Grrrr...
I really like this concertina book by Tom Gauld, and it helps to give an idea of the layout I want for my little books. I like the way the monster shape is repeated throughout the book with microscope looking diagram on every other page. I really like the boldness of the illustrations and the lack of words, although really this doesn't need words at all.
The restricted black and white palette keeps the illustrations consistent and hides some of the slightly grotesq artworks that it could be if another colour (red) was used. It hides that fact that it shows the monsters insides, which would be a bit macabre if coloured red or pink for example.
However, the dark palette wouldn't really work very well for something aimed at children but then I don't think this is. Still the cuteness of the character would appeal to a young audience.
This peice works well as a sequential illustration with some sort of basic narrative but works well as a collection of artwork, like a mini gallery which is a really nice idea and makes the concertina book much more of a desirable and 'keep-able' object. A narrative for something like this isn't always essential and in someways without it the piece can feel more like an 'artists book' than a storybook.
My intial idea for my book was to have several illustrations of different monsters wearing hats, and not have a narrative but not I'm not so sure If I want a narrative or not. It works well either way and it really depends on whether I want to expand on my narrative skills or just focus on the artwork themselves and let them do the talking.
In the brief It does say to take risks and perhaps do something that will push me, and I think I'm quite bad at coming up with stories and writing so this could maybe help work on that aspect?
