I'll Be There

My second picture book with Ann Stott will be released sometime next week. I'll Be There is a companion book to Always and provided some interesting challenges. Not only was I returning to a style and feel I employed three years previously, I had to age the boy and his mother approximately the same amount of years. I'm not sure if that's been done in a picture book sequel before. Anyone?
Like Always, I'll Be There is a conversation between a mom and son. The boy is a bit more secure in this one. In fact, he proudly lists the things that he can do alone, without his mom's help. But he still needs to know that she'll be nearby, just in case. Always was almost entirely from the boy's perspective (the mom doesn't even appear until the end), but I'll Be There features the mom prominently. It's as much her story as his.

Ann Stott is a wonderful picture book author. She knows what to include and what to leave to the illustrator. My main task was to find a setting for this conversation. I added a stone wall that the boy climbs and wanders along just slightly ahead of his mom. It seemed like a nice visual metaphor and also gave me the opportunity for some business that showed the boy's independence and the mom's hesitant granting of that independence.

These last two images are "almost finished" versions of final illustrations. I liked this very limited color for the flashback images, but we all decided that a bit more color would warm everything up.

For a look back at some sketches for Always, click here.

Here's What Cooks

(two pages from Around the World dry in the late day sun)

Well, my next graphic novel Around the World is in the supremely capable hands of the design geniuses at Candlewick and it looks all set for its fall release date (actual date forthcoming). It will also coincide with the publication of the paperback edition of The Storm in the Barn which I've just learned will in fact be in color. Yay! I'll be out and about promoting Around the World this spring (TLA in Austin, BookExpo in NYC) and fall (bookstores, book festivals, and whoever will have me).

In March, keep an eye out for my latest picture book, I'll Be There by the wonderful Ann Stott. This one is a companion to Always and posed some very interesting challenges. More on that book soon.

At the moment, I'm hard at work writing the script for my third graphic novel. Again, I'll post more on that project as it progresses but I will say that it deals with summer days, vaudeville, and the young Buster Keaton. It has been a blast to research. So far, the writing hasn't been too torturous either. Here's the big board in the studio with the current project taking up a lot of space:

I'm also planning a new sketch project for this little ol' sometimes neglected blog. More on that soonest.

Preliminaries: Always 4

We tried the idea of having small framed vignettes for Always, but having it full bleed seemed more appropriate... it gave the little guy room to run around and cause trouble. I still like this little sketch, though.

Preliminaries: Always 3

The sketch phase is definitely my favorite part of the process. This is the time for brainstorming and tossing out any ideas you have, just to see what works. At the beginning, I tried having the boy wear this little animal hat for all of the times he is acting less than good. I guess it was a nod to the Lost Boys and Max. Ultimately it seemed to be too much. Less is more. Simplify, simplify.

Preliminaries: Always 2

One of the early ideas for Always was to have a series of spot illustrations for the title, copyright, and dedication pages that showed the boy getting ready for bed. When the book "started", he would be in bed asking his mother if she loved him. What followed would then be a sort of flashback of his day, ending where we began. This seemed unnecessary and possibly confusing, so it was jettisoned in favor of following the boy from when he wakes up until his bedtime.

Preliminaries: Always

These are some of my first thumbnail sketches for Always by Ann Stott. This initial phase is not shown to the art director or editor. After I "think small" with these scribbles, I'll do a second version in small size, and then usually a cleaned-up version for the dummy which I show to the folks at the publishing house.

The Dog