Owl and Pussycat Cover

In my previous post I talked about Lilla Rogers' Illustrating Children's Books online class. Our final assignment was to create a cover for our chosen text. So here is my cover for The Owl and The Pussycat by Edward Lear.

I really learned a lot about covers. Everyone talks about how hard they are, but with a few guidelines I feel so much more comfortable. The main points I got are:

1. Make it a simple, clear read of the characters and the text.
2. Feature the main characters on the front interacting in an interesting way.
3. Try to encapsulate the essence of the story for the cover.
4. Hand lettering adds a special touch if you can do it.
5. Try to make it warm and inviting.

That's it! It's not really so complicated. In fact, I when I hear "hard" I think it has to be complicated. But simplifying is really the key for me. And in fact I've already started on the cover for Our Home, the latest version of my picture book dummy. It's a little more complicated that this cover I did above, but hopefully it still has the other main points covered.

Lilla and Zoe Tucker are presenting another of these Children's Book classes in January and here is a competition to win 2 spots in the class! You have to do an illustration which is outlined in the directions that is due Dec. 2. It's a great class and I recommend it!