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Smart Dummies Week 1: Character Design
If you have not signed up for Smart Dummies yet go here: http://ngi.c96.myftpupload.com/register-for-smart-dummies-2019/ You can sign up, pick up the booklet and badge and find out everything you need to know about the event!
Smart Dummies Schedule Week 1
Sunday – Smart Dummies Week 1 Schedule
Monday – Many of you are celebrating Labor Day today so enjoy your day!
Tuesday – Simple Character Designing (Faces) – Read to page 9
Thursday – Simple Character Bodies
Friday – Book Blog
Sunday – Smart Dummies Week 2 schedule
If you have already worked on any of the above and wish to move on feel free to work ahead. There is a Smart Dummies Regular schedule and a Smart Dummies adjusted schedule on page 4 of the booklet! You can get the booklet here: http://ngi.c96.myftpupload.com/register-for-smart-dummies-2019/
Supplies
Suggested Supplies:
Pencils
Pencil Sharpener
Printer Paper
Smart Dummies Downloadable Booklet
You can use a mechanical pencil, but I’ve had them break so often on me that I try not to rely on these entirely. If you don’t have easy access to printer paper you can use lined paper or a sketchbook for sketching. Printer paper is ideal because you will need white paper to do your final sketching. It’s also easier to scan later.
If you plan on using the computer for your art I still suggest starting on paper. You’ll be able to connect with your story more if you start with paper. I will be talking more about programs and apps later.
Smart Dummies Full Schedule
Please note that Smart Dummies will be running longer than a month this year. That way you have more time for creating your dummy! This schedule is subject to change.
Week 1 (Sept 1st) – Basic Character Design
Week 2 (Sept 8th) – Advanced Character Design
Week 3 (Sept 15th) – Page Planning/Drawing
Weeks 4 & 5 (Sept 22th) – Dummy Drawing
Weeks 7 & 8 (October 13th) – Finals
Week 9 (last week in October) – Submissions
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Weekend Activities
Many of you may be on vacation this weekend and that’s great. Though Smart Dummies officially starts on September 1st there will be no official activities planned until September 3rd. Sunday I will have a schedule up for the week and we’ll officially start Tuesday from the beginning. If you want to work ahead, that’s fine! If you are gone this weekend, don’t worry. I’m going over everything again starting September 3rd.
This Weekend's Project
You can work on anything you’d like this weekend (or nothing at all). If you already have your character(s) figured out you can either work on Full Character Drawings (pages 10-11) or Thumbnails (pages 18-19). We will be going over all of this later so don’t worry about getting behind.
Full Character Drawings or Thumbnails?
I think it comes down to personal preference for order of creation at this point. I’ve heard both ways from professionals and in illustration classes!
Full Character Drawings/Turnarounds: The lines on this page are to make sure you keep everything in line. Make sure that all the facial features line up. Alternatively you can get some graph paper and use that to plan out your character drawings.
Thumbnails: If you are doing thumbnails only spend a minute or two drawing each one. They don’t even have to look like anything but scribbles. You can always make tighter thumbnails later.
Weekend Reading
Here is a great post from Rachel Armington about Trim Sizes:
https://rachelarmington.com/publishing/trim-sizes-for-picture-books/ If you have time this weekend take a look! It’s good to have your picture book size in mind when you start on your book. It’s also necessary to know your images should be set up before you start on your finals. I’ll be referencing this post several times throughout the event, because layout is so important throughout this whole Dummy making process.
It’s necessary to know your images should be set up before you start on your finals. I’ll be referencing this post several times throughout the event, because layout is important throughout this whole Dummy making process.
I had one project for a client where I didn’t know the sizes of the images. I was lead to believe the images were 8″x 8″ when they were 6″x 9″ which is a huge difference! I was able to fix the problem in time. If you are working on your project you decide the size. In general I’d suggest the images be 8″x10″ (and 10″x 8″ is also a possibility, but not as common) because that’s the industry standard and most likely how your book will be published. This is a standard for picture books and some graphic novels. I’ll get back to you on more page sizes for other books later!
If you haven’t already sign up for Smart Dummies here: http://ngi.c96.myftpupload.com/register-for-smart-dummies-2019/ This page has everything you need! Sign up, grab a booklet, sign up for emails and get the badge! Be sure to contact me if you have any problems!
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Getting Ready For Smart Dummies!
Join a Critique Group
Do you have a critique group? If not one will be provided for you! If you missed it last time I posted the link here it is: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5MCFDBL Survey closes September 5th and is on a first come first served basis. Any critique groups formed after September 5th will be put into random critique groups as needed.
Sign up for Smart Dummies
If you have not signed up for Smart Dummies do so at this link: http://ngi.c96.myftpupload.com/register-for-smart-dummies-2019/
Smart Dummies is a free event to help you finish you illustrated kidlit book dummy finished for submission. Dummies are what illustrators create to submit their picture book idea for publication. If you are not illustrating your book you do not need to create a dummy. If you find that you do want to illustrate your book, then welcome to Smart Dummies! Smart Dummies starts September 1st.
Get the Smart Dummies Badge and Booklet
We have a badge! If you are joining Smart Dummies you can display this badge on your blog, website, or wherever you’d like.
All the info for the booklet is at the register link above. It’s the last link in the list of links. I’m not going to make it hard to find. If you haven’t picked up the booklet you can do so here:
Booklet https:///wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Smart-Dummies-Booklet-Temp.pdf
Booklet Color Cover: http://ngi.c96.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Smart-Dummies-2019-Cover.pdf
The link is a downloadable workbook that you can use to help you create your dummy. It can be printed double sided on printer paper and stapled to create a booklet. Since this is a version for printing, the pages are in printable booklet order so you wont have to sort them before putting them together.
Participant Badge For Smart Dummies
