A NEW YEAR, A NEW BOOK

The old saying is, be sure to start the New Year with whatever you want to be doing for the rest of the year.  I spent much of today with friends and family---hiking, eating, and talking.  A wonderful way to start 2011!  Equally important, I went back today to my current book-in-progress:  One Brown Teddy.  For the past few days I've been working out the media and style that I want to use for the illustrations.  Here is my latest version of Jacob, my little protagonist; his Mom; his one brown teddy; and the family dog---who is never named but who plays a very critical role in my story:

I'll probably make at least one more trial version of this piece before turning to any finished illustrations.  The trials help me iron out any kinks that show up when I am first creating a new style.