How do I prepare the art sent in to be used as illustrations for The Talisman Chronicles?

Are you wondering why my work on the illustrations for the anthology are taking so long? Here's a look at what I am doing, using one of the illustrations drawn and submitted by one of the children who are contributing stories to the anthology.

Original:

 drawn by Maddison, age 7

To make the pictures presentable for print so that the lines are clean within the book, I trace around the picture in a drawing program on my computer and then fill in the colors, trying to get close to the colors chosen by the children. I try and trace the picture as exactly as possible. Of course, even filling the colors in leaves some edging that I have to trace back over in the color it is edging against. (Not sure if I am explaining the process well.) It's not difficult, but it is very time-consuming. 

Below is the ready-for-print version:

Please note: There will be both a color version and a black and white version of the book. 

Also, if anyone who sent a picture for the anthology would like me to e-mail them the updated version (to use in blog posts, to create gifts at sites like CafePress , Zazzle or Printfection, etc), just let me know. (If the picture you sent did not have any color, I will have also added color to it for the color version.)

My own daughters have done some drawings for the anthology. I will share them in a later post.

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