Crocodactyl - How-to-Draw Page

Here's the second spread in my Monster Safari children's drawing book. On the left side of the page (above) is an illustration of the Crocodactyl, perhaps a distance cousin, second removed, of the Pterodactyl. A Furbuzzle sits atop the winged creature, hanging on for dear life.

After the fact, I realized that my background in the illustration is not easily readable. My wife couldn't figure it out when I asked her this morning. FYI, the view looks down on the cloud-shrouded jungle, with a few holes in the clouds which reveal the jungle canopy below. If this were done in color I think it would read clearly.

On the right side of the spread is the how-to-draw page (above). I squeezed both creatures into the space. Though I teach drawing with basic shapes in my school workshops, I don't do it myself. I just start drawing. So I had to deliberately break the characters down into the steps. I did it by "back-drawing". First I drew the step-one "basic shapes" drawing, then I jumped to the last drawing and filled in all the shading. Then I backed up and filled in the "tweens".

If you would like me to reserve a signed copy of the book for you or your library, feel free to contact me and I'll put your name on my list: bronsmith@gmail.com. Then I will contact you when the book comes out.

Have you seen my Trowbridge Chronicles blog? It's written and illustrated by a Trowbridge Shrew, named Violet Trowbridge, who lived in the Olympic Rain Forest about 200 years ago.

Eelops - How-to-Draw Page

 

Now we begin the second phase of my new Monster Safari children's book, the how-to-draw pages. On the left side of the spread will be the sketch of the Eelops creature, as you see above. On the right side will be a brief description of the Eelops, then a how-to-draw tutorial (below).

I chose to hand-letter the text to tie-in with the book's sketchbook format. I haven't yet decided whether I'll hand letter or typeset the text for the introductory and closing pages of the book. Stay tuned for more Monster Safari pages to come.

Have you seen my other blog, The Trowbridge Chronicles? It's a ancient journal, written about 200 years ago, by a Trowbridge Shrew named Violet Trowbridge. She lived in the Quinault Rain Forest and kept a diary of daily life in her rain forest village, Huckleberry Hollow.

A Day in the Life

It's time to take a break from the Little Beasties I've been posting recently and introduce to you my unconventional movable work style. Most people sit in their studio working all day. Not me. Been there, done that for many years. I've read many illustrators complain of the feeling of isolation with working alone in their studio as a freelancer. 

If the sun's out, I fill my saddlebags with my drawing and writing materials, then climb on my motorcycle and head for the beach or the mountains and spend my day "working" there. If it's cloudy or rainy, I head for Starbucks or any of a number of nearby coffee shops. I still spend a lot of time at my office on the phone and answering emails. But as soon as I get the business stuff out of the way, I leave my office and go somewhere to get my drawing and writing done. I do return to the office to do my Photoshop/Wacom coloring. But all of my drawing and writing is done outside of my studio.

Today my destination is South Prairie, Washington, a small town in the Cascade foothills of the Puget Sound region of Washington State. I will pass through the pleasant Puyallup Valley town of Orting on my ride to South Prairie. Mount Rainier looms in the distance (above) from the town center of Orting. The population density drops considerably after you leave Orting. The scenery along Route 162 between Orting and South Prairie is postcard pastoral.

The Carbon River is born on Carbon Glacier on the slopes of Mount Rainier. This is the river as it appears in the upper Puyallup Valley, between Orting and South Prairie. It joins the Puyallup River downstream near Orting, then winds its way to Puget Sound.

This is a typical stretch of highway between Orting and South Prairie. The scenery here is as idyllic as any in the Pacific Northwest. This area is far enough away from the population centers of the Northwest that it's still unspoiled.

The Veteran's Park in South Prairie where I do my work is located on the east side of town. I didn't include a shot of South Prairie...it's so small it doesn't make much of a picture. This shelter shades me from the midday sun while I work. In the late afternoon the sun comes beaming in at an angle into the shelter. Then I might move to the picnic table by the stream.

This is my favorite spot in the park. It's so pleasant and inspiring to sit and work with the rushing stream nearby. On this day the temperature was a pleasant 72 degrees while I sat and worked on my new Monster Safari children's book. I encourage you to leave your studio occasionally and find a pleasant place to work and renew your inspiration.

Look out for that stinger!

That last creature, the furry serpent, got canned. I concluded that there's something a little creepy about a snake with fur. So now I'm auditioning another slithery, crawly creature. I hope you prefer this one over the furry fellow.

I might add that my original intention was to make these monsters a little edgy, not too benign. But then I remembered who my audience is, first graders... fourth graders. Moms of elementary age children aren't going to buy a book for their first grader that depicts scary monsters with blood dripping out of their mouth. That's why I'm not drawing these creatures with evil eyes and macabre features. These are supposed to be fun monsters.

These are the style of monsters that I draw on my giant pad when I visit the schools. So now I will be able to pick a monster from the book, draw it on stage, then sell the book at the end of the school day. This book will be a perfect fit for my school programs.

Look, George! It's a Furpent!

The Little Beastie parade marches on, or slithers on, if you prefer.  This time with a creature of the serpent variety. What? You've never heard of a hairy serpent? Well, then, you've never been to Monster Island. 

Do I know you?

I felt like the "hairy"style monster was underrepresented  in the batch, so I drew this one today. I'm getting close to finishing the monsters, then I start on the draw-the-monster pages, which will appear on the right side of each monster spread. I haven't decided yet, but I might draw a few more. I want to make sure that each monster deserves its place in the book. Stay tuned.

Don't forget to check out my other blog, The Trowbridge Chronicles.

What's up?

I'm cruising in to the home stretch. A couple more Little Beasties and I will have enough to put together a book. If you have any last minute monster requests, let me know while there's still time. I think this book will go over well in the schools. Having done school assemblies for many years, I know that kids are crazy about monsters.

I've made a game out of this for my school assemblies for many years. I call it the Crazy Critter Game or the Make-a-Monster Game. The kids in the audience pull various names of animal parts that I've written on pieces of paper ("toad eyes, elephant trunk") out of a bag when I come down into the audience. I return to the stage and read the animal part name to the audience (they howl with laughter), then I draw it onto my giant easel pad (they howl with laughter again). I end up with a hodge-podge of animal parts which combine to make a "Crazy Critter"...and an auditorium full of kids howling with laughter. So after they see the Crazy Critter that I've drawn, they'll want to buy the Crazy Critter (Little Beastie) book. It's always a slam dunk. It's great fun to draw for school audiences, then to sell and sign books. You should try it if you don't already do it.