In July, I was awarded a mentorship through NESCBWI with illustrator EB Lewis. His first assignment for me was to illustrate the word “Lost”. In addition to capturing the word, EB wanted to see narrative, emotion, and anticipation. Developing the concept was the most difficult part of the project. I drew dozens of sketches until EB told me to move forward on a sketch of a lost girl meeting a tiger.
From there, I collected reference and drew a final drawing. EB liked the drawing but wanted to see more of the setting and to see the emotion expressed in ways beyond facial expression.
My revised sketch was well received and developed into a final painting.
