News: Book #4 is complete

study for Wild Honey from the Moon

Earlier this week I mailed off the last bits of illustrations, including a cover and the end-papers. It is finally done! The illustrations for this book took an entire year to make. My other books have only taken six months (even that seems like a long time). For this book I went back to using ink and watercolor. With Green Pants I used pencil and watercolor for a softer effect, but for #4 I wanted the added definition and 'pop' that ink brings.

For the traditional artists out there, I'll note that I made a big switch from the toothier cold-press watercolor paper to the smoother hot press. For some reason I was very hesitant to make the switch even though it seemed like a pretty obvious choice. I suppose I thought people would be impressed that I made detailed drawings on the textured cold-press. "What a tough guy!" Nobody really noticed or cared, so I drew this book on the smoother paper. It made it a lot easier. My pen tips lasted a longer and I was able to achieve more detail.

Sometimes I wear bright, loud socks and assume people take me for a slick, cutting-edge, "creative."  Maybe that isn't the case, either.

More later!