, she is ambushed by the Robber family, including the Old Robber Woman who wants to eat Gerda. However the Robber Girl stops her, biting her mother's ear and proclaiming that Gerda will play with her, give her her muff and sleep in bed with her. Though she seems at first to be a selfish and willful young girl, she shows a kinder side to her nature when Gerda tells her story to her, and she decides to let Gerda go, even giving her Bae, the reindeer and her extra warm gloves.

The Robber Girl is described as having being "about the same size as Gerda but stronger; she had broader shoulders and a darker skin; her eyes were quite black, and she had a mournful look. There wasn't any information about her background but it would probably be quite rare at the time this book was set to have someone with dark skin in Northern Europe, and the fact that she travels around with her family reminded me of gypsies.

The Robber Girl character designs, Selina Quach

The Raven character design and another painting of Gerda, Selina Quach

Kai's change throughout the story as the shard effects his mind and personality,
Selina Quach

Compositional sketches for the first chapter, Selina Quach

Gerda and The Raven, Selina Quach

I began compositional sketches and the above is the first full painting of a scene from the story. It's helpful for me to paint scenes straight off I can then figure out what kind of materials/technique to use for the final book. I tried to bring across the colours of autumn as seasons is a strong theme. As the seasons change in the book I might change the colour palette accordingly.