One of the things I told myself this year was that to better manage my workload I would not be taking part in any blog tours, but.... I made...

I Can Catch a Monster Blog Tour with Bethan Woollvin

Friday, July 10, 2020 BookBairn 5 Comments



One of the things I told myself this year was that to better manage my workload I would not be taking part in any blog tours, but....

I made an exception! Because I just ADORE Bethan Woollvin's fairytale series soooo much (I've linked my review to those here), I wanted to see what sort of might girl character she would create! And she's a wonder! She's smart, she's strong, and she is DEFINITELY in charge! Her brothers say she is too little to go off monster hunting but Bo has other ideas. And she sees the monsters differently too. I love this! Bethan has created a totally new fairytale character for modern kids and she has done it with characteristic wit, short and snappy prose and, what at first glance may appear to be simple illustrations, though they are far from simplistic and I'll defy you to find many illustrators as talented at bringing to life characters in such few paint strokes.

Below Bethan tells us about her process of brining the characters to life and shares some of the process of her creation of the book through photographs.


There can be quite a few steps involved in creating a picture book, and my latest story I Can Catch a Monster was no exception! When I began working on this project, I first started by creating a general story using a storyboard, which helped me to quickly plot out my story through basic sketches. Then, building upon these sketches, I formed more refined drawings for my rough artwork, including a loose medieval environment, some basic character sketches and of course - lots of monster doodles! Next, I progressed onto creating the final artwork, which I sketched and painted over a light box. The last stage was to edit all of the final artwork in Photoshop, ready for print. On average, each spread of a book takes me ten days to complete from start to finish, meaning for the standard 32 page picture book, it can take me around 6 months to complete - sometimes longer!

The stage I anticipate the most is painting the final artwork. As I Can Catch a Monster was my first original tale, I spent a long time working on the storyboards and rough sketches to make sure it was working well. Pulling all of my ideas together for each spread, I sketched out the scenes of the storyin preparation for painting. Using a refreshing new colour palette of a deep teal, zingy orange and eye-popping magenta, I began painting my artwork, really bringing it to life! Like all of my books, I painted the artwork for I Can Catch a Monster with my preferred medium - gouache paint. This type of paint dries flat and opaque, giving it a screen printed aesthetic whichI love! Painting my artwork by hand is a process that I really enjoy and feel confident with, especially since I’ve been holding a paintbrush since I was young!









Thank you so much Bethan!! It's fascinating to hear and see inside the process! And do check out the other stops on the blog tour!




If you're looking for a modern fairytale with amazing artwork, you must check out Bo!
Once upon a time... Happy Reading!
Kim and the bairns

Disclaimer: This book was sent by the publisher for review. Words and opinions are my own. Please read our Review Policy  if you want to know more. If you click on the image of the book below you will be sent to Amazon.co.uk using an affiliate link.  This means that if you choose to purchase on Amazon.co.uk, I will receive a small sum (around 20-90p per book) from Amazon at no extra cost to you. I understand that you may not want to use an affiliate link, but if you like reading our blog post please just think of it as a small tip for a tip-off to an awesome book. And know that your support means I can buy more books! For more information check out our For Readers Section.

5 comments:

  1. This looks fun#kltr@_karendennis

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  2. This is the kind of new fairytale that we really need. I love the illustrations.

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  3. Wow, that sounds like a fab book! Lovely to read about how it was created. #KLTR

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  4. I love Bethan’s artwork so much! Can’t wait to get my hands on this one 😊

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