The Ax Man Cometh

I originally sketched this little guy one day at work. I thought he was cute.The first version (at the top) was pretty simple, just Robot and his custom-designed ax. I liked him, and I wanted to include him in the book somehow, but he just wasn't fitting in. Maybe a little too cute.

So I spruced him up a little. Now he's happy.

Nightmare clown

O.K. I may have gone a little over this time. (Hee hee.) I needed this one scary and creepy, and I think it turned out pretty close. I'm not going to tell you the story this one goes with because it happens to be the punch line, and it would totally ruin the page turn if you already knew.

All I'm saying.

If clowns give you the creeps

I'm working on an illustration for a twisted little story for the book. (Wait, they're all twisted, aren't they. Sorry.) Here he is on my drawing desk.

The drawing on the left is the sketch I'm working from, and the one on the right is the final version in progress.

New sketch, updated to fit

Here's that jack-o-lantern sketch updated to fit the format of the book. I'm not telling what the title of the illustration is because that's also the gag line.

And we all need to do our gagging on cue.

Rediscovered an old sketch

I had originally drawn this sketch with the intention of turning it into a greeting card, but instead it's spent the last few years collecting dust on my hard drive.

"But," thought I, "if things were rearranged around a bit to fit the format of the book..."

I'll post the new sketch as soon as it happens.

Writer's critique kicked my butt

Fresh from (my part) of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators' pre-conference writer's critique, and my little brain is whipped. These guys are good, and it was enough to make me want to take a long step back from the book.

Maybe into the next state.

I read three of the short stories from the book, and the reaction was mixed. I would have liked a funner, maybe more excited response, but there you go. I got some helpful feedback and ideas on how to make things work, but I guess I was hoping I was further along in the writing process than maybe I actually am. Like some of that stuff I had written was already working.

Bummer.

But their ideas were good.

No. They were great.

Which makes me feel just a wee bit more inadequate as a writer than I had felt even before I sat down at their table.

Ugh!

I ate a lot when I got back to my room is all I'm saying. And to make myself feel even more inadequate, I think I'll read a little Neil Gaiman Smoke and Mirrors to put myself to sleep.

Drawing desk in-progress report

Here's the latest illustration for the book in progress, as seen from its birthing table.