I am pleased with the final result, despite being very sleep-deprived and burned out. I think I did an okay job with sticking to my proposal and timelines, it definitely didn’t go as initially planned but I got there in the end. Although it is not what I originally envisioned or even the revised version, I’m glad I chose quality over quantity. The concept didn’t really change at all, the theme and story are still the same from the first iteration just with a modified structure for what I could logistically complete.
I still like the spread layout concept and since I’m going to work on it in my spare time (famous last words) I’m definitely going to play around with the text more. I definitely could’ve done a better job laying it out and while yes the final result is really important, I’d rather prioritize the caliber of my writing and illustrations than the layout since this is only the beginning of this project. Overall I think time and my mental stability were really against me these last couple of weeks so that did not bode well for me and my project. I am genuinely happy with the drawings though, I never do backgrounds so this was a really good opportunity to force myself to draw things I actively avoid like buildings and cars.
Towards the end, I started branching off from the purple color scheme and I may go back and add subtle muted tones to the other drawings. I like how the colors start to build throughout the illustrations, not intentionally, but a happy accident. Despite being happy with the end results, my hand is obliterated and I have pulled too many all-nighters (not just due to this project) so I am a little resentful at the moment and frankly, I am tired of looking at it.
here are two illustrations I didn’t get the chance to complete, partially due to time but mostly due to me overexerting my hand, and it still really hurts to hold a pencil. I would’ve liked to include them but I don’t think these are the most dynamic or emotional pieces so I don’t think that the lack of them is a loss to the overall final. The first image is meant for the second poem but as I was drawing and revising the number of images I realized that the first of the unfinished sketches would work nicely for the cover. The second sketch would either be in the third or fourth poem, most likely third though.
