While I was finishing up The Wonderful World of Creatures and Code, I was contacted by Beth and Randall about a story of a special Leprechaun they felt my illustration style would be perfect for. This was a story that Beth had told scores of her students and wanted help bringing it to life. I had the privilege of working with Beth and Randall to illustrate Liam's story. It was a great collaborative effort that resulted in a fun and colorful story that is easy to relate to. The Legend of Liam the Leprechaun, a classic tale that takes an unexpected twist when a very different character shows that happiness cannot be bought.
Available now on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2lYAjlB.
"I recently worked with Jason Heglund as illustrator on a children's story which I had written many years ago. From start to finish it was delightful to work with Jason on the project. He seemed to really connect with the story and put himself in it, imaging details of scale and dimension that I would never have thought of. He was very respectful of the material and wanted to be sure that his illustrations supported and enhanced the story. Several times through the process Jason made creative suggestions that really helped bring the book to life. Very few revisions were required, but when they were Jason always took the feedback in stride and made adjustments as requested. On the rare occasion when Jason felt strongly about a change, he communicated his rationale clearly and was open to differing points of view and compromise. In the end we have a beautifully illustrated book that is visually above and beyond what I had hoped for, created through a very collaborative and enjoyable process. I believe Jason would be a tremendous asset to any project."
— Beth Wheat
After our initial discussion, I started off with some character studies to try to understand who Liam was and how that would influence his look. Below are a few of those sketches. A good deal of time was spent researching characters and playing around with the drawing style.
Page Sketch
Once the character of Liam was discovered, I moved on to sketching each page. This process usually starts off fairly loose and tightens up after a few sets of revisions.
Final Illustration
Once each sketch is finalized, I illustrated the full-color version.
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