[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":11},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-theres-a-shark-in-the-bath-sneak-preview":3},{"_type":4,"body":5,"bodyHtml":6,"excerpt":5,"featuredImage":5,"publishedAt":7,"slug":8,"tags":9,"title":10},"blogPost",null,"I was gnashing my teeth at having to go back to work today after all the Christmas fun and lazing about: \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/sarah_sharkteeth_zps5c7e9a4c-e56e82dc10.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nBut then the postman brought a surprise! A box full of copies of my new book, \u003Ci>There's a Shark in the Bath\u003C/i>, from Scholastic UK. it's the very first published picture book I've ever written AND illustrated myself!\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/shark_books_authorcopies_zpsfa6ba7f2-05d8b322fc.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nHere I am, wearing my new shark hat to celebrate. (It was created by Dublin-based \u003Ca href=\"http://ambidesigns.net/\">AMBi Designs\u003C/a>, who has a shop on Etsy.) \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/sarah_mcintyre_shark_hat_zpsaab3a277-00866ce789.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd a little prezzie for you, get out your crayons: here's a \u003Cb>Shark Colouring Sheet!\u003C/b> I'll put it on my website soon, but for now, you can \u003Cfont size=\"4\">\u003Ca href=\"http://www.jabberworks.co.uk/shark/mcintyre_shark_colouring.pdf\">download the printable PDF here\u003C/a>\u003C/font>. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://www.jabberworks.co.uk/shark/mcintyre_shark_colouring.pdf\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mcintyre_shark_colouring_sm_zps012833cd-2903b92081.gif\">\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\nA lot of people ask me how I make my artwork. Here's a little peek at how I went about it for this book. First I started with a very simple 'thumbnail' sketch:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/shark_bath_paint0_zps7cf3fb51-4caba3637f.gif\">\\r\n\\r\nThen I drew it out full size in pencil. Actually, larger than full size, this is 110% of the size it's printed in the book. That gave the designer (Rebecca Essilifie) a little extra wiggle room if the artwork didn't exactly fit the page size, or the printer didn't cut the paper perfectly around the edges.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/shark_bath_paint1_zps1c5242d8-78b0c0f09b.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nNext, I traced it on the light box, using a dip pen and India ink. I like India ink because, when it's dry, I can paint over the ink and it won't smear. Then I used coloured inks, which work a lot like watercolour. I painted the sharks before the background, because they're the most important things in the page; the rest of the picture is basically there to make the sharks look good.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/shark_bath_paint2_zpscaf3707f-8474a7b7bf.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nBackground colour! The sharks are blue, and the sky is blue-ish grey, so I thought I'd experiment with making the sea some other colour than blue, as contrast. I liked this lime green colour; it looks like water with light coming through it. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/shark_bath_paint3_zps5e1d8e37-b2b3e5139d.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd here's the final scanned artwork, as it appears in the book! I had fun adding lots of little sea life details. Oh, and yes, Baby Shark IS wearing braces on his teeth.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/shark_bath_paint4_zps1fe6c656-19249be910.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cb>\u003Ci>There's a Shark in the Bath\u003C/i> officially launches on January 16th\u003C/b>, but you might spot it in shops before then (as Catherine Johnson just did!) I hope you like it!\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/cath_tweets_zpseca8f412-c5e3785fbf.jpg\">","2013-12-27T14:43:00.000Z","theres-a-shark-in-the-bath-sneak-preview",[],"there's a shark in the bath: sneak preview!",1776628726033]