Many Are Sketched, Few Are Chosen

Acrylic and charcoal on board

Here’s the finished cover art for A DOG’S LIFE, shipped yesterday to Roaring Brook Press / Macmillan in NY.   The editor and art director chose this from about six or seven sketches.  Here are a few -

charcoal on copy paper

charcoal on copy paper

Sharpie pen and pencil

pencil on copy paper

Whenever I speak to kids I always stress that a professional artist doesn’t sit down and bang out a nice image in one shot.    Time and effort are  invested in trying several ideas, then choosing the best.    The teachers always nod vigorously.     Most kids would rather be a snowman in a sauna than revise.

Real writers revise.  Real artists erase.    Professional artists and writers spend most of their time on stuff nobody will ever see.  “So kids”, I tell them, “don’t be discouraged if you don’t get it right on your first try.   Neither do I.”

charcoal on copy paper

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If you’d like to schedule a talk at your school, please contact me at david@davidslonim.com.