Hi FANS! 😁
It's been a couple of marathon sessions trying to review everything on the latest book, so that I can upload it to Blurb and order my PROOF copy.
During that editing process, I finally tackled ONE glaring issue triggering my OCD personality from Day 1 of starting this venture:
When I initially drew the Captain's SHIP H.M.S. CHOO for Book 1, "The Wordy Birdie," it was drawn in SMALL size.
I learned quickly in that first book that expanding any Small size image to use at BIGGER sizes results in blurriness and "jaggies" in the linework = Not good!
It's best to initially draw any image at the Largest size you anticipate needing, then shrink it as needed for smaller uses.
LESSON: You can satisfactorily SHRINK a good quality image originally drawn in Large, but not clearly EXPAND a good quality image originally drawn in Small!
I did clean up that blurry blown-up SHIP image as best as I could back then to make it useable, (see image marked OLD below. It was Much WORSE prior to cleaning up!) but I always swore I would revisit it properly when I got time.
H.M.S. CHOO is prominently displayed in several places throughout EVERY book (front/back cover, Moral page, Dedication Page, and in large size on the Copyright Page,) so I was constantly reminded of this "niggling" issue in each book.
Well, NO MORE!
I re-drew the entire ship to bring it up to snuff.
Compare the NEW image below.
(I also have the Outline image alone, which I will probably make the kids Coloring page in the next book.)
I doubt I will go back and change the old books as they are already uploaded in "bookwright format" (for a fee) to Blurb, but this version of the Ship will be used on all FUTURE books.
Oh, and for the hardcore sailors out there, I know it's not 100% correct as far as ship "anatomy" goes, but this is "impressionist" art for children, intended to convey the intent, without needing to be perfect.
Even so, It's a Major equipment upgrade, and "AYE," the Captain HEARTILY APPROVES!
I hope you all do too.😉
Blessings.
Dave Chouhan, AKA Captain CHOO💖
