New direction..?

I've been struggling recently with my paintings, I feel like they are flat and lacking energy. I'm also worrying that if they were shrunk down and produced inside the book they are not strong enough in composition and the subtleties of the paint and texture would be lost. My tutor suggested that they weren't illustrative enough so I might try and combine my painting with my drawings and use ink and collage so they are more linear. I have been looking at Dave Mckean's work a lot and how he manages to combine atmospheric painting and illustration.

Some work by Dave Mckean:

Some more sketches inspired by the novel.

"Rising, he glanced up at the yellow wall of the house...It was at this point that he saw the queer lady." Truman Capote, Other Voices, Other Rooms.

"Joel slumped like a dog on the floor before the hearth" 

"Randolph, a set smile stiffening his face, rose and strolled to a window, his loose kimono swaying about him; he folded his arms like a Chinaman into the butterfly sleeves, and stood very still." Truman Capote, Other Voices, Other Rooms.

"A whirl of ferris-wheel lights revolved in the distance; rockets rose, burst, fell over Noon City like showering rainbows" - Truman Capote, Other Voices, Other Rooms.

"A whirl of ferris-wheel lights revolved in the distance; rockets rose, burst, fell over Noon City like showering rainbows" - Truman Capote, Other Voices, Other Rooms.

Scene in the creek with Idabel and Joel

Musee d'art moderne Paris

From thumbnail to a painting work in progress.

Narrowing down scenes that i particularly want to illustrate and creating endless thumbnails. 

Some photos I found online of a young Truman Capote that I have been using for reference and inspiration. The novel is semi-autobiographical; informed by Capote's childhood, so I have been using these when sketching the protagonist Joel Knox. 

Sketching whilst re-reading the novel.

Some early sketches based on photos of a youthful Truman Capote.