Saturday, October 07, 2006

Pen & Palette / IF Trouble

I was offered to illustrate the cover of the Pen & Palette, which is the newsletter for the Carolina’s Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators. How very exciting!

Also, I think this makes a pretty good entry for this week’s Illustration Friday word, Trouble.




click on the image to view larger version

<

I decided on a fox dragging a kite in its mouth. The fox cause I thought autumn colors would be nice for a Fall issue, the kite because it’s like a logo thing for the SCBWI. Sort of like a donkey represents the Democrats or the elephant represents the Republicans.



I had a few other ideas like a sleeping beer with a kite in its paws. I also thought about doing a moose with the kite tangled in its antlers but… I like the fox.



This is the second stag; the sloppy painting part. This is a hard part to get past cause the work always looks trashed at this point. I think, "Oh no! What have I done to my sketch??"



Here I have gone over the pencil drawing with black paint. With this step and the step before, I try to be loose. But I still feel I'm not loose enough. Like maybe I'm not brave enough to let the original sketch go.

5 comments:

Ginger*:) said...

Oh, Ian , this is fantastic. I love your work anyway, but this is a great painting. There is such color and movement. You were so wise to pick the fox for your central character....and what a fox he is.

JO said...

I love the line quality and the mischievous fox. Lovely illo.

studio lolo said...

Stunning! Reminds me of one of my favorite illustrators, Will Gammell. Very, very nice.

Jeannetto said...

really nice. i like watching your progress, from sketch to finish.

nicole falk said...

WOW!! really marvelous!!! beautiful work...