POP!

Here are a couple of color images from the newest story that I have been working on about a little porcupine who would very much like a balloon of his own, but many unexpected things (bees, birds, clowns, himself) make it difficult for him to keep them from popping.

My nearly wordless book was partly inspired by my love for comedians like Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and Buster Keaton. Because their films were silent and told mostly through actions and emotions, with only a few words appearing on the screen, I think they are very similar to the art of the picture book. I love the surprise element of their films- when you think one thing is going to go wrong, it turns out to be something else. A perfect example of that is a scene from a Buster Keaton short called One Week, in which Keaton is attempting to move his house on wheels across some train tracks, with disastrous but very funny results. Check it out here.

Jellyman Kelly

Growing up my dad introduced me through his record collection to many musicians of the 60's and 70's, including James Taylor- but Jellyman Kelly was one of Taylor's songs that I serendipitously discovered on my own while watching Sesame Street. I love it's nonsense lyrics (I read that the song came out of a poem that his five year old daughter Sally wrote at school). It came up on a playlist recently while I was working on another project and I started to think about who Jelly Man Kelly and Jenny Mulhenny were, and why is there a big question as to whether she will let him come home? I decided Jellyman Kelly must be a jelly salesman- only he eats more than he sells, and makes a big sticky mess in the process. Jenny Mulhenny is his wife and she likes to boil hot water for her tea. The answer to whether Jellyman Kelly can come home? No! (At least not until he sells the rest of that jelly and cleans himself up)!

Here is a link to James Taylor singing the song on Sesame Street. I give you fair warning if you take a listen- it is quite infectious and you will most likely be singing it to yourself the rest of the day!

Illustration Friday: Sleep

I am willing to admit that sometimes my bed looks like this when I fall asleep at night.