The Making of Kidlit Creatives New Banner

I’m proud to present my son, Kyle Howard, who designed our new Kidlit Creatives Banner. With the writer/illustrator group's name change, I asked Kyle to create a banner that looked like middle grade cover art. And he delivered! Now Kyle will share his process with you.

For our Kidlit Creatives Members, Manju Howard will critique one picture book manuscript.

To WIN this prize, follow the directions at the end of this post.

Welcome, Kyle!

1. Please share your process for creating our new Kidlit Creatives Banner.

I began with a number of preliminary sketches to figure out the composition and creatures that would occupy the banner. Then, I painted the background and did an initial sketch. From there, I refined the sketch and began to work in color, value and the text until the piece was finished.

2. Going into your junior year at Purdue University, what are the top two pieces you created as a Visual Communications Major?

The first piece is an illustration I did for an experimental drawing class. I wanted to try something abstract yet intricate, and I am quite pleased with the result. It was drawn with a Micron pen and took roughly forty hours.

The second piece is the front and back cover of a picture book that I created for a design class. My goal was to keep the art minimalistic and focus on the colors and interaction between picture and text to tell the story. The book was designed in Adobe Illustrator.

3. What are you working on now?

Currently, I am finishing up a graphic design internship for a local company.

I also create political cartoons for a club that I am a part of at Purdue.

In addition, I am nearly finished writing the first draft of my second fantasy novel.

4. What are your favorite mediums to use?

For most of my life, I have been creating with traditional media, including pencils, ballpoint pens, charcoal and paints. Recently though, I have been doing more digital art which has opened up new possibilities. I don’t really have a favorite, as all mediums have pros and cons. To me, it is more so about finding the right medium for the project I am working on.

Thanks, Kyle!

Prize offer: Manju will critique one picture book manuscript (under 600 words). To win this special prize, leave a comment on our Kidlit Creatives page (must be a member) AND share this interview on Twitter or Facebook. Deadline to enter is Friday, August 14th.

Manju Howard is the Co-founder and Admin. of Kidlit Creatives, Inked Voices Early Reader and Chapter Book Community Lead, SCBWI Indiana Critique Coordinator and PAL member. Schoolwide published her picture book, Calvin’s Friend. All posts on Manju's blog promote members of Kidlit Creatives. Request to join us by hopping over to our site.