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If you were wondering how to draw a roomful of elves…it’s your lucky day.
In September 2006, my first picture book, Elfis
This is the opening scene from the book, set in Santa’s workshop on Christmas Eve. Here, I was supposed to show a roomful of happy elves rushing to finish their toys in time for the Big Night.
First Sketch
I started off this project by making a bunch of messy thumbnails. I always think it’s funny to go back and look at these because I am working so quickly at this stage that you can barely make out the picture behind all my scribbles.
If you can’t tell, those are little elves lined up at a workshop table, sorting through kids’ letters and putting them into piles. That freaky-looking thing on the right is the “Toyometer” that’s supposed to gauge how well the elves are working.
In my head, I’m trying to figure out the general idea and flow of the piece, and how it works with the rest of the book. Notice that I wrote small notes to myself underneath the sketch to remind myself what should be included in the illustration - “letters piling”, “Spiffy, Fluffy, Zippy, and Miltie” (names of elves in the book), “Toyometer”, and “Elves working hard” - in case you were wondering.
After a little refining and tweaking, I turned it into this:
Notice that I changed the perspective slightly so the composition was less flat, and I gave the elves more individuality and character. Overall, I liked how this illustration was turning out, and I could tell it was going to be fun to paint.
But I wasn’t quite there yet. The designer who worked on this project suggested that the room didn’t look quite as “hectic” as the text indicated. So I went back to the drawing board…
Sketch Revision
The first thing I decided to do was change the direction of the tables so you could see them better, and fit more elves. I knew this was going to be a pretty complicated illustration, so I kept things simple at first. I drew basic outlines of my tables, and indicated the general placement of the elves.
Next, I concentrated on creating the characters. To make it easier, I worked on it in pieces.
This is the middle table:
For the table on the right, I drew each elf individually. My favorite is the welder.
The finished sketch, stitched together in Photoshop:
Whew! That’s a lot of elves!
Color and Final Painting
For me, getting the drawing done is the hardest part of the process. With all the composition, design, and character problems figured out, I’m ready to put down some color. I plan it all out first with a color comp.
After that, I’m set to paint. This illustration was painted digitally in Photoshop. Here’s a step-by-step look:
The finished illustration:
Just for Fun
I drew a lot of my family and friends into the book as elves. For example…
…my dad, who loves to build model airplanes.
…my mom, who makes flower arrangements and wreaths and sells them at craft fairs. Beside her is her best friend, Jen.
…my grandmother, who loves to knit.
Entries (RSS)
September 26th, 2007 at 8:57 am
Dani, I am in ah at your ability to actually finish a drawing before you start painting. 2/3 of the way though my drawings I get too excited and jump into painting. Thanks for sharing your process with us. It great to see how other minds think.
September 26th, 2007 at 10:08 am
Oh, Danny thank you so much for this tutorial. I would love to brush up on my photoshop painting, but I think I’m going to have to accept the fact that I’m just a pencil artist.
September 26th, 2007 at 11:49 am
It is awesome to see your process! Thanks for sharing, and greeeat picture
September 26th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
Thanks for another awesome post Dani! When you paint in Photoshop, do you use a drawing tablet or the mouse? And what tools in PS do you use most?
September 26th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
WOW! You did so much work but made it look like so much FUN!! I like everything about about this~especially that you included your family. Thank You so much for sharing this with us!! Kendra
September 26th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
I have to get this book. It looks fabulous. Thanks for sharing some of the behind the scenes that went into it. Always a treat!
September 26th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
Hudey, I use a tablet. You can learn a lot about my process on this website (check under the categories Photoshop or Tutorials). And I have an article about the tablet I use here.
September 27th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
dani, great post. haven’t yet illustrated my first children’s book, but i hope to do it soon. lots of things to learn in the meantime and ur blog is one great resource. love the fact you included ur family in the illustration - great personal touch! i have a big curiosity - how much time did it take you to do it at every stage of the process? all the best from romania! cristina
September 28th, 2007 at 8:07 am
crillustration,
Hmmm…I don’t really remember because it was so long ago and I was probably working on it on and off at different times back then. If I were to guess, that first sketch probably took me a couple hours; the sketch revision probably a bit longer because there were so many elves and lots of stuff to organize and figure out - maybe around 5-8 hours; the painting itself probably took around 20 hours.
September 29th, 2007 at 4:07 am
thanks dani
October 15th, 2007 at 10:22 pm
man oh man oh man!!! You are amazing. There is no denying you ‘ve got awesome skills. If only I can just do half of this. Great post, loved seeing how you revised… thanks for sharing.