I wish I could tweak the colors a little more accurately, my scanner makes everything look so off! I described the process of how I created this, as well as the first version, on my
blog if you're interested. (Guess what? Disney is creating a
movie for this story. Go figure, huh?)
10 Comments:
These covers are terrific that your all creating.
Dee, totally love the journey you shared regarding how your cover came to be.
Love the perspective and the way you incorporated the title into the tangle of hair!
ACK! I meant 'you're'.
I'm posting to a teacher...I get nervous. hahaha!
Hye Dee
I LOVE this version. I certainly felt this was a much stronger solution to the others you had played with. You didn't give anything away at all. In fact, if I were a child who had not heard of Rapunzel, I would look at this cover and say ..."Hmmm, what's all this about? Why is there hair falling out of that tower window?" And that's a good thing! You want your reader to be intirgued and prompt them to read the book.
I like the simpler pallete, too. Seems more graphic and impactful. I do believe in "less is more." Color choices are excellent.
So just a couple of things, I'm glad you don't have people in your illo, because I don't think you need them, but I wondered if maybe a hand coming out of the window or even just the top of her head slightly peeping over the ledge would help really identify that this is hair and it is attached to someone.
The use of hair spelling out Rapunzel is great! Why didn't I think of that??? The last two letters seem a little lost to me, though. At first I read it as Rapunz. Maybe the 'e' needs a bit more definition and then the 'l' would be okay as it is. Right now, the 'e' looks a bit more like a loop.
For the byline, did you try writing it in one line on the first round of roof tiles? I wondered if it would work better, and maybe you don't even need 'Written by' and just write "The Brother's Grimm." At the moment Grimm seems small and lost and rather lonely down there :(
The only other thing, and I might be being too picky here, is to eliminate some (but not all) of the detail around the title, so it's the hair/title that really stands out. Could there be a slight shadow on the grass to emphasize the perspective of this huge tower?
I think this is superb Dee and commend you on your path that brought you to this version. You've really come so far — fabulous job!
Wowee Dee! This is so wonderful! I tried doing something like this at first, but I couldn't pull it off. Your work is so, so sweet and yet sarcastic at the same time. I can't stop smiling. Your colors are wonderful together and the repetition of all those circles pulls the whole thing together. The whole illustration definitely sets a very fun mood.
I also would add some hands peeking out- something to suggest Rapunzel herself. I feel like I know her already- just from her activities- obviously quite bored up there in the tower. Perhaps you can take the title out of the context of the circle and just place it over the roof? It is getting lost in the the tiles- or maybe draw attention to it with a bird or a bug or something. You should be proud!
Fabulous work Dee! Such good critiquing (of yourself) as well! (your other image should go in your portfolio btw)
I think the other ladies pointers are great, a hand or head would be a great touch. I agree with Leezy about making the bottom a little bit less cluttered. I also think the roof tiles need a bit more work. Maybe a few shadows? Maybe I'm wrong, you don't want to take away from your awesome title. The only other thing I notice is that the bow and end of her braid seem a little large to be so far away.
Great, great work! You go girl!
What a great approach. The most original and creative way to interpret the assignment. It really shows your outside-of-the-box thinking. I agree with Leeza, I wish I'd thought of it!! Really brilliant idea!!
I think another way of including the byline is the only thing that could make this piece a bit stronger. Maybe have the text in white or in the grass spelled with flowers somehow. Oh, I don't know... the braid is so perfect you don't want to gobble-de-gook that area up. I agree to not include "written by" and put "The Brothers Grimm" together - maybe in the roof where "written by" is now. But you don't want it to pop too much and draw your eye away from the braid it needs to be incorporated somehow.
Really great job. I loved reading about your process too. Thanks for sharing.
Ignor the "...it needs to be incorporated somehow" part. That doesn't make sense. I'm nervous too writting to a teacher! ha ha
Your tip on how the cover should be a summary of the story and not a scene from it ... great wisdom that I have mentally noted!!
Oh Dee, this is such a great take on the story! It's so light hearted and playful. I loved reading your blog and seeing how you came to this point. Sometimes I find it so hard to let go of an idea, even it's the "wrong" idea, and you were able to do that for the greater good of the story, which is really admirable. I am also so impressed at the perspective that you took for this cover. This is a tough angle to draw from, and you made it look effortless. (clap* clap!*) Nice job!
The only things that I might alter, seemed to have been said. I like the idea of a little hand at the window, maybe stretching out the last few letters a bit on the ground, but ultimately...hoorah! Such great, great work.
Yay! Go Dee!!!
Hey Dee, great idea of perspective and content! I like your approach, very clever. It also seems smart how you put lots of emphasis on the title by having the tower in an arrow-like shape, pointing directly at the word. I like your choosing basic colors and mostly flat surfaces – that seems to work well with the composition: flowing, air-like watercolor may have otherwise distracted from the geometrical setup of the illustration. Maybe I'm pointing out the obvious, but it seems smart to me that you had the "arrow" (tower) point to the upper right: it's our reading direction, and I've heard that the human mind has the tendency to look top right first when looking at a page. You definitely have the eye where your title is.
From a little girl's perspective, I think it might be an interesting idea to add rapunzel's head, looking up at us. I don't have kids, but I guess almost all girls love dolls, princesses, cute fairytale faces.
Unfortunately, it took me a little moment to realize that we're on top of the tower, looking down. At first I thought we're looking up, the hair is flying up in the air, and the green shapes are fireworks. Maybe if there were shadows on the ground, or the trees shown a little from the side (although I realize that may interfere with the geometrical setup, clear top view). Maybe with leaf details in the trees (less fireworkish), and maybe without the scattered lawn detail – or with flowers in red or orange there? From far away, it's not instantly clear what's on the ground, and why is it only around the text and not all the way to the border of the page? If the flowers were with more contrast, I think it would be clearer.
Small detail about the tower roof: I don't know why but something seems a little out of perspective? Maybe because the center of it is not in the corner of the book, however close to it. Maybe that's fooling with my mind there? Have you tried making the shape of the illustration square? You might get rid of this little trick to the eye, and at the same time, you could feature a rather uncommon (I think) book shape: square! It might work well with the overall very geometrical composition. As an alternative, another fix may be to make the format longer in shape, and add more tower roof to the left of the image, and add more detail on the left side of the top tree. Or make an entirely different setup of ground growth, with maybe a little pond? That may be an interesting option to add more detail to the ground, giving food to the eye upone closer scrutiny: ducks in the lake? Swans? A cat in the bush? The seeming geometrical accuracy problem might be in fact resolved by making the shape of the page more different from a square than it is now, or making it the same.
I'm not too sure about the font for "written by...". The "Rapunzel" lettering is wonderful, playful, "hairy" (smile), cute, perfect! I like that the font "written by..." is not in swirly writing – block letters are a great contrast (and emphasis needs to be on "Rapunzel", which you have definitely achieved!). However, while drawing the word "Rapunzel" greatly works with the image, it may be worth considering having the font of "written by" set by the book publisher (electronically). If you do choose to make the layout more longish, you may also find a smart space you could leave for the text, so that it wouldn't have to "fight" with roof tiles. ;-)
Oh I forgot to say, I think it's nice that you chose yellow for the hair! Great attention getter! Plus girls like blond princesses, I'd assume :-) The ribbons in the hair are super cute too!
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