The Bob Book

So, my previous post said the book I illustrated would be available two days later...but there were technical difficulties. However, after much wailing and gnashing of teeth, Mrs. Cheryl was finally able to get the book on Amazon! Here is the link to buy it! Traveling Bob is available in both hardcover and softcover.

Today I am going to share a few photos of the illustration process. I began with a photo of Bob the dog, then looked up various dog breeds online to find references I could use to draw her. I settled on the miniature pinscher as my model. While Bob was probably a mixed breed, she most closely resembled the min pin.

I modeled the recliner off of a horrid 70s yellow piece of yuck that belonged to my husband in college.

One of the last sketches I drew.

First I sketched the scenes out on watercolor paper; then I followed the outlines with ink to turn it into a sort of coloring page.

Unfortunately I did not get very good pictures of this phase. Natural light is best...lesson learned.

I also did a test run of this ink-over-pencil method by drawing a sketch of Kitty on the windowsill and then painting over the inked in lines. I erased the pencil after the ink dried. I had no idea what I was going to do if that plan didn't work!

Smokie was jealous.

The final step was to paint each picture with watercolors. Once I got the sketches done everything went so much faster! I really enjoyed my sunny spot in front of the window. I could watch birds as I painted or keep an eye on the cats stalking through the grass in the front yard. At this point, my color-test page is quite blank. By the end of the project, it was nearly covered in shades of brown and green.

I shared the picture on Instagram when the project was still a secret. The photo of Bob was visible, sort of like the hidden Mickeys in Disney movies. :)

I was particularly proud of a few of the finished pieces. They were the last ones I drew, which isn't surprising. Figuring out who Bob was as a character on the page and translating that into a drawing was a challenge at times, but for some of the scenes I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Those were the most fun and effortless!

I think of this one as "the oldies house" with the green recliner, 70s yellow walls, and red brick fireplace. I bet the Bee Gees are playing in the background. :)

A work in progress next to the nice, respectable Prang watercolors...

One of my very favorites almost ended in disaster. I accidentally smeared the black watercolor on her nose...and with watercolors, there's no undoing or covering up mistakes with dark colors! I was quite devastated, so I took a break. When I came back to my desk, I turned the horrifying smudge into a rock! I am most proud of this one because I was able to rescue it from disaster.

And here's my cheap-o watercolors that came with a Disney's Frozen coloring book. Haha!