We are gearing up for our annual trek to Alaska – three weeks of commercial salmon fishing, which you can learn about in some detail HERE. This means we are scrambling to get ahead, or, at least, to not be so far behind when we return. So we’ve already almost finished our next book – due out August 1st. This means we are much farther ahead of the game than usual.
We’ve gone for a different format this time, and are trying our hand at our first kids-oriented mix-and-match book. As much as we would like to try to sell Ten Thousand Stories to kids, we recognize there’s some unsavory stuff in there. And as much as we would like to claim The Super Hero Squad Flips Out as our own, we recognize that nobody cares that we wrote it and that it really has very little to do with our [non-Marvel] universe.
And so, here’s a little introduction to our next book: Benji McBean and His Amazing Machines.
It’s basically about a kid (Benji McBean) and a bunch of different machines he’s constructed to take care of his problems. Like the “The Dish-Demolishing, Chore-Churning, Dust-Destroying Device,” for instance:
I started out about three weeks ago. Matthew had long ago written the text, so was already pretty much completely done with his part. It was lots of fun in the sketching stage to make up a bunch of different machines (there are eight). For a while I was trying to make them all mechanically feasible, but then I realized that I was putting ridiculous constraints on myself and I could pretty much do whatever I wanted. Once the sketches were done, I printed them out and put them on the light table and inked in my linework.
This guy is one of my favorites for his scrub brush hair.
So, at this stage, I basically ink and ink and ink like crazy. Usually in the wee hours, when no one is awake to bother me, and when it’s dark enough in the room that the light from the lightbox shines nicely through the paper:
Until I’m done:
And then I start in with the painting:
Which takes a VERY long time.
I try to keep myself alert by drinking lots of Coke and eating lots of ice cream and York Peppermint Patties:
I would not recommend this to anyone. After a couple weeks of this, I feel truly terrible. As evidenced by this photo:
All of this is to say: who knew that being an illustrator could be so bad for your health? I am suddenly regretting my decision back in 7th grade to become an illustrator instead of a professional basketball player.
More on this book to come.
In the meantime, please feel free to download the coloring page for the Dish Demolisher at this link HERE, or from the image below:
This one has lots of detail in it, so send me a picture when you’re done coloring! I’d love to see what you come up with.