Rivers Know This...

There are two kinds of illustrations for me- the first kind is where I have the idea in my head and then I have to work out the composition on paper to get everything just the way I want it (which could take two sketches or twenty, depending). And then there is the second kind, which usually comes out of doodling with minimal ease when I am not feeling forced with any particular pre-conceived ideas. That was the case with this illustration. The quick sketch was done as I was reading A.A. Milne and came across the line "Rivers know this: there is no hurry, we shall get there someday." I loved that quote, and I just drew the first thing that came to mind, which was this...

... and then it sat in my sketchbook for five years. But I liked that little gesture drawing and kept coming back to it, and I finally decided to do something with it. In the finished illustration I pulled some of my own memories of childhood- that feeling that I always wanted to set out on a great adventure and maybe take an unfamiliar road to see where it would lead, but I also wanted to be safe and back in my own home by the end of the day. That's the reason for the bluffs- growing up in Iowa, they've been a familiar surrounding. So these kids, even though they are surrounded by something familiar and safe, are still excited to go off to explore something new within it.

Dog and Bear

In recent doodles I came up with a dog and a bear character and sketched several of the things they do while their owner is away. I re-drew a few of them and added color, and here's the result...

The Sketchbook...

This is a character study for a story that I am working on about a dog who tries to eat a cake that his owner has made and left on the kitchen counter.