How to Make Your Own Children’s Storybook iBook

Adam Webb

Table of Contents

Getting Started……………………………………………………………………………………………………………1 Generating Ideas (detailing out the process)………………………………………………………………………1

Gathering Materials (art supplies)…………………………………………………………………………………………8

Choosing Technologies (computers & software)………………………………………………………………..11

My Technique of Drawing…………………………………………………………………………………………12 Penciling (my learned technique)……………………………………………………………………………………………12

Inking (methods)……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……….13

Scanning, Editing & Using Editing Software to Color………………………………………………….……14

Using Paint & Photoshop………………………………………………………………………………………………………….16

Background……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………23 DeviantArt.com (online art community)…………………………………………………………………………..….23

Early Publicity & Feedback…………………………………………………………………………………………………….24

Using the iPad to Create My iBooks……………………………………………………………………26 Book Creator by Red Jumper Studios (the app for iPad)…………………………………………….…26

Uploading My iBooks to iTunes……………………………………………………………………………….27

Materials & Access Needed to Upload Your iBooks to iTunes………………………………………27

1

Getting Started

Generating Ideas (detailing out the process)

I have always enjoyed writing and drawing out my own stories. I started

drawing sequential stories and art when I was about seven or eight years old.

Sequential storytelling is defined as using pictures or drawings to tell a story in

progressive frames, which displays a sense of frame-still motion. I prefer using

sequential images because I feel more comfortable controlling the movement of

my characters and the development of the story through dialogue.

The purpose of this guide is to explain how I create a children’s storybook

and then convert it into an iBook. I will detail my processes in the following

pages. My goal is to create a guide that is friendly and easy to follow for

individuals that are interested in creating their own children’s storybook.

2

3

4

5

6

Ideas can be difficult to come by, especially when trying to figure my

theme or the characters I want to be showcased in my children’s storybook.

Below is an example from one of my children’s storybooks, “Eddie and the Yeti”

that I recently converted into an iBook.

7

Gathering Materials (art supplies)

Pencils & Sketchbook

I use a variety of mechanical and art

pencils to draw. Currently, I am using Pro Art

Pro Pencils from Pro Art. The picture of the

pencils to the right is examples of Pro Art Pro

Pencils. The pencils usually run anywhere from

$2.73-$3.99, depending on where I buy them. I

have been buying my art pencils from The

University of Texas at El Paso’s Bookstore,

which is associated with Barnes & Noble

Booksellers. However, I can also find these

exact pencils online at http://www.newegg.com.

I have been using Norcom’s

“Tools for Knowledge” Sketch Book.

This sketchbook contains 80 sheets

of quality paper that can be used for

pencil, crayon, marker, pen & ink,

pastels and charcoal.

********************************

Various grocery stores, such as

Albertsons, carry this kind of

sketchbook. Albertsons carries

Norcom’s Sketch Book for $3.99.

However, many other grocery stores

in Texas as well as pharmacies, such

as Walgreens, carry similar kinds of

sketch books within a similar price

range.

8

Image retrieved from: http://www.pencils.com/hb-graphite-grading-scale, 2011

I also use many different

kinds of mechanical pencils to

draw out my ideas. For example,

I pick up a pack of 5-10 BIC

pencils when I go grocery

shopping. The mechanical pencils

cost anywhere from $1.99-

$2.99 for packs of 5-10.

As noted above in the

Pro Art pencils, I like to use

these kinds of pencil leads

for drawing and sketching:

I usually tend to sketch out my ideas using an H, F, HB or a 2H.

Then, I use a variety of different leads, such as 4H, 3H, HB, B, 2B and

the darker B-ranges to finish my pencils. If I know that I am going to

“ink” my pencils, then I usually do not add too many details to my pencils.

Instead, I let my pen “talk” for those details when I am inking the pencils.

9

Pens & Pen Tips

The Pilot Precise Rolling Ball

Black Ink V5 is appropriate for

“outline” inking, such as the

characters, shapes, objects, in a

drawing. The tip provides

substantial delineation for thicker,

bolder line work.

The Pilot Precise Rolling Ball Black Ink

V7 is best used for finer line work and

intricate methods of shading. For instance,

when I plan to create a storybook in black

and white, with a touch of grayscale shading

techniques, I tend to detail my characters,

their surroundings and objects more. I

usually use a variety of pen shading

techniques as shown below.

The six different shading

techniques displayed here are the

ones that I most commonly use when

I create storybooks in black, white

and grayscale.

Images of the Pilot Precise Rolling Ball Black

Ink V5 & V7 are retrieved from Google Images.

For inking purposes, I predominantly use one kind of pen and two kinds of

pen tips. My pen of choice for inking is the Pilot Precise Rolling Ball Black. The

two different pen tips that I use are the V5 (fine tip pen) and the V7 (extra

fine tip pen).

10

Choosing Technologies (computers & software)

Image retrieved from

http://www.fayette.k12.il.us/99/paint/pa

int.htm, 2012.

Image retrieved from

http://softwaretutor.wordpress.com, 2012.

I prefer to use a PC or an Apple computer to scan and edit my drawings

for my storybooks. I usually use the scanners at the university. Once I scan my

pencil or inked artwork, I save the file as a TIFF while I am editing it. I do not

save my artwork as a JPEG image until I am finished editing, coloring and

lettering it.

After I scan my penciled

work or inked work, I usually open

up the file in Paint and start

resizing, re-positioning cropping,

erasing, and altering the line work.

Then I save it as a TIFF file in

case I have to keep editing it.

Once I do all of my basic

editing in Paint, I then open up

my TIFF files in either Adobe

Photoshop or another software

editing program, such as

Pixlr.com, which is a free online

editing program that is similar to

Adobe Photoshop. The photo

editor programs in Pixlr.com or

Adobe Photoshop are effective

programs for coloring my

artwork.

I rarely use other programs to edit and color my artwork. However, other

good editing software for your artwork is Corel PaintShop Pro and Gimp at

www.gimp.org.

11

My Technique(s) of Drawing Penciling (my learned techniques)

In high school, I started to focus more on using pencils to draw because I

wanted to become a penciler, an individual who draws the sequential story art from

the writer’s plot and script, for Marvel Comics. Below are samples of pencil-shading

techniques that I have developed over the years.

12

Inking (methods)

I have developed my inking techniques over the years. In many ways, inking my

own pencil artwork is similar to penciling out my ideas in that it can sometimes

become as if I am tracing over my own line work. However, I do sometimes get

creative when I am inking and expand and enhance my pencil work, adding new

details and sometimes new dimensions to my drawings. Below are some samples of

inking techniques that I have developed in my drawings.

13

Scanning, Editing & Using Editing Software to Color

Once I have decided to pencil or ink my drawings for my stories, I scan

them. I usually use the scanner at work or at school. I have no particular

preference for the brand of scanner I use to scan my drawings.

There is no doubt that choosing the

scanner makes a difference as to how my

artwork will appear once on the computer

screen. Scanners from Hewlett Packard (HP)

and Epson have provided me with quality

scans for a while now. I have to always

remember to check the glass scanner bed

for scratch marks, stains or other debris

that could be lying on it and could appear in

the scanned image.

Most scanning software offers options,

such as scanning my drawings or photos

in “Full Auto Mode,” ”Home Mode,”

Office Mode” or “Professional Mode.” I

usually select “Professional Mode” to

scan my drawings because it offers me a

variety of options as to how I can edit

my drawings in “Preview” and in “Scan.”

14

Below is a picture of what Professional Mode contains for Epson scanning

software. If am scanning a pencil drawing, then I usually select “Grayscale” (18,

24 or 48-bit) in order to maintain the quality in the shading and in the line work.

If I am scanning something in black and white that I intend to color, then I

might scan the drawing in “Black and White” or “16, 24 or 48-bit Color” in order

to maintain “clean” line work for when I edit and color the drawings in Paint and

Photoshop. I usually leave the other elements, such as “Unsharp Mask,”

“Descreening,” “Color Restoration,” “Backlight Correction” and “Dust Removal,”

alone, which means I do not select them. Depending on the brand of scanner I am

using and the kind of software installed on my computer, I need to determine

which settings work for portraying the best quality for my artwork.

15

Using Paint & Photoshop

The picture on the left displays the

various tools in Paint. For me, the most

commonly used tools are the eraser, the

pencil, paint bucket and zoom to edit my

drawings. Other elements I use in Paint

are the “select,” also called the

“Marquee” tool, “resizing” and “rotating”

elements. These elements are helping

when editing my drawings.

The picture on the right displays

the variety of tools located in Adobe

Photoshop. When editing my drawings

in Photoshop, I usually use tools such as

lasso tools, for selecting areas to color,

the magic wand, also for selecting

areas in a drawing to color, eraser

tools, paintbrush and pencil, the crop

tool, hand too, the color palette, the

blur, sharpen and smudge tool. Other

elements I use in Photoshop when

editing and coloring my drawings

include the zoom tool, special functions

such as despeckle function and the

history function if I needed to re-

trace my steps.

Image retrieved from

http://webmaster.multimania.co.uk,

2011.

Image retrieved from

http://www.washington.edu,

2011.

After I scan my drawings, I usually save the files as TIFs, in order to

continue editing the drawings at a high quality. When editing and coloring my

scanned drawings, I use Paint and Adobe Photoshop.

16

The drawing below is an example of an inked piece of artwork of mine. I chose

this drawing as an example because it shows how I use Adobe Photoshop to color my

line work. The following page displays the coloring technique I employ. I utilize the

“Select Tool” and the “Airbrush Tool” in Photoshop when I color. I call the coloring

technique a “splash-n-dash” one because I fill in the selected areas with splashes of

colors, mixing them together to create a fade-in-out effect and to create a sense of

color coherence.

17

18

In this section, I will show a complete breakdown of how go about creating

my cartoon strip, “Greg, the Snail.” Below is a step-by-step process of how I use

Adobe Photoshop to enhance by artwork.

19

20

21

22

DeviantArt.com (online art community) Early Publicity & Feedback

Image retrieved from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9e/Deviantart_logo.png, 2012,

Image retrieved from: http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs46/o/2009/170/d/f/126465413_73254_header.jpg, 2012.

When I first started created my children’s books, I would post them on

an art-centered website called Deviant Art. I joined the community in 2004.

This art website is free to join and it is community-centered, which means

that it is artists that make up this community and give feedback to one

another. Below is the website’s logo and name:

I have used Deviant Art to get valuable feedback on my artwork and

children’s books. This website also allows artists to build an online portfolio.

23

Below is an example of what a webpage looks like in my online portfolio on

Deviant Art. All webpage design is a copyright of Deviant Art.

24

Below is an example of how the individuals communicate on Deviant Art. The

artists’ comments appear as a running dialogue.

25

Using the iPad to Create My iBooks Book Creator by Red Jumper Studios (the app for iPad)

Image retrieved from: http://www.redjumper.net/bookcreator/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/AvailableAppStore.png,

2012.

Finally, in order to convert my children’s stories into electronic books,

I use the Book Creator application on my iPad. The app costs $4.99. Here is

the link to the webpage that describes what the app actually allows an

individual do if they want to create their own electronic book:

http://www.redjumper.net/bookcreator/.

Once I finish the individual pages for my children books, I use this app to

build my iBook. Using the app is relatively easy. I email myself each individual

page and then save the files/pictures in my photos on my iPad. Once I save the

page on my iPad, I open Book Creator, choose a book size and format and start

inserting my pages. I can adjust the background for each page, as well as adjust

the overall size of the insert artwork. Book Creator also allows me to add text to

my pages. Uploading an iBook to iTunes is a difficult process, however. This

YouTube video explains the process: http://www.youtube.com/v/N8Tx3NmRgz8

26

Uploading My iBooks to iTunes Materials & Access Needed to Upload Your iBooks to iTunes

Below is an example of a short children’s storybook I have created using

the methods mentioned in this guide…

For more information about submitting/publishing iBooks to iTunes,

please view this link: http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2808

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

Adam Webb, 2012