'Merry Christmas Gus' blog tour

Happy December everyone! 

I know that it has only just begun, but doesn't it feel as though the festive season is whizzing by already?! At least, it always seems to go quickly because of the excitement at school... By the looks of Gus' expressions, you would guess that he is hoping for Christmas to come and go as quickly as possible, but where's the fun in that? It's time to revel in the season of giving!

I'm thrilled to be supporting the 'Merry Christmas Gus' blog tour today - day 2 - and am privileged to be able to share an insight into how the marvellous illustrations developed, thanks to Author/Illustrator Chris Chatterton: 


"Colour is such an important part of the illustrating process and I spend a lot of time tweaking and making sure everything works well together before I move on to the final artwork."

"I feel This is Gus worked so well because of its limited but bold colour palette, so when it came time to create my colour rough for Merry Christmas, Gus I wanted to follow the same rules. It's obviously a book with a Christmas theme so that made things relatively easier as there are certain colours that we all associate with that time of year."

 



"I used the palette to my advantage to help visually tell the story further. For example the cool blues when Gus is grumpy, and the puppy is feeling sad. The red to show Gus’s anger, and the warm yellow for happiness on Christmas Day."

How fantastic - thank you, Chris! I always love being able to see where a story may have started compared to the finished product overall... sketchbooks are always such fascinating glimpses into the many, many hours that were poured into the creation that you eventually hold in your hands. How do you condense all of those possibilities into one shiny, new 32-page festive favourite? These are the decisions that are best left to the experts! (And marvellously accomplished here...)

Now it's time to leave you with a few hopes for the last month of an unbelievable year - I hope you enjoy wrapping yourself up in your favourite wintery reads, as we delve into the most magical of seasons. I hope the remainder of your 2020 is happy and healthy. I hope 2021 brings you smiles and laughter!

Happy reading!

Maxine x

p.s. Be sure to check out the awesome blog posts coming up this week - banner below detailing where to find Gus next :)



(Thank you to Sabina at Macmillan Children's Publishing for sending me the super content.)


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