A Return to Painting
For those of you who wonder about the...
A Return to Painting
For those of you who wonder about the process of making a picture book, you might be curious to know that a lot of the time we illustrators are not actually making the artwork that goes into the books we’re known for. It’s different for every artist, but for me, I spend the bulk of my time crafting a story, sketching it out, designing the worlds and characters that will make them up, starting over again (and again) and getting ready for my final art with a series of final pencil drawings and detailed color studies. As I prepare to begin the final watercolors that will make up the pages of “Return”, I find myself nearly a year and a half away from the moment I finished my paintings for “Quest” (which some of you may be surprised to know were completed even before “Journey” was published!).
Needless to say, I always feel a bit rusty at this point with my brushes. The best solution is to just get out and paint. And I’m in a good place to do that. The coast of the Mediterranean offers daily sunrises and sunsets and an easy subject matter: the blending sky and sea. Today, after a long day of Spanish classes, painting prep, and family time (at yet another cave!), I found myself without my paints as I watched the clouds catch fire with the setting sun. Never again! In a couple weeks, we’ll head to the Alhambra in Granada where I’m hoping to do some paintings at dusk - there’s a big sequence in “Return” that takes place just after sunset.
More to come!
