Packy Derm

  Elephants never forget ... to blog. September was an incredibly busy month with work, and I'm playing catch up. Recently I finished illustrating two readers for Scholastic, one immediately after another. ( Phew!) This one features an elephant who is getting dressed and carrying his stuff to an unknown destination. He does not forget his mittens! I call him Packy Derm, but the actual title is "Packing Up".
  Each of the 16 pages says "I have my ______." ( hat, jacket, iguana, etc.)  To expedite the process I copied and pasted many of the background elements, such as the house, trees, stepping stones, flowers and leaves, changing their sizes, shapes and positions as needed.  I  had a library of leaves from previous work which I could recycle.
   It is not until the final page that the reader realizes he is loading his car with his belongings
(although the title is a clue to  that). The cat co-stars as she watches his every move from a different vantage point each time. 

 first step

I began by drawing each pose traditionally with pencil on grey pastel paper which made it easy to  establish highlights, values and details. I added the pinks and a few colors, then went on to silhouette the figure, copied and pasted the ties and hats, and added the rest of the color in Photoshop. I placed the isolated figures in their scenery, adjusting each environment as I went along, based on the layouts of  my initial sketches.

I have my vest.

I have my jacket.

I have my bicycle.

I have my jam.

I have my iguana.

I have my cat.

 I have my car.

Vroom.....Bye bye for now!