Rags

Hello all! I am still playing the waiting game (see previous blog) but to stop me climbing the walls I have embarked on  another little project that I’ve been asked to illustrate. It takes the form of a reading guide for very small people, and is about a little boy and his dog called Rags.

The boy is African American, and apparently the character was inspired by another illustration of mine in a different project. Small world, isn’t it? In the course of discussions, the boy went from being Indian to African American and he’s great fun to draw. I am currently working on character sketches for the boy and the dog, Rags. The boy is five years old, which allows me to bring some of my experience with drawing children into play. The rules aren’t tremendously complex, but you have to get them right and I have learned over the years that there are certain things to bear in mind when drawing children of different ages. Generally speaking, the younger the child, the larger the head, the smaller the nose and mouth. The eyes are set wider apart, and seem larger. Also arms and legs get shorter and shorter and you can reinforce the illusion by slightly oversizing the clothes. It’s a bit of a conjuring trick, really, but it seems to work. There’s a picture below, see what you think! More from me soon, take care (and tweet me if you dare!)

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