 I put it off as long as I could. It was a side project I was working on and I was having trouble settling on a theme. A theme and an illustration. I'd done a lot of thinking, but had done nothing concrete to move things forward. So I sat at my desk and started mapping out ideas. A list of words. A list of images. And (no surprise, really), it worked. Ideas started to materialize. I settled on a theme. A snowy night. A night when snowbanks shimmer like sparkle snow in a storefront window. And with a theme, things shifted. The ideas started to flow. The snowy night led to the idea of adding animals. But what kind? Animals that turn white in winter (there are fewer than I expected). The Peary caribou is one and it would be the first of four I would include in the drawing. Things were finally coming together. I had the shape of the caribou defined and most of the night sky around it was filled in. But something was wrong. The nose. With a pointed eraser, I rubbed it out. And something happened. The area I erased looked like the breath of the caribou. I was so surprised at the sight of it. Serendipity had stepped in and transformed the drawing. The relief I felt was audible. This was going to work. The drawing came together, I met my deadline, and felt good about what I had created. And (fingers crossed), I learned something. Start before you're ready. Procrastination is hard to eliminate entirely, but sometimes a deep breath, a pencil (and an eraser), and a list will get things going. -------------- Production Notes: On the final panel, I added a line from a cut-up poetry exercise. The original pencil drawing along with the hand lettering was scanned. Color was applied in InDesign. Click on the drawing to enlarge.  If I can help you move forward with your book, let's do it. Call 207-252-9757 or email me to get started. Comments are closed.
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