Sunday, February 28, 2010

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Howdy! Thought it might be fun to do a work-in-progress-type-post. The story is something I wrote and I'm working on putting a dummy together and then working up the nerve to submit it sometime this year (a New Year's Resolution). We begin with a thumbnail (2x3, something like that).
This was another sketch from a different thumbnail. There were a few. Very "ruff" :)
After moving things around a little, I made the sketches less-sketchy. Knew there would be a wiener dog, but didn't know the big dog would be a great dane until I started re-working it.
I used transfer paper to transfer my drawing onto my nice watercolor paper (I used to work for the Department of Redundancy Department). I inked it all with my trusty Micron pens and began painting with watercolors the following day. The springer leaping for the frisbee is our old dog, Larry!
Action Photo: The paint is still wet. Oooooh....
The finished painting! This is a photo, I haven't scanned it yet, so hope it reads well (click on it to get a better view)! It ended up taking more time to paint that I thought it would, but I am happy with how it turned out. The blue ribbon was fun to paint (actually blue, turquoise, and violet), the silver tabby is our old cat, Lila, and the photo of the dog with the bone in his mouth was taken directly from a thumbnail sketch. The dog has that classic, goofy, young labrador look and I think it might be my favorite thing in this painting. I have no idea how long this took from beginning to end, but it spanned a few naptimes and a whole lot of iTunes! In other news, I am twittering now. It has been a really fun way to meet other illustrators and authors and see what folks are up to. Hope you had a nice weekend!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

nina! your work is so beautiful, nina! well thought out, from layout to final... beautiful! you are so talented! enter this with confidence... + then share your good news later when it happens! A+++++++ karen [genie]

andi butler said...

This is too cute!
a : )

Betsy said...

Nice work Nina! I love it!

Z-Kids said...

Beautiful work! And I love seeing the process!
-AZ

Anonymous said...

Nina, this is absolutely fantastic! And the circus horse with the audience in the backgroud is just wonderful. You should be very proud. Can't wait to see more of your work! :0)

Nina Crittenden said...

Dear Karen, Andi, Betsy, Z-Dad, and our Anonymous Friend, Thank you so much! xoxo Nina

Anonymous said...

Awesome! Love it!

Nina Seven N7 said...

hey nina! so fun to see your work in progress. it's a lot of work to put together a dummy, huh? i know, i finished mine up a couple of weeks ago, along with 3 finished color spreads. i sent it off to one publisher, so far. hoping for a miracle...nice to hear from you!

Christina Rodriguez said...

I love how clear your sketches are! The lighting and color in the finish are lovely. I do feel sad for that cat, though, missing out on all the fun.

Bella Sinclair said...

Wow, Nina. Thank you for showing your process. I love watching your ideas come to life. That action shot....you must have used a fast shutter for that one! :) These are really fun images with adorable critters. Can't wait to see more.

Thank you so much for your kind words about Renee.

Amy Vasterling said...

NINA! You are the next Norman Bridwell! Look at these. This is has a feel of Clifford but a new style of drawing, a modern twist. Who publishes Clifford? Who is that publisher's competition? These are great and fun and lovable. NINA!!!!

michael smith said...

wonderful work....thanks for sharing your process sketches!