Pan Macmillan Storybook - Primary Research on Ilkley Moor

For part of our research we wanted to get reference images of the Moor and placing ourselves within the scenes to see how the compositions would work. These were eventually used as the base for the character profiles. It was important to make the gestures and facial expressions big and over the top, thus allowing animated and exciting characters to be derived from them.

We also spent a lot of time documenting the textures we found on the moor, this was important as we wanted the book to capture the essence of the moor. Part of the brief and something the winners did well, was to give their illustrations layers. By using textures, materials ans scenes from a real moor will give the book depth and a rooted in a foundation of research.

We did prints of stones by painting them with ink and pressing them to paper. We also experimented with ink on the bracken and the grass to see what kind of imprint they would make. Even though sometimes the effect was not quite bold or impactful, it was interesting to see the smaller details. The imprints of the stone almost reflect the watery, moist scenery of the moor.

 

 I also did several rubbings of trees, attempting to recreate the unique patterns of bark for potential backgrounds. Although these were faint, I thought the texture was incredibly interesting - in some ways it's ambiguity and naturalness make it far more useful as a texture.

Additionally, I began collecting pieces on the Moor that I thought could later be used as reference or as textures. This included: sticks, bark, stones, flowers, leaves etc.

The Moor was incredibly useful as a reference, most of the story is based on things we found on the moor. Things like stone piles and streams and dangerous rock faces have been included into the plot. Visually as well, I have found it much easier to map out the pages and organise layout with Megan, having seen all of the aspects first hand.