The king of Average – book cover and illustrations

In this post, I show you the cover design and illustrations that I created for “The King of Average”. Written by Gary Schwartz, it is a moving middle-grade novel where a kid travels to a bizarre “Average” kingdom. While on his quest to find the lost king, he discovers and works deeply on his interior emotional reality. The book was published on Amazon USA by the author in 2015, and now we are worked on a second, re-illustrated and reviewed edition. Please visit the author’s website to know more about him: https://improv-odyssey.com 

<<James isn’t the world’s greatest kid, but he’s not the worst, either: he’s average! When he decides to become the most average kid who ever lived, James is transported to another world where he meets Mayor Culpa, a well-dressed talking Scapegoat who recruits him to become the new King of Average. He’s joined on his quest by a professional Optimist and his grouchy companion, an equally professional Pessimist. Together, they set out on a journey of self-discovery that leads them all the way from the Sea of Doubt to Mount Impossible, the highest peak in the Unattainable Mountains. When James stumbles into a Shangri-la called Epiphany, he uncovers the secret of who he really is. Follow James on his hilarious, adventure-packed journey to find self-worth in this heartfelt middle grade novel by debut author Gary Schwartz.>>

Of course, I enjoyed working on this project a lot, because of its deep content, partially based on the author’s real life story, and because of the funny, bizarre, but familiar characters.

I created illustrations mostly with watercolour pencils, because I like the freshness and versatility of this hand technique, then I digitalised the drawings and slightly retouched them. After completing the black and white illustrations for the interior pages, I coloured some of them digitally, with the purpose of using them for a promotional video.

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“The King of Average” è un emozionante romanzo d’avventura in cui un ragazzo si trova alla scoperta di un bizzarro reame dove tutto deve “essere normale, nella media”… ma il re è scomparso! E mentre insieme ai suoi compagni di viaggio intraprende la ricerca del re perduto scopre in profondità se stesso e la sua realtà emotiva interiore. Scritto da Gary Schwartz e pubblicato su amazon USA nel 2015, è ora in via di auto-pubblicazione in questa seconda versione rivista e re-illustrata. Visitate il sito personale di Gary per sapere di più su di lui https://improv-odyssey.com/

Ho disegnato le illustrazioni quasi totalmente con matite acquerellabili, colorate per la copertina e nei toni del grigio per le illustrazioni interne. Mi piace la freschezza e la versatilità di questa tecnica e la trovo molto adatta a questo tipo di lavoro. Sono passata poi al digitale per alcuni ritocchi e il design della copertina. Una volta completate le illustrazioni in bianco e nero, ne ho colorate alcune perché potessero essere utilizzate all’interno di in un video promozionale.
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