Earlier this summer, I created a summertime illustration that debuted on a promotional card for my attendance at the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) conference held the first weekend in August in Los Angeles. It was inspired by a pencil sketch in my sketchbook created this past spring (which you can see if you CLICK HERE.)
I remember silly images like this in my favorite picture books when I was a kid, overcrowded with visual stimulation that made my little mind soar with wonder and amazement. This was likely how the seed was planted in me to one day wish to illustrate children’s books.
While in recent years I’ve worked primarily in animation, my career actually started in children’s books with the first one published way back in 1992. Hard to believe it has been that long. I have worked on around 30 or so books both on my own and together as a team with other illustrators. Maybe one day a blog post about that should be in order.
So, I’d like to do more children’s books, which was why I went to that conference earlier in the month – to get an idea of the state of the industry today. It would be nice to think that my brand of silliness could find a place once again on the shelves of Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or any number of small intimate bookshops scattered across the country.
For now, though, I leave you with some close-ups of this traditionally watercolored and colored pencil painting. (Only the lens flare was added digitally for those of you curious about such things.)
If you would like to see the major steps in the creation of this piece from rough sketch to final art, feel free to seek out my Instagram page where those were posted earlier this summer. You can get to it by CLICKING HERE!