Well, the dinosaur train has slowed down quite a bit — I’ve signed and mailed off a ton of “Tryceratops” books, I’ve got my extras stacked in the closet, and my brain has shifted gears to the next project at hand: The Tooth Fairy Who Forgot, by Carla Ferrell.
I’ve been spending my time sketching out spreads for Carla’s story, and it’s a blast:
The book follows the correspondence of 8-year old Isabella as she writes letters to a forgetful tooth fairy. It has been so fun researching and imagining the tooth fairy’s detailed kitchen and study…
…and Isabella in her bedroom and poking at her teeth in the mirror of her bathroom!
I just love adding tons of fun details in my scenes. Isabella’s bedroom was super fun, too. Here’s a snippet…don’t you just want her Kleenex holder?!
I am now finished with about 75% of the sketches. Just a few more to go, and then I’ll be painting!
Meanwhile, my awesome employer is sending me to MCAD (Mpls College of Art + Design) this week for a 5-day art educator’s workshop on printmaking. I just wrapped up day 2, and I’m learning everything from wood block prints to dry point etching on plexiglass (wood is apparently a SERIOUS pain to carve; my wrists are still in pain). I’m learning some techniques that will work great for my students, and other techniques that just won’t fly (like all the acid that’s involved with copper etching – yeah right!) I’ll be able to transfer (most of) the info back toward lesson planning in the fall, and it’ll be awesome to have so many new ideas and material.
That’s about all for now, folks! Just working hard drawing and sketching. Lots of trips to the library for reference material (you would be amazed to see how many tooth fairy books are on my record for the past few months). Lots of random pictures of me in random poses and making silly faces on Photo Booth and in my iPhone for reference photos. Lots of stealing away one-hour breaks at a time, in coffee shops or cars, laptop on the passenger seat and sketchbook in lap. When you’re a mom, you sketch when you can, and somehow in the end, a finished product materializes! I’m just happy I have an assignment to keep me producing work. Thank you, Carla! Can’t wait to show the world this adorable story. =)
~e