The road to success

Sneak peek! Artist Edward Dennis shares the story of how he produced his first illustrated book, powered by Corel Painter

Edward Dennis began the journey to create his own illustrated children’s book by doing simply that: just starting. Sometimes a creative process is inspired by an event, or something from the environment but other times it’s an underlying desire to build a world, with no specifics in mind. This desire is what drove him to embark on this endeavour, building on his Mexican-american heritage and the lack of books representing his background.

Edward says that, “Living in the United States has its struggles, especially in the southwestern area. So I decided to base my writing and art around that.”

Being primarily an illustrator, Edward started off visually by creating sketches to get an idea for his story, swapping to writing the text, then fleshing out the concepts using Corel Painter.

DIGITAL CANVAS

Edward paired powerful Corel Painter with an intuitive Wacom Cintiq drawing tablet to create engaging, attractive illustrations to help convey his Boy from Mexico story. “Painter’s

Painter, with my Wacom, makes me feel like I’m still using paper or canvas

customisation tools were key to the success here, with layouts and brushes all able to be adjusted and stored, and available at any time when needed,” says Edward. “This aids in easily and quickly being able to jump to custom brushes and back again, while not breaking creative flow.”

While this might make things appear to be complex and convoluted, it’s anything but. Painter remains intuitive and fast, with workflow and results that are consistent – an important factor for any project like this. Being able to rely on an efficient and consistent workflow is what gave Edward the support he needed to pursue his journey.

“Painter, paired with my giant Wacom 32, makes me feel like I’m still using paper or canvas, and I appreciate this so much,” says Edward.

While it can be nerve-wracking to pitch a book to publishers, Edward’s belief in his art and storytelling, backed by his incredible artistic talent, led to him being signed by Mango.

“My advice to anyone out there wanting to create a children’s book is make sure you’re inspired, you know what tools you’ll use, and lastly be ready for the long haul,” says Edward. Visit www.painterartist.com/imaginefx to embark on your own artistic journey with a 15-day free trial and an exclusive discount for Imaginefx readers

“From the sketch phase to production, Painter gave me the confidence that the vision in my head would inevitably come to life,” says Edward Dennis, author and illustrator.

Edward’s illustrated book, The Boy from Mexico, goes on sale towards the end of the year, on 8 November.