03.25.13

Hey, there!
I am running out of creative titles for this blog so I'm not wasting my energy on it this week--I'll think really hard for next week, though!
  I've been working further on my "Princess and the Dragon" story (which is inspired by St. George and the Dragon, I hope know that story--it's the original and quintessential dragon-slayer story!!) and I have a good outline and some solid art for it which means I'm now ready to move on to the next story I'm developing.  Are you wondering how many stories I'm currently developing?  Well, that would be 5--omg, how did that happen??  I'm working on them very systematically so as not to become overwhelmed--it's kind of working.  You may wonder why I'm doing all this and I will say to you that this is just one of those times in life when I hold the answers to the mystery. That happens so rarely.... I kinda like it. :-)
  But I will share with you some of what I've been doing this week....I really like how these characters are looking and I'm pretty much settled on the color of the dragon, however, I'm open to your feedback so if you have a strong preference please let me know via email!  Now check it out:

Here is Helen, Adam and Rapunzel, the cat.  On a mission to slay a dragon.....

Here are some color ideas for the dragon--I'm torn between the green or the red but I've settled on the green b/c I think it works best overall and you'll see you look further on that I did try a lot of different options before settling.....

Here are just the black lines! I love just the black line....

Here is the red dragon option--I think the red is too overpowering, so I decided to try a softer color--this is a story primarily aimed at girls, after all....

I do really like how this purple looks but, as you may have noticed  above, Rapunzel the cat is also purple and therefore the dragon can NOT be purple....those are the rules!

And so here we are--ironically I started with this color, went through almost the whole spectrum and came right back this color.....SIGH....that's how it goes, sometimes.  Luckily, I'm very determined and not easily discouraged.  I'm also quite charming. ;)

 So I'm pretty happy with how that all looks and I happen to love the story so I'm at a very happy stopping point and ready to move on to the next story--which is completely different in tone and style!  It's for very young readers and it's a very simple tale of cause and effect--so obviously it's about a cat and a dog, stuck at home, alone, trying to clean up a big mess they made before their people get home--oops!  Check out my very preliminary sketches (because I literally just started working on this last night 45 minutes before bedtime)

Molly, the dog and Napolean, the 19th century European dictator--I mean the CAT--JK!!  although, FYI, he's named after the FIRST Napolean--that's very important!! (:

Well, thank you for visiting my studio--I want you to know that I'm extremely busy right now so it's a testimony to my love for you all (well.... mostly love for my art--honesty is important!!) that I'm posting right now!  So sorry that I have to hastily depart, but, like I said--busy, busy, busy little bee!!  I hope you like what I'm working on--there will be more to see very soon, I promise.
:-D
Thanks for the visit--come back next week for more art stuff that you love!
Love, Beckarooooo