OUIL601 - Watercolours

These are the initial watercolour pages of my book, which I scanned in and worked on digitally to finish them off. I need to have a lot more practice using watercolours, because a lot of the time I messed up, or the colours went murky, or I just couldn't get the idea that I had in my head out and translated onto the page. The finished digitised images look quite different to these ones, because I spent a good few days working on them, hence why it took me so long to finish the book.

OUIL601 - Contextual references

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dont-Like-Koala-Sean-Ferrell/dp/1481400681

emily hughes illustrator

Where Does Kitty Go in the Rain? by Harriet Ziefert, illustrated by Brigette Barrager

Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner, illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal

Please, Mr. Panda by Steve Antony

Laurent Moreau

Miche Wynants

Jon Kalssen - CONTACT JON

lizzy stewart illustration

Isabelle Arsenault

Emily Sutton illustration

Chris Hagen illustration

OUIL601 - Things to do in your garden

http://www.gardenwildlifehealth.org/best-practice-advice/
http://www.rspb.org.uk/makeahomeforwildlife/advice/gardening/wildlife-friendly_garden.aspx

Key habitats in a wildlife garden
- Long grass provides a safe area for egg laying and provides shelter from predators
- Plant different species of plants and shrubs to provide year round food sources.
- A water feature with different depths is good for wildlife, shallow areas for birds to drink, deeper areas provide shelter for aquatic instects
- Growing climbing plants against walls provide safe places for birds to shelter and nest
- A thick and well developed hedge provides a safe sheltering place for wildlife.
- A bat box can be used for bats to nest in
- A pile of leaves will often be used by hedgehogs
- Short lengths of straw bunched together and hug are perfect nesting spots for ladybirds.
- lengths of dead wood is good for different species of beetle
- Early and late flowering plants provide nectar for insects at critical times in the year
- Ivy is a late source of nectar for insects
- Annual plants that provide seeds in late summer are a good source of seed throughout autumn.
- Save rainwater for watering your garden plants
- Avoiding using peat, peat extraction destroys vital wildlife habitats

OUIL601 - Tutorial 26/11/15

Cop tutorial on my birthday, yay! couldn't think of anything better to do on my birthday.
I was really pleased with the feedback I got from my essay, I was happy that there were no glaring mistakes in my essay and overall it was quite good.
I came out of the tutorial with a proper clear sense of what I needed to do afterwards:

- All 3 chapters need a clear introduction and conclusion
- Slim down the first chapter, it's a bit waffley
- Write out the key points of the chapters and make sure these are evidenced in my practical work.

The only thing I'm worried about is that I'll end up repeating myself in all the different introductions and conclusions, especially in the massive big first introduction and the final end conclusion.

OUIL601 - I've started the final images.

Finally I've finished doing the initial sketches and writing the words and figuring out how everything fits together. I'm sure this won't be the last bit of tweeking that I do, but now I can finally start making the final images.
I cut the length of the book down quite a lot because it was going to end up being over 40 pages which is ridiculous.
I over estimated how long it would take to write each section about each animal, so I've cut it down to looking at just 4 different animals, which is still enough to get a decent story out of I think.

I've been using a combination of watercolour, goache, coloured pencils and acrylic. I like the really textured effect it gives, but it takes a really really long time. 

I intend on scanning all the images in after I've finished them to add the text in Photoshop.