As I'm writing this, my toddler is in her "baby cage" banging on a metal pot with a wooden spoon. Coral has croup, which is an ailment common in babies her age. It doesn't phase her during the day. It only makes her cough like a barking sea lion at night, ensuring that neither of her parents get much sleep. She appears to sleep right through these coughing fits somehow. I'm grateful for that, but I'm not looking forward to tonight!
And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.
-Rainer Maria Rilke
I've been working like crazy. I just don't have much to show for it. That's one of the few frustrating things about being a book illustrator. You have to wait ages to share your work with the world. I've completed one project and I'm starting finals on the next one but I'll have nothing to post for a few more weeks at least!
But I did want to share a little snippit of something I've been working on. It's my goal to get my own book published this year. I have a lot of book ideas in various stages of completeness. Some made it pretty far (art, character studies and manuscript ready) only to be flung back to the drawing board when I realized the art or story was just not working. I'm hoping that someday, those stories re-appear, but right now, they need to percolate for a while.
A sneak peek at a children's book idea I'm working on!
But there is this one little seed of a story that grew out of a random thought I had one day. I wrote out three pages of manuscript that pretty much stunk. Then I took a step back and sketched all the scenes I would want to illustrate from this manuscript. Lo and behold, I had a book! I really love this idea. I'm not "in love" with it, because I'm ready and willing for my agent to give me feedback and help, but the idea of illustrating some of these images has literally kept me up at night. I am itching to make this book. I will be an author/illustrator! I will tell my own stories! This year is going to be the year!