I really loved how on the previous page with Nessie as a silhouette looked aesthetically, so with this in mind I thought I would try something else to see if I could progress the idea within another page. So far the silhouette idea hadn’t worked as well as I hoped it would, but I have been influenced and inspired buy a lot of illustrators who use this technique for the surroundings and landscape so I was determined to push myself to make it work.
For the basis of this page I thought I would create an illustration that seemed like Nessie was in a cave, to reflect her loneliness and separation from the world around her. I loved how the black worked, and instead of including it profusely on every single page I thought that I would gradually introduce it as she realises she’s depressed, or limit it and space it out so that it wasn’t as dull for the target audience. However, in this instance I wanted black to be the main, defining colour of the page.
This is the initial illustration that I came up with for the page. I tried to incorporate the elements of the sea into it, including the sea weed and textures that make it more interesting for the audience. As well as this, I decided to keep Nessie in full colour this time because of the dramatic juxtaposition. By doing this, she looks vulnerable and isolated against the surroundings, yet she is still interesting and you can see the worry expressed on her face. I am extremely pleased with this has turned out and I think that with further refinement it could turn into a great page that I can actually use within my children’s book.