Homecoming

I have questions about a big reveal. Does the story need one? Would it be better to lead with an overview shot to provide context. Is this image an it-was-all-a-dream cop-out? I'm not sure, but for now, for me personally on this project, it's a helpful framing device and a nice way to provide some closure to a simple story about borrowing sugar from a neighbor.

Watercolor the Grass

Color! After so many pencil sketches, a little color is so refreshing. I wanted to break out my watercolors and do a little test before I moved onto my official illustrations. I know of things I'll do different, but I'm going to try and keep things this loose. I'll probably include more whitespace.

Suburban Lady of the Woods á la Peter Jackson

Despite Billy being straying from his purpose, his journey comes to an end when Ben's mother arrives with sugar.

I like to think that Billy's mom called Ben's mom to be on the lookout as soon as Billy left the house. It's likely Billy made it from his front door to Ben's front porch within a couple of minutes before Ben distracted him. Ben's mom knew of Billy's task though, so she arrives like a magical lady of the woods to bestow Billy with the gift of sugar. I'm hoping to light this scene extra cinematically.

Adopt a Basset Hound Sphinx!

I wanted Billy to confront a pet in his neighbor's yard, and I wanted the pet to be some sort of adversary, but I didn't want him to be scary or aggressive. I thought a sphinx could be cool and give Billy a mental challenge. A basset hound seemed perfect because it's ears could have that Egyptian headpiece look.

To ensure the scene wouldn't look too much like just a regular yard, I chose to add agave plants in bloom. Agave blossoms look straight out of Dr. Seuss or some alien planet. I'd say they're more foreign looking here than they are in real life.

Medieval Fantasy meets Sci-fi

Billy's friend and neighbor, Ben, has fashioned himself Robin Ben Quick. He's the consummate woodsman, adventurer, and rebel knight. I liked the idea of Billy running into friend who's inhabiting his own different fantasy reality, but once they're together, their separate realities blend seamlessly together. Who care's that Ben is medieval and Billy is all future? The kids certainly don't.

World's Best Treehouse

Of course, Robin Ben Quick lives in the coolest tree fort there ever done was.

Drought-resistant Space Cactus

As Billy leaves his house, and overlooks endless plains (his lawn) he's flanked by two cactuses that exist somewhere between between fantasy and houseplant-next-door.

Irrigation System of Doom

This spartan looking piece will be Billy fleeing acid from monolithic black lawn sprinklers. I'm hoping to execute much of the piece in watercolor, hence the lack of pencil line. Here's an example of Billy not necessarily being small, but his surroundings being larger than life. The grass of his lawn is taller than him and the pop-up sprinkler heads are now gigantic—and toxic for no particular reason!

Time For a Costume Change

Billy's suit is destroyed by the acidic lawn sprinklers so he's forced to forge ahead unprotected. I didn't want Billy to have to spend the whole story in a cumbersome suit, and I like that it maybe wasn't necessary in the first place. Was Billy just wearing a play costume that gets wet with water from the sprinkler so he ditches it? Or was he completely imagining the suit? Or did his adventure start out more sci-fi, but he's not constrained by genre? Either way, he's free to play as he see's fit and the melting suit gives a sense of peril to his journey.

Nature Can Be a Scary Place

Billy encounters lady bugs in the forest (a shrub along the property line). I wanted the lady bugs to be ambiguously dangerous. Perhaps they're peaceful, but their sheer numbers make them a little threatening.

Once as a kindergartener in the woods on an army base in New Jersey, I found myself all alone. As I was walking I looked down and realized I had stepped in some sort of rotting stump. It was overgrown with big flat mushrooms that I had disturbed, sending bugs scattering. It was so unexpected and I remember feeling panicked and temporarily paralyzed standing there. Of course, it was all completely harmless, but the experience really stuck with me.

I imagine Billy in a similar situation. Perhaps he crouches in the bush to watch one ladybug and then realizes there's another one, and another one, and a dozen more, and he begins to feel overwhelmed, even though they're harmless.

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

Billy is led to his neighbor's fence, which he see's as a colossal fortified wall. And of course, no kid uses a gate when presented with a good climbing opportunity, even a vertigo inducing one.