I created a children's character illustration and animation of a relaxed frog floating on a lily pad surrounded by water lilies and fireflies in this dusky, cozy scene for a Children's Illustration contest hosted by Domestika.
Since illustrations for children focus heavily on characters, I decided to develop a relaxed frog character floating on a lily pad. This is my debut illustration and animation using Procreate Dreams, and creating it was a great way to learn how to use the app. The end result is very close to what I pictured in my head, and I hope you enjoy this cozy scene!
Here's a list of supplies I used to make this project:
• Reference images
• iPad, Apple Pencil, Procreate Dreams
• Adobe After Effects, Adobe Media Encoder, Adobe Illustrator, computer
Once I decided to create a frog as a children's character, I thought about the overall scene and the tone for the illustration. Going for a walk is a great way to form a vision of the scene in my head. I asked myself 3 questions to get started with the visual concept:
1. What is the frog doing?
I think it would be fun to show a completely unbothered frog floating on a lily pad.
2. How is the frog positioned?
I'd love to show the frog in a relaxed position, reclining on the lily pad with arms behind their head and one knee up.
3. From which perspective or angle do I want to show the frog?
I want to show the frog spread out on the lily pad, so the best way to do that will be from straight above looking down on the frog in the water.
I did a quick Google Images search to reference the shape of the frog's body and figure out rough proportions before sketching in the next step.
I created a new "widescreen" project in Procreate Dreams to determine my colors and sketch my character and scene:
• Color Palette:
I developed a simple color palette in a new layer before sketching. This way, I can easily color pick from the swatches and see how the colors feel together as I create the scene. I can also move or hide the layer to help with color choices as I build up the details.
• Character Sketch:
On a new layer, I started sketching the basic body shape of my frog. I referenced my Google Images search results to study the shape of the frog's head and feet. Once I was happy with the frog's primary position (eyes closed, one knee up, one leg stretched out), I used Procreate Dreams "Flipbook" feature to illustrate the frog's leg, foot, mouth, and eye movements for frame-by-frame animation later (Step 3).
• Scenery Sketch:
I wanted to keep the amount of colors minimal and give off a dusky, twilight hue. I added glowing fireflies for warmth and water lilies for a peaceful, dream-like feel. I kept elements on separate layers for ease of animation later (the frog has its own layer, the lily pad has its own layer, each of the fireflies has their own layer, etc...). I also added splatter and brush stroke layers on top of the illustrated scene to add a textured, hazy quality.
I created my entire animation as a loop, so keyframes and actions in the first frame are the same as those in the final frame for continuous movement. Procreate Dreams has a few different ways to animate an illustration, so here are the methods I used for each element:
• Character animation: Frame by Frame animation with the "Flipbook" feature
In the Flipbook feature, you are able to see previous and/or future positions of the element you are trying to add movement to. Therefore, you can sketch the next movement right over the past movement, so you can eye up angles and measurements to create believable movement sequences. To breathe life into the frog, I wanted to show facial movements along with leg and foot movements. The frog blinks and the size of its smile changes, but most of the movement is in the leg as it alternates between stretched out and raised to rest on their other knee. The foot rocks back and forth for an extra unhurried emphasis to the frog's mood.
• Lily pad animation: "Move" and "Rotate" animation with the "Performing" function
The Performing function lets you move an element on the screen as it records your path. I found this feature was so helpful for emulating the smooth pull of the lily pad as it floats on the water.
• Water lily animation: "Warp" animation by manual keyframes
Selecting the "Warp" feature, I was able to manipulate the mesh of the petals to gently sway back and forth with the movement of the water. I moved petals on the same flower at different paces for a more organic feel. To do this, I keep petals on separate layers and animate them as their own meshes.
**To create looped movement with a "Warp," create two initial key frames before any movement has been made to the mesh, and then drag one of the keyframes to the end of the timeline. That way, you can animate the bulk of the timeline and know that it will end in the exact same position it started. You cannot copy keyframes in Procreate Dreams, so this is the most handy workaround I've found from other users.
• Firefly animation: "Move" animation with the "Performing" function
I used the Performing function to Move five different fireflies. I recorded the path as I lazily dragged the fireflies across my screen with my Apple Pencil.
• Texture and water ripple animation: Frame by Frame animation with the "Flipbook" feature
I created different brush stroke and splatter overlays in the frame-by-frame Flipbook feature to add extra texture to the illustration and a handmade feel to the animation. I also illustrated water ripples around the lily pad as it moves with frame-by-frame animation.
I exported this animation for video and and as a set of static images:
• For video:
I noticed that this file straight from Procreate Dreams was rather large at over 60MB, which is great for deliverables for clients, but oversized for posting on social media. To control compression settings and minimize the file size without losing quality, I brought the animation into a 1920x1080 Adobe After Effects composition. After adding my brand logo mark to the top left corner, I used Adobe Media Encoder to export as H.264 for an .mp4 file. The new file is at 15.4MB, and I'm happy with the colors and quality of the animation.
• For still images:
Pausing on frames in my animation, I took screenshots on my iPad to collect still images of the illustration. I added my brand logo mark to the top left corner in Adobe Illustrator and exported for web as a .jpg for web optimization.
Thank you for viewing my "Illustration for children" contest project!
