In past weeks my layout sketch allotments for Lucy's Dance have included up to 4 double-page layouts. This week demanded a mere 3 single pages (the final illustration and two covers) . . . and an inset of a dance stick to illustrate the educational postscript. The latter doesn't really have a "layout," per se, but I thought I'd sketch it anyways to get a start.
LAYOUT 17--LUCY'S DANCE:
At the end of the Curukaq festival, Lucy dances at last, hovering over a final view of Stebbins, Alaska. I used Google Maps to confirm the shapes of buildings shown in fuzzy photographs. Lest anyone think I'm lazily echoing the view from illustrations 1 and 2, know that I first rendered Stebbins from an entirely different view before I decided to show the same coast and buildings again. It didn't work out. Not only do I prefer this view compositionally, but I like the way using a similar vantage shows the progression of time. I may shift the angle of one of the earlier shots a bit for variety, but it will still show the same basic coastline and two lumpy hill/cliffs. Another reason this view is appropriate: it allows more sky space for Lucy to show her moves.
FRONT COVER:
I've been mulling about the cover since I began this project, and of course I developed several concepts, but all of them really boiled down to this basic layout: Lucy holding Apa in her hands with her eyes hidden. I prefer not to show anything literally related to a dance. In my first sketch draft of the cover, I drew Apa's face looking much more dejected--heavily shaded and pointed downward, with slack posture. A favorite critic then remarked that I should probably try to convey Apa feeling "bored and maybe a little disappointed in something," whereas I was currently conveying "my dog just died." I agreed.
BACK COVER:
I wanted to find a way to represent the modern and archaic aspects of Yup'ik culture living side-by-side, for it's such a powerful theme in the book. I regretted not including larger pictures of the qasgiq (it always floors me to write a letter q with no u following--and twice in one word! Outlandish!). I thought I'd re-introduce the sod communal huts on the back cover, across from a typical modern dwelling. The traditional structures look a bit fantastic, and would surely grab me by the curiosity were I a stranger to the book . . . that perspective is becoming more difficult to synthesize at this point. I'm curious as to whether any of the old qasgiqs, or their visible ruins, are still present in Stebbins. It's tough to tell from aerial photography, as the qasgiqs camouflage so well. Perhaps camouflage was the point.
DANCE STICK INSET:
The handful of Yup'ik Dance Sticks I've seen have included bone carvings of an animal being killed/harpooned, or of a kayak. Merely drawing a kayak would be dissatisfying. I questioned whether the image of the harpooned whale is appropriate for a kids' book, but why censor a major part of subsistence culture?
Some Yup'ik dance sticks are embellished with only fur, and I may include one of these in the inset.
If you don't hear from me before the unspecified December holiday, know that I'm swimming in existential experimentation with my coloration technique . . . or just playing Apples to Apples with friends in Omaha over cider. I hope you are doing something similar.
LAYOUT 17--LUCY'S DANCE:
At the end of the Curukaq festival, Lucy dances at last, hovering over a final view of Stebbins, Alaska. I used Google Maps to confirm the shapes of buildings shown in fuzzy photographs. Lest anyone think I'm lazily echoing the view from illustrations 1 and 2, know that I first rendered Stebbins from an entirely different view before I decided to show the same coast and buildings again. It didn't work out. Not only do I prefer this view compositionally, but I like the way using a similar vantage shows the progression of time. I may shift the angle of one of the earlier shots a bit for variety, but it will still show the same basic coastline and two lumpy hill/cliffs. Another reason this view is appropriate: it allows more sky space for Lucy to show her moves.
FRONT COVER:
I've been mulling about the cover since I began this project, and of course I developed several concepts, but all of them really boiled down to this basic layout: Lucy holding Apa in her hands with her eyes hidden. I prefer not to show anything literally related to a dance. In my first sketch draft of the cover, I drew Apa's face looking much more dejected--heavily shaded and pointed downward, with slack posture. A favorite critic then remarked that I should probably try to convey Apa feeling "bored and maybe a little disappointed in something," whereas I was currently conveying "my dog just died." I agreed.
BACK COVER:
I wanted to find a way to represent the modern and archaic aspects of Yup'ik culture living side-by-side, for it's such a powerful theme in the book. I regretted not including larger pictures of the qasgiq (it always floors me to write a letter q with no u following--and twice in one word! Outlandish!). I thought I'd re-introduce the sod communal huts on the back cover, across from a typical modern dwelling. The traditional structures look a bit fantastic, and would surely grab me by the curiosity were I a stranger to the book . . . that perspective is becoming more difficult to synthesize at this point. I'm curious as to whether any of the old qasgiqs, or their visible ruins, are still present in Stebbins. It's tough to tell from aerial photography, as the qasgiqs camouflage so well. Perhaps camouflage was the point.
DANCE STICK INSET:
The handful of Yup'ik Dance Sticks I've seen have included bone carvings of an animal being killed/harpooned, or of a kayak. Merely drawing a kayak would be dissatisfying. I questioned whether the image of the harpooned whale is appropriate for a kids' book, but why censor a major part of subsistence culture?
Some Yup'ik dance sticks are embellished with only fur, and I may include one of these in the inset.
If you don't hear from me before the unspecified December holiday, know that I'm swimming in existential experimentation with my coloration technique . . . or just playing Apples to Apples with friends in Omaha over cider. I hope you are doing something similar.
I'm glad you decide to render the village in the end as you did at the beginning, showing the progression of time. I like the idea of the story coming full circle on various levels. I wonder if kids will be puzzled by the kids dancing in the air? They can be so literal, as the LD reviewers pointed out in suggesting some textual changes.
ReplyDeleteLikewise for the cover, with Lucy holding her grandfather in the chair. I love the metaphor, though. What if she held the dancing stick, or its components? The story resonates (I hope) with both giving and continuity. I like the side-by-side of the dwellings for the back cover. Should Lucy be there, too, in her surroundings?
I didn't see any qasgiq remains when I was in Stebbins...because they were so organically made, I don't know of any that are still around.
On the dancing stick, a seal would be more appropriate than the whale. Whaling was much more common farther to the north.
Cider in Omaha! Sounds like fun. We got a big snow dump in time for the holidays.
Thanks for the feedback. Maybe I can work in a little gymnasium background around Lucy as she dances in the air. I may try to divide the page a bit more evenly between the scenes.
ReplyDeleteI thought about using the dance stick on the cover, and would try a revision with it. I feel like Apa is an important character, and the metaphor might help to underscore the book's message. Also, Lucy's gift is something of a surprise within the story (it has to be unwrapped), and I'd feel a little bad giving that away on the cover. The dance stick could create intrigue, though. Maybe we can compare two versions side by side and choose later with the help of feedback.
It would be fairly easy to replace the whale with a seal.