A Ruff! Delivery
Concept for a children's graphic novel starring an old grumpy mailman and a wrecklace puppy. The story follows the pair as they confront their hard feelings and learn to love one another along the way.
An action scene depicting the moments before disaster.
Character Design
This was an exercise I tried in my Visual Storytelling class, using collage to design characters with large, distinct shapes, colors, and textures.
That exercise led to the design of these two. Lewis is an old, grumpy mailman who has just lost his long-term partner and is refusing to grieve. Petunia is a silken windhound puppy who has never had a family and has never learned how to calm down. They seem like opposites, but really, they are the perfect pair.
Cover Design
Going into this design, I wanted to create something that was both eye-catching to a child or young teen and that conveyed the story well. I especially wanted to emphasize the dynamic between the two characters.
After that, I chose a few ideas I liked and refined them. I paid close attention to composition and how I would place the title.
Here is the final cover. This was the first design that I made for the story, and I would love to go back and take another stab at this one. I love the designs I sketched and think I could execute this much better now.
Here is an alternate cover I made later on. It would likely not work for a graphic novel cover due to its format, but I love how this one conveys the concept while maintaining more subtlety.
Key Frames
This is the keyframe of the scene introducing the two main characters. I wanted to use the composition and lighting to both separate the characters physically and show their stark personality differences. I did this by putting Lewis in the shadow, with a calm, reserved pose, and putting Petunia in the light, chaotically chasing a squirrel.
Here is my final illustration for this scene. This is another example of a piece I would love to come back to. I feel that the final lost some of the looseness and chaos that the original sketch had, and I know if I went back now I could add a lot more energy to this scene.
Here is the sketch for the climax of the story. Just before this, Lewis and Petunia are at the height of their conflict, and it leads to Lewis crashing his prized delivery truck.
Here is the final. I thought it would be fun to add different poses to each phase of the sequence. I encourage you to look at all four!
