Squirrel Book 8 of 10

March 16, 2023March 6, 2023Leave a comment

Chapter 7 has two illustrations. This one is when an owl scoops up one of the family dogs. Rocky runs out to make a loud commotion, which startles the owl into dropping the dog. The author says it’s a true story.

She paid for a half page illustration for this one. When designing the layout, I realized that the image would benefit from as much height as possible. I thought, well, it’s supposed to be a half page, but we didn’t specify which half. Usually half pages are landscape (horizontal) format top or bottom half pages. But a left or right half page would meet the requirements also. I was proud of how it turned out.

A cartoon illustration of an owl in mid-flight. It's just dropped a white lapdog who is depicted in mid-fall and terrified. Below them both on the ground is a squirrel chittering and waving its arms. The scene includes a gravel driveway, bordered by grass going off into the distance. There are trees and hills way off behind. There are dandelions in the foreground grass.

Squirrel Book 4 of 10

March 8, 2023March 6, 2023Leave a comment

On to Chapter 3. The squirrel, Rocky, has been released and is showing off his moves for a girl squirrel. Only, he doesn’t quite stick the landing.

A cartoon illustration depicting one squirrel showing off for another squirrel up among the tree branches. The showoff runs down the trunk, backflips to a branch, summersaults along it, misses the landing, and falls off the branch. Movement is shown by a series of drawings of the same squirrel within one scene to show key positions in the string of his movement. Motion lines help define the path of movement. The second squirrel is watching from a distant branch with both concern and amusement.

Squirrel Book 2 of 10

March 4, 2023March 4, 2023Leave a comment

Here’s the second illustration for Chapter 1. This illustrates where a thunderstorm knocks the terrified baby squirrel right out of his nice, warm nest. He’s young enough that his eyes aren’t open yet and the fur on his tail hasn’t grown out long yet. I was particularly proud of the lighting.