The heiress (project 3 - part 4)

I was having difficulty further developing this project. Making a graphic novel felt overwhelming and like I had lost my confidence to draw. In the meantime I did ty to further develop the main character, Olivia de Beaufort in my sketchbook and plan out very simple thumbnails.

I tried to get back into the swing of things by further thinking out the story through a free stream of consciousness. I found writing worked best for this already elaborate storyline. I then used the Disney/Pixar Storytelling method for planning out the full narrative.

Next I decided on a definite storyline and planned out the events concurring within the first chapter.

I then tried to storyboard using this format and the thumbnail images from my sketchbook:

Only something didn’t feel right. Though I had come up with a way of working through my dwindling confidence, I didn't feel any more confident. Plus my growing storyboard felt somewhat repetitive. Just a few of the images really stood out. Overmore, I really was not excited to draw the amount of images an actual graphic novel requires.

My tutorial with Katherina Manolessou fortunately shed some needed light on this project. If I did not feel confident and enthusiastic about doing this many images, I shouldn't be doing that. There is another way to tell and elaborate story with pictures, if the picture book format isn’t big enough: an illustrated book (like the editions from the Folio Society). This suggestion was exactly what I needed. I could now focus on a limited set of images that would really enrich the story with their presence.