BOOM. I DID IT.
Absolutely DELIGHTED to announce that I have completed illustrations on my fourth children’s book, “Fly-in to the Boonies,” by Bob Allen and published by Beaver’s Pond Press — hopefully to be made available very soon, by January of 2019! This was my fastest ever turnaround for a book, completed in just five months. Not only that, but it was my most complex project to date, with a seaplane, family of four characters appearing on nearly every spread, wildlife, boats, cabins, and what felt like thousands of pine trees. WHEW.
I definitely learned a lesson about myself that summer vacation is NOT a productive time, with the majority of the painting happening frantically over the past few weeks in late September/early October. If you’ve followed my Instagram you probably saw me painting a complete spread every single day in October – WHAT.
I did speed up the process by going 100% digital during painting. Going digital is something I’ve always resisted, but with the AMAZING brushes you can download, you really can make anything look hand-painted – and it’s just SO MUCH FASTER and more efficient. Photoshop is so great. Resizing characters, placing new objects, manipulating layers…if my editor asks me for a change, I don’t panic anymore at the thought of going back to a physical drawing board. Photoshop is my best friend.
Meanwhile, I’ve somehow managed to start up my job again as Registrar at Minnetonka Center for the Arts (I went on a year-long hiatus before being asked to sub, and now I’m permanent again); teach a few classes there on the side (graphic novel diaries, comic arts, and illustration arts); and started up (and fallen behind already) on Inktober, the month-long celebration of ink where you draw every day based on a prompt provided by illustrater Jake Parker.
What’s next for me? I have no clue. As a freelancer, projects could fall in my lap, or I might need to do some footwork in a few weeks if nothing materializes. Right now, I’m content to kick back, install some video games on my laptop, and take a much-needed hibernation from those 13-hour workdays. Wake me up when it’s spring 🙂