Several years ago, my agent suggested I might like to try creating a board book. Hmmm…let’s see. A small book with heavy cardboard pages, suitable for chewing by teething babies. What would I like to show or tell a toddler?
I landed on musical instruments. Thinking of Leonard Bernstein’s glorious explanations of the orchestra, I thought I’d give that a go. I would need strings, horns, percussion…a conductor!
Also, rattling around in my head was one of my kids’ favorite books: The Philharmonic Gets Dressed, where we get to witness the daily lives of the orchestra members and watch them get ready for the evening’s performance. Heaven. It became a story of clothing as much as of music. My youngest especially loved the harpist’s cleavage.
I decided to go with an animal orchestra.
It is terrifying to send Anna Olswanger an email of a first drawing. Luckily, she is patient. She was kind, but firm, and less than over-the-moon about my first thoughts. I thank her for that. I was on the right track with some, but definitely not, with others.
The conductor was a problem. The peacock just wasn’t working. I didn’t know what to do with his feathers for one thing.
I wracked my brain for some stronger guy - the full-of-himself kinda guy. (If I had another go at it, I’d make it a woman). I moved on to a goat - a billy goat. The internet is a treasure trove of ideas. I found him.
Then it was on to the players. I definitely wanted the at-home wear vs. the concert get-ups. There were moments when I was more fixated on fashion than on philharmonic.
Here’s the gang, in action.
But, what good is all this, if my little friends can’t hear the sounds? That’s the whole point! So, with the help of some dear musician friends (and the internet) I put together a video to showcase my orchestra.
What Do You Hear? is available on Amazon.
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A note: I get a big kick out of the description of someone as an auto-didact, as though that is somehow a rung below ‘true’ education. What does that mean? Was I supposed to get a pedigreed diploma in videography or digital art or music composition or italian or gardening or crocheting or painting or washboard-playing? No sir. The glorious and freer path is to follow your curiosities. Take a course, ask a friend, look online (one of the benefits of the internet), just try something, see what happens. The only pitfall is failure, which leads to success.
I wish you happy hunting and Happy Groundhog Day.
So cool to have insight into your process both in terms of stories and drawings. Oh to have that rich talent and imagination! Love this.
again more brilliance and creativity coming through you! Loads of fun!