Courtney Hayward

Wayward World

My project is designing a series of illustrated narratives as a vehicle for basic life lessons that I would like to communicate with my audience, being children. My narratives will be set in a fictional world filled with alien creatures to allow me a degree of freedom, both with my stories and with my characters.

I have chosen this project as I enjoy illustration and creating my own characters, seeing something evolve from an idea to something with its own personality. This project will also allow me to develop my skills and experiment with new methods that I have not tried before. I am starting my works with handdrawn, physical media and then using digital methods to further develop and fine tune.

I am using ink pens, coloured paper, fabric and other mixed media to create my world and the characters that will inhabit it. This will allow me to create depth and texture, as well as being a fun way to create work. It also follows along with methods used by other illustrators that work in the childrens publication space, such as Lauren Child and Amy Schimler.

The most important idea of my project is to create a world that my audience can engage in, relate to and enjoy. The reason this is so crucial is that without engagement my audience is unlikely to take in the lesson that is contained within each story.

This concept is not a new one, traditionally children’s stories are tailored to teach lessons and manners. So the challenge for me is to create a new world, to tell these stories in different ways, that makes the most of the tools and opportinuties available in this day and age.

About WaywardWords

An honest mess. Still trying to figure out what I want from life.

View all posts by WaywardWords →