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| a tiny snippet from one of the Paris scenes in CITY CAT, written by Kate Banks |
Last month I started on the final art for my next picture book, CITY CAT, written by
Kate Banks. My editor
Frances over at FSG offered this lovely script to me waaaay back in the spring of 2009, knowing that we weren't going to get things going for a long while. It was so hard to keep this project on the back burner all this time. Location drawing is my absolute favorite thing, and I don't just get to research and capture one beautiful location for this book, but eight! The story takes the reader on a journey through Western Europe, as a cat follows a family on their holiday adventure. I'm in love with Kate's poetic text and selection of cities, and I am so grateful to Frances and Kate for pulling me in to this dream of a book project.
For the last week I have been drawing the gorgeous city of Paris, and
the other day I decided to take a trip down memory lane and watch a
movie I remember one of my teachers showing in elementary school: The
Red Balloon. This film is magic and a must watch if you have never seen it. The above clips are proof.
Unfortunately I'm not able to go to Paris while working on this, but I did travel there in 2009 for a little inspiration and reference collecting. The above are a few sketches from my adventure. I fell in love with this city, and hope to visit again soon ♥
A new year, a new studio! Well, very soon! And while the new studio is being renovated, I am temporarily set up in my living room, in the back of the apartment. I'm loving it because my desk faces the windows, where I can watch the neighborhood cats and squirrels walk wires and fences between backyards all day long. And each evening as the sun says goodbye, the buildings become one beautiful silhouette against the darkening sky. This evening I was inspired to make a little ink and watercolor because it was just that pretty :)
Well, the time is FINALLY here--I am headed to Europe to do research for a new book project (written by the wonderful Kate Banks)! The travel route will include Paris, to Ravensburg and Weingarten, to Meersburg, to Munich (arriving just in time for the lord mayor to tap the first keg at Oktoberfest!), and finally back to Paris. I am so so psyched to explore these cities and their landmarks, and hopefully fill up some memory cards and a few sketchbook pages! Oh, and my assistant (and official translator!) is pretty excited as well :)
I really miss living in Italy.
...Well not completely. I stuck to my "1 location drawing a week" rule, though it was WAY too cold to draw outside today. Instead I ducked into a cafe, and since nothing much was going on in there, I dully drew the coffee corner...BUT, I did my drawing after all :)
Well, location drawing used to be one of my most favorite things, but I somehow managed to abandon it for pretty much ALL of 2007. One resolution for my new year was to kick it in gear again, and head out once a week on a drawing excursion. Just once a week -- now that's not too much to ask of myself, is it. Plus, I get fresh air, get to see people, and feel like a real person for a change (working out of my apartment studio gets pretty lonely - especially in the wintertime!). So today was my first attempt, and I was pretty rusty as predicted, but it felt really good to be drawing out-and-about again. Yay location drawing!
