The Middle

Now that I have tried and discarded seven or eight little boys from my trial sketches I finally decided upon a pose.

  First I lightly sketched in a basic shape on the dragon. I decided the little boy wanted a ride.

The next step was to see the figures more clearly as they relate to one another, so I set the layers to

"Multiply" and started a new layer under that.

I am happy with the pose now, so I go ahead and refine the sketch of the child.

This makes me happy and I want to keep the sketch, but of course, it is too small for the large painting I am working on , so I measure the area on the painting and find out that the child needs to cover 8 inches across the back of the dragon.   I take only the finished sketch of the little boy and transfer it to a clean canvas and enlarge as needed,

The final image is now 8 inches across and so I print this one and prepare to transfer the sketch to the canvas where the dragon is waiting.

I have a couple of choices. I can sketch this in freehand or I can use tracing paper and graphite and transfer that way.  

Then, because the boy is being painted over the dragon's body I need to block in the image with a coat of white that will dry and be painted over later.

Anatomy of a Chapter book...

I have just completed work on my first Black and White (inside) chapter book. The cover is done also, in living color, but I can't post that here.

For purposes of this post, however, I wanted to share the process I followed to get from the early sketching stage to the final finishes.

After reading the manuscript several times, (actually lots of times) I began with some character sketches. These are usually large because I like the freedom of just "letting go" and getting a good free feeling to the character.


Once I had pages and pages of these done I created a story board for the entire INSIDE portion of the book. As I finished each rough I printed a tiny copy of it and pasted it into my story board.

All those pencil notes on the story board are the comments from the editor/designer as we worked on composition and character and paid attention to the details in the manuscript that needed to be illustrated.


Each time I FINISHED a drawing I made a print out and posted those larger full size Black & Whites on the Bulletin Board that faces me as I work. I find that this helps to create a consistency of character and mood as I work. Style is important too. It helps me to see the particular type of line or hatching I am using as I go from one finished B&W to the next.

This last photo is the bulletin board with all 18 drawings displayed. I know the story almost by heart now, and it is a beautiful one. When the book is out I will post more information and some close ups as well as the cover, ISBN and places where you can find the finished product.


Although I am a children's book illustrator, this book seems to me to appeal to an older audience, one that moves easily into the adult range with its charm and meaningful message. I'll be sharing more about "WHEN WISHES COME TRUE" by Barbara B Slater, in the coming months.