A Peek at Pics in Progress

Here's a peek at some of the stuff I'm working on right now...

This picture shows a progression for one page of the science comics I'm doing for the Montshire Museum of Science and Dartmouth College - This is a few days worth of work! And, yes, I DO the actually experiments.

It starts with some written directions, lots of web research, then my sketches in blue-pencil, then inked lettering and drawings, scan and clean up in Photoshop with text instructions added, then a color version (the one shown is for Rock Candy as I haven't done the color version of DNA yet).

I've also started on the watercolors for "Ready, Set, Gorilla!" - a picture book by Melissa Stoller that I'm illustrating for Clear Fork Publishing.

I put the sketch on my light box and do the watercolors...

Here's the same piece, off the light box, with all the blocks of color painted in. No details yet.

I do about four or five spreads at a time so pages can dry completely. The page in the back, with the slide, is finished. I added the details and shading with colored pencils. The slide ended up being changed to bright yellow after I scanned it into Photoshop.

Tomorrow is a Snow Day - so I'll hole up in my studio and finish off these pages (and a couple more). I love this stuff - but I also think it's nice to have these two very different types of projects to go back and forth between!

My idea of heaven... drawing and coloring in my studio... no distractions or interruptions and the most pressing decision I have to make is... "hmmm, Prismacolor pencils or Inktense pencils...?"