Monday, December 16, 2013

Tomie dePaola Entry 2013: Sneeze

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - © Kelli Thrasher-Brooks - - - - - - - - - - - -

I finally put down the pen & watercolors & sent in my entry last week... I thought long and hard for a month or two about this composition, and in the past month the image really came to fruition. She had 3 different style pony tails until they made sense... the animals sitting at the table transformed from several different characters until they seemed to balance out and made me smile... and I went through several canvas boards and paint until I found the perfect hue and grain/texture to use as a foundation for this digital painting.

I originally created the Illustration for the 2013-2014 Tomie dePaola Award Competion, but it was more of a personal challenge for me, because I have been trying to add more narrative into my Illustrations since I got back from the Highlights Advanced Illustrator Workshop in August. It's a win for me no matter what the outcome is. I really appreciate and look forward to Tomie's challenges each year because they really get you to think outside the box a little and push you even further from your comfort level! Can't wait to see all of the creative submissions and interpretations of this poem!!