Towards the end of Bears on the Stairs, the parents give up and take the child up to bed themselves. The child thinks 'Aha - now they'll see for themselves!' but, infuriatingly, when Mum and Dad appear, the bears all hide!
Which presented me with an interesting challenge - how to hide three bears, one of them massive, on a bare staircase!
I felt it important that we see them hiding, as the reader will get a kick out of the 'he's behind you' factor. I also thought that, while the parents are oblivious, the little boy should be suspicious, well on the way to spotting the bears:
I felt it important that we see them hiding, as the reader will get a kick out of the 'he's behind you' factor. I also thought that, while the parents are oblivious, the little boy should be suspicious, well on the way to spotting the bears:
I tried and tried to draw it as one double-spread image (as that's how the rest of the book's done), but in the end, I think the only way it works is as two pictures, one at the bottom of the stairs and one at the top:
Again, the first time I drew it, it was in danger of being sinister, so I made Big Bear giggly. Hopefully that has taken the sting out. What do you think?
Again, the first time I drew it, it was in danger of being sinister, so I made Big Bear giggly. Hopefully that has taken the sting out. What do you think?
7 comments:
I love the second one on the lamp!
I think it's a great solution. Thanks for sharing your thought process. I find it really interesting.
How generous of you to share all this process on your blog. Which is just amazing I must say! The bears are hysterical!
Thank you - so glad you are enjoying hearing about the process as well as seeing the pics!
definitely takes the sting out :>)
these are wonderful and it's so interesting to hear the thought processes that go into the illustrations.
I'm going to buy this for my grandson when it's published!
Do please update us on the blog when it comes out?
Don't worry Vivien - I will definitely post when it's published (although it will be a fair way off - it routinely takes a good year, sometimes 18 months!)
Hand to mouth snicker works... as does the baseball hat... wearing a hat makes him a tad less frightening. I too am really enjoying seeing your mock up drawings and how you put it together to do a book.
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