HAPPY HALLOWEEN

(The eyes have not been doctored)

Colors,Colors part 3

This image is one of my all time favorites, I can go back and look at it 100 times over and still enjoy it.

This is also the last of the images I will be posting for "COLORS" The fish is a two page spread.

The line goes: "and Orange is...." you'll have to buy the book to find out the rest :)

Colors Colors part 2

(Illustration from "Colors")

Not much to say,

this is one of the two main characters that flow through the picture book.

In this illustration it is going over the rules:

Colors, Colors

("Colors" inside copyright page)

When I receive the text for a story, on the very top of the page there is usually some type of editors notes: physical size of the book, how many pages, and so on. When I received "Colors" by Dana Warren on the top of the page in parenthesise was written "(We were thinking about crayons)" not an exact quote but close enough. So my first thought was to figure out how to make crayons work for the story. As I have said in the past I read and reread a story many many times, no different with this one. In truth because this story is so well written it is one of the only stories I now by heart.

So here I am repeating the lines thinking of crayons, then they start to melt from melting crayons to paint splatter, then I'm thinking who is going to clean up that mess? So I'm thinking of the Disney adaptation of "The Sword in the Stone" where Arthur is washing all the dirty dishes & Merlin does a bit of magic. that starts me thinking of buckets, from buckets to buckets of paint running around, from buckets of paint running around to paint brushes. Then I think to myself who would want to see a brush full of paint? Then I think of another Disney film "Fantasia" with Mickey and the animated mops & buckets of water. All this in twenty minutes "Whew!"

Anyway, I propose the idea of paint brushes & buckets to my editor and she thinks its a good idea and to run with it. So in two months I have a finished 32 page picture book full of brushes and buckets and also a few other characters creating a wonderful way for children to learn about color.

"Colors" is the first picture book of two picture books I have illustrated with the same author, the second one is called "If Fish Could Drive" (not sure of the release date at this time but will let you know when that happens).

Like always this book can be purchased at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and 4RV Publishing book store.