Dropping out the line - Line vs. No Line

A little something new.  I'll be sending this to a list of selected editors and art directors as a postcard.  We'll see what they think.

It's fun to send things around and see what happens.  The forms for this illustration were inspired (and based in some instances) on art deco illustration from the 1930's.

Dropping out the line always seems to be popular... probabably because it simplifies things.

On the Street Where I Lived...

 It was a lot of fun to create this illustration of a street scene with brownstones.  I especially liked it because I once lived in a brownstone in NYC... on West 78th Street.  So the ideal source for my illustration research was Google street view.

I do most of my traveling on Google street view since it's so easy and interesting.  But it's always fun to go back to places you've lived to see how it looks now.  So this is where I started my career as a children's book illustrator.

That's my window circled.  I used to love watching people go past on summer mornings, with New York   starting a busy new day.  If I leaned out the window I could just see the Museum of Natural History down the street... where I spent many, many long happy hours.

The last part of making any book...

 

The last part of making any book for me is forgetting it. It might sound funny, but it's true and essential. After all the millions of changes and fussing over details there comes a time when you decide it's finished.

Without this distance I find it's hard to get any peace of mind. So it's nice to just set it aside and forget it.

The best thing to do next is start working on the next project - and get on with the endless art-making struggles that it will bring.

I also tried going to the Seattle Art Museum, which was okay but not spectacular. What else might I have done? Skiing? (too expensive), clicking wine glasses (don't drink - no one to click glasses with), photographed tulips? Possibly... but I already have 8,000 tulip photos I've taken.

What do you all do when that final bit of paint has hit the canvas?