LAURA INTERVIEWS WENDY

As part of National Picture Book Month (NOVEMBER!), artist Laura Jacobsen recently interviewed me, and posted the interview on her blog.  She and three other artists will be interviewing and posting many illustrators throughout the month.  Be sure to check out Laura's blog---her website with all her beautiful art---and follow up on the links to the blogs and websites of the other three artists!
A November of Mini-Interviews- Wendy Watson

PICTURE BOOK DESIGN: TRIAL ART, PART 5

The last step for this piece of trial art---adding the color.  I used Winsor & Newton watercolors for this. After working on the color for a while, I decided I needed to add more pen & ink texture and pattern.  But how much, and where?  India ink can't be erased!

I did what I often do---I laid a piece of clear film over the art and did some quick pen work---some on the grass in the upper piece of film, some on the figures in the slower piece.

When I laid the inked piece of film over the art, I could see how the additional pen-work might look.  Did it need work on just the grass and background?

Or---laying down both pieces of film over the art---on the figures as well?

 As a result of this check, I decided to add pen & ink texture to figures, grass, and tree---to everything, in fact.  I worked more on the color as well.

 More texture, more color...

 Finally---a finished piece of trial art.  And by the time I completed the piece, I wasn't sure I liked this style for my project after all.  Better to find this out by doing a trial piece, rather than discovering it when I'm half-way through the actual finished art!