Children's Book- Development

In the story I'm developing the Orangutan is incredibly clever and can make tools and objects out for the twigs, leaves and vines around him. So, I decided to start designing them for example, in the beginning he leaves his toy in his treehouse so has to return to it to find it. When he goes back home the trees surround his home have all been cut down but he ends up finding his toy. I had two different designs for his toy. The first one being a stick with a long nose and the arms and leaves tied together on to it. The second attempt was inspired by an average child's teddy bear however, instead of the fur, the stuffed head is made of leaves. Out of these two, the most successful was definitely the first illustration as its playful, simple and most importantly you can tell it's a toy. 

I also designed what the rhinoceros' rebuilt horn would look like. Similar to my preferred toy design, I knew I'd keep it simple and use one stick and it tied on with vine. Overall I think this is a successful design and I look forward to incorporating it in to the story. 

Here's a quick rough thumbnail drawn digitally of the treehouse the orangutan and his mother lived in. As an idea I thought I could parallel the scene when the Orangutan comes back home to get his toy and its only his house left. And surrounding the house is just stumps. 

 

Here's a coloured version of his tree house. Filled with vibrant green-blue colour scheme. This bright colours represents happinesses and healthiness. I think the angle used in this illustration, is really effective in the way it shows how high up the orangutan lives. It's also an interesting angle for children to look at, it draws them into the scene. I also tried to incorporate vines into the decoration and structure of the treehouse. I used the vines as decoration to make the the tree house look homely. I also added vines on the structure and the surrounding trees to show show how the orangutan can use them to get up and down. 

Here's another quick thumbnail of the Orangutan's home. I wanted to keep this in the same perspective as the other illustration to show the loss of the trees. The loss of the trees adds to the plot of the story as the orangutan is confused and doesn't know which way to go- so then goes on an adventure and makes friends. When I use colour with this illustration, I plan on using duller shades and less green in the surrounding area.