"Adventure Time: Creating a 48 page children's epic!"
When children’s book author Logan Walker approached Break Loose Arts about illustrating his book, all he had was a script and a rough vision in his head.
Travis Neditch of Break Loose Arts got straight to work on storyboarding to bring Logan’s vision to life.
Travis Neditch of Break Loose Arts got straight to work on storyboarding to bring Logan’s vision to life.
The Hero's Journey
Chapter 1: The Call to Adventure
The story follows five brave friends on a quest to retrieve their kingdom's beloved Grilled Cheese Sandwich Tree. The tree was washed away in a great flood, and it is up to our heroes to work together—using their unique attributes—to save the day.
Chapter 2: Plotting A Course
We started by creating a thumbnail storyboard as a way to envision the interior pages as a whole. The thumbnails are quick and crude.
They are meant to simply convey the placement of characters and other visual elements to see how shapes and sizes work in the landscape.
They are meant to simply convey the placement of characters and other visual elements to see how shapes and sizes work in the landscape.
These drawings were discussed and decoded between the author and illustrator during this phase to establish a common vision and to catch any major design or layout issues early on.
Chapter 3: Meeting The Characters.
Once the initial layout was locked in, the focus shifted to character design. Travis Neditch began crafting the visual DNA of the story's main heroes. Below are the early concept iterations for two of our central adventurers: the Blue Squirrel and the Squawking Hawk.
Early explorations were discussed and and design choices were made
Blue Squirrels final form landed on a half upright form so that Travis could pose him running on all fours or standing through out the adventure. He gave him simple styling to match his humble attitude.
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Squawking Hawks final form became stylized with a leather vest and red pack to match his daredevil personality. Early iterations had him with a furrowed brow which we decided made him look too menacing.
The pilot goggles provided the perfect alternative while maintaining his edge. |
Full Character lineup to establish sizing relationships.
Chapter 4: Leaving The Comfort Zone.
Travis then set out on the real adventure, hand drawing 22 full spread art pieces teaming with articulated animals, complex landscapes and perspectives. All the while thinking ahead with one eye forward, considering the implications of shadow and color,
Chapter 5: The Breakthrough
Once the pencil drawings were approved, Travis moved into the definitive linework and color phase.
The challenge here was creating a look entirely from scratch; by intentionally using minimal references, he ensured the artwork stayed completely original.
Every color choice and light source had to be built from the ground up to establish a unique signature style for the book.
Chapter 6: The Conclusion
"The real payoff of this project was seeing how it was received by the kids. Together, Logan and I were able to create an entire universe inside the pages of this deceptively small book. Great illustrations paired with a wonderful story is pure magic." — Travis Neditch
Index: Bonus
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Following the success of The Grilled Cheese Sandwich Tree, Logan and and Travis teamed up again to create a companion children's coloring book titled The Grilled Cheese Sandwich Tree: Color By Number
More Illustration Work
