Sammy's Dentist Dilemma
Late summer of 2010, I was on my way with my family to our annual family reunion. I had illustrated and published one book earlier in January, and a 2nd was in the works. As is our tradition, we stay one night with my sister in Pleasant Grove, UT who is also a highly sought after dental hygiene consultant. The conversation eventually rallied around publishing, and more specifically what publishing needs there might be in her industry. We then discussed the potential need for a children's book for dentists, since the most current one was published in the 1970s under the Berenstein bears series. So, the concept for my project was born.
My wife Alisa, has been an elementary school teacher for some years now and has always aspired to writing a children's book. This was right up her alley, and she was eager to get something written. Inspiration struck one evening, and she was ready. She wrote the story all through one night, late into the morning hours until she had it down. In one night!
Next came my part. I carefully considered the tempo and imagery that her story held. After much consideration and attempts I finally laid out the book determining what illustrations to create for which stanzas of inspired verse.
The sketching process was next. I worked with a few concepts until I had the main character developed, and then proceeded to create to scale sketches in pencil for what would eventually be rendered digitally. My experience in this process has taught me it is better to render the sketch completely rather than leave it as a rough line drawing. It helps me to work out the details more effectively. Regardless, I end up with some really cool sketches in my sketchbook!
