Friday, November 23, 2007

Now for something completely different

Here are a few of the illustrations I've been doing for my friend Jill's book - she and her daughter were bemoaning the fact that bible stories for children seem to be so drearily boring, so she wrote a little dotty poem about The Prodigal Son and asked me to draw the pictures. I've ended up illustrating just about every line, and really having fun doing it - taking some creative licence with what those old testament chaps would have had at their disposal - soccer balls and photographs were most certainly off their radar screens, as, in fact, were radar screens. She is taking it to try out on her two grandsons in Sydney, Australia next week, so I have to get a move on and get a mock-up made. If the little boys really love it, we might try and take it further...
Just playing around again with watercolour paint makes me think that it is my favourite medium - I love the unpredictable things it does, and the also the things that traditional w/c painters frown upon - the 'cauliflower' splodges and drips.

4 comments:

Gillian said...

I love the fun style of these illustrations. But did note the chap at 12 o'clock has 2 right feet...!!
Also I'm not sure I agree that the soccer ball and photographs are a good thing?? Children are so literal. While we as adults understand that sort of humour in the drawing, I don't think children always do - well not very young ones... I guess it depends on the age group you're targeting...??

Gillian said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Cathy Gatland said...

Oops...2 left feet with ball skills is familiar to me, but two right...nah
Am not sure what you mean by 'a good thing'... will see what the test group of 3 and 5 yrs think soon.
(Your comments keep coming up twice for some reason, hence the apparent censoring)

Gillian said...

I mean the soccer ball and photos being part of our 21st century - not of Biblical times. It's funny to an older reader... but could be confusing to little ones... unless they're incredibly bright!!??
Yes - it will be interesting to hear the feed back from the children.