I got really excited when Tina gave me the story of Billy, called ‘A Python lives in my Garden’. I began reading it and started to get a really good picture of Billy and how much of a curious character he is. Very clever, loves to read books and is not afraid of anything, even snakes that appear at his window in the middle of the night!
Using the iPad and the Procreate app for digital illustration makes drawing fun and exciting. I started drawing rough outlines of what Billy and the Python should look like and began laying down the outlines of what each page should look like and what they should contain. I wanted Billy to look fresh and cool, so I took inspiration from my past. The coolest hairdo among some of my friends was a quiff. Thanks to The Smiths.
My first version of Billy made him look older than he should have. I changed his look slightly each time, making Billy look better, but I was still not there. I turned on the page grid in Procreate to keep Billy in proportion. By making his body smaller in proportion to his head, I got the young-looking Billy I wanted. Finally, I gave him shorts, trainers and a cool jumper also inspired by another favourite singer of mine. Thank you to Nirvana.
I chose a pastel range of colours for the book and a watercolour-styled brush to make the outlines stand out and give the book that feel of hand-drawn illustrations. Quentin Blake is one of my favourite illustrators of all time, famed for the Roald Dahl books and much more.
I hope you enjoy “A Python lives in my Garden” and help Billy on his adventure.
