I had the ultimate good fortune in 2015 to be commissioned by the wonderful Darcy Nybo for several projects. Two of those were children’s stories she had written. The first was Emma Jean Finds a Friend. After browsing some of my illustrations Darcy hit upon a wonderful idea that would incorporate them into a lovely little fantasy tale. There were gaps of course so she commissioned me to create the extra drawings required.
The sweetest part of this is that she chose two ACEO illustrations I had created of my sister-in-law’s daughter Liv to be the main character of Emma Jean! ^_^ Thus little Liv is now famous and all because her mother commissioned me to illustrate her holding the slugs that she loves so much.
The story itself is cute too, as I am sure the below images will display. The illustrations shown are without the text since Darcy added that later. I would say more about the content and surprising ending but I don’t want to give away spoilers!
Emma Jean Finds a Friend
Swooping
In the Clearing
Cat Stretch
That Tickles!
Light at the End of the Caverns
Be my Friend
If you are interested in seeing more, Emma Jean has a facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/EmmaJeanFindAFriend/?hc_ref=SEARCH&fref=nf
You can also purchase a copy (physical or ebook, free on kindle unlimited) from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.ca/Emma-Jean-Finds-Friend-Darcy/dp/0991883365/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472321177&sr=8-1&keywords=emma+jean+finds+a+friend
The second book we worked on together was illustrated entirely from scratch. The story is told from the point of view of a cat and dog named Sam and Gina, who just so happen to be pets Darcy herself owned as a child. Again I won’t reveal what happens but it is a cheeky little tale.
I have only included a selection of the images I created for this just to give you an overview and as read, so as not to spoil the story. I found this project quite challenging since the characters were not my own. It took quite a bit of back and forth design altering to get to a point where we were both satisfied with the look. After some nifty editing by Darcy I think the final came out wonderfully.
Again the images shown as those prior to the text being added since Darcy took control of the typography.
Bark Swat Crunch
Sam and Gina
Crunch!
A Well Earned Nap
Something Afoot
What’s That?
If you are interested in seeing more; Bark Swat has a facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/BarkSwatCrunch/
You can also purchase a copy (physical or ebook - free on Kindle unlimited) from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.ca/Bark-Swat-Crunch-Darcy-Nybo-ebook/dp/B0197413KA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472321267&sr=8-1&keywords=bark+swat+crunch
I have not had the pleasure of working on another storybook yet (in 2016) but I am hopeful I will get to try this again. As always I hope you enjoyed this blog entry and see you again next time. :)
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