THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK OF THUMBNAILS: AN ARTIST’S TOOL FOR LAYING OUT COMIC BOOK AND STORY ILLUSTRATIONS
11/11/20
Many great professional artists of my time use this method of laying out their story in thumbnail form. Doing this speeds up productivity so they don’t get lost in the details and lose momentum. Sketching small has many great advantages, because the focus is on the idea and getting it down quickly on paper, so you don’t get caught up in each and every little line. With sketching your ideas small, when it comes time to create your final image, you get the advantage of blowing up your thumbnail and adding things you didn’t see before as you tighten up your pencil work. That itself is creatively a big win.
Monsters and Milkshakes: Coloring and Activity Book Holiday Edition
11/27/20
Why couldn’t all my favorite movie monsters be holiday themed in one fun coloring and activity book? I guess dreams do come true. I grew up watching and loving movie monsters as a kid in the 80’s, Friday and Saturday nights were important to my brothers and me, staying up late and possibly watching a good scary movie are some of my fondest memories growing up. Milkshakes didn’t come into my life until much later for me, but when I had my very first strawberry milkshake, I was in love right away. So using my illustration skills i created a concept no one else has done, I decided to make original art out of my two favorite things, Monsters and Milkshakes. To add to that fun I decided to make it a coloring and activity book, beautifully illustrated pages of silly holiday monsters enjoying a sweet treat for all ages to enjoy.
I have written and illustrated my very first #selfpublished #childrensbook on #amazon , titled, Our New Different World: A story and picture book for children to understand our roles during a pandemic. I know the title is a mouthful, but there’s a reason for it.
How this book came about was when i asked my 8 year old daughter, how she felt about our current pandemic. It was at that point she started to cry, telling me how worried she was about the fate of her grandparents and the future, ill admit, my eyes teared up and i gave her the biggest hug i could possibly give her, because i was also thinking the same thing. That same day i started brainstorming ideas, ideas on how to give some kind of comfort to her, or to any kid going through this. I wanted something that can bring some light to our current situation. So being currently unemployed due to the #pandemic and the creative guy i am, i started writing and sketching ideas, looking for ways to write a children’s book that has a fun reading style with a bright art style. So this is how Our New Different World was created.
I can’t imagine being a kid in today’s world, your whole world has been turned upside down. You can’t see friends our family, never got a chance to say goodbye to school mates or teachers, not even being able to do something as simple as going to the playground, it just has to be so confusing and scary, especially with the fear of losing loved ones or already have lost one…
So when you buy the book or ebook, I will be donating a portion of the proceeds to #thewoundedwarriorproject . Our vets have been heavily impacted by this pandemic, with loss of work, isolation, depression, PTSD etc.. This is our way of giving back to the men and women who gave everything for us and our freedoms.
And when you do purchase the book, please rate and give it a review, it will help with reaching more readers.
This book might not change the world, but i know it will bring a smile to your kids face, and thats something no one or virus can take away.
Here is the link to the book and the ebook.
https://www.amazon.com/…/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_i_q2-UEbMKVT…
https://www.amazon.com/…/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_i_jW-UEbRK21…
So please like, follow, share and tag as many people as possible.
Thank you for taking the time, much love and respect, M. Zapata