The Kid's Color Studies

Color studies is maybe a strong word, but the inked drawings are scanned which meant I could print copies for the kids to color on:

The Princess and the Pea

Here's another random sketch:

Fundamentals of Princess-Imagined Architecture

If you were a princess, what sort of castle would you build? Hopefully something impossibly precarious and whimsical, but maybe still grounded in something appropriately and typically royal—cause that's what I'm going with:

It's a design I've had in mind for a decade and have used in other little illustrations. It borrows an understanding of physics and structural integrity from Dr. Seuss with touches of Hogwarts and Cinderella's Castle.

Additional Sketches

These sketches (and the previous ones) are all first-drafts in a sketch book. I'm beginning work on final pencils on separate bristol board. The plan is to ink the finals, photograph and then color each piece digitally, reserving the right to go back in with watercolors on the originals. But for now, more sketches:

Hansel and Gretel

Here's another off-topic sketch:

Out On a Limb: Maleficent's Vines

So as a minor diversion from my primary illustration project, and as a way to test out a few techniques, I thought I'd do sketches of other stories. Here's Sleeping Beauty:

Our Story So far, in Verse

So I'd know what to illustrate, I took a stab at some copy. It's definitely draft copy, but I think it already helps provide some context for the illustrations.

The King and Queen would leave town for a week,

An idea that the princess found quite bleak.

See, the castle they lived in was old, dull and dreary,

Ugly and cold with a tower so eerie.

So, on the day that her parents left for Peroo,

The princess considered all the things she could do.

As she walked with her bot, she began to devise

A gift for her parents that’d be such a surprise.

Out with the old, the mold and the cold,

She would build a new castle, so vast and so bold.

She packed up the art, jewels and history books

Moving everything of value from the castle’s dark nooks.

And then demolition—it all had to come down.

Time for a hardhat, no use here for a crown.

So much dust, debris, wreckage and rubble.

But her dozer could clear it without any trouble.

She hauled junk away, to a dump down the road.

Ensuring that everything was done to code.

Then work began on building her home.

She’d need pillars and arches and at least one dome.

Her bot helped her know what should go where,

She measured with her carpenter’s square.

She labored day and night to get it all done.

It was hard work, for sure, but she found it fun.

She threw in all she could think of to make it great:

Two pools, three slides and a place to ice skate.

A library, a theatre and eight pinball machines.

A few hidden tunnels and six trampolines.

The inspectors were pleased and everything passed.

With a final flag, she was done at last.

The King and the Queen arrived home to find

The project complete, a castle most refined.

They loved what she did, as did all who saw it

But the princess was busy getting her next building permit.

Initial Rough Sketches

It's been a while, but I'm back with a flurry of activity. Like this sampling of sketches:

Our princess is forlorn as her parents pack up to leave home without her.

Being home alone in an old castle is dull.

While on a walk, our princess gets an idea!

First step, remove all the valuables.

Then demolish and clear away the rubble.

Pour the cement!

Our princess making good use of a crane.

Rosie the Riveter, is that you?