The other day Alden made the claim that she wanted to be an illustrator, just like me. I was very pleased to hear this (though I have heard her also make similar claims to other people regarding their chosen professions). She went further to add that she wanted to be able to draw just like me. She said she wanted to draw Bill the Dragon from “The Imaginary Dragon.” I suggested that drawing like me wasn’t really as interesting as finding her own way to draw things. She considered this for a bit, and then said she would try to draw Bill just how she remembered him, and not exactly how he looked in the book.
So, for reference, this is how Bill looked in the book – my version of Bill:
And this is how Alden remembered him – I call him Bill 2.0:
I cannot tell you how in love I am with this drawing of Bill: the google eyes, the hands at the ends of his wings, the jutting underbite, the very Bill-like look of uncertainty and fretfulness. It captures the essence of Bill in a completely new way. Mission accomplished!
Which begs the question: What does Bill look like to the rest of you out there?
Email me your drawings of Bill and I’ll post them here on the blog. I can’t wait to see what you come up with!