Many of my favourite picture books while growing up were written and illustrated by Tomie dePaola. His delightful stories and wonderful art were staples during my childhood story-time. So you can just imagine my excitement when I discovered The Tomie dePaola Illustrator Award!
Wow, The Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators has provided me an opportunity to show my artwork to The Legendary Tomie dePaola! #HappinessOverload!
This year's theme is "black and white", and the subject is a passage from one of these classics:
“Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott
“The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain
“The Yearling” by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Super tough choice , as all three are such great stories. But I have a connection with Tom Sawyer, because at his age I too was quite the troublemaker. I wasn't as sneaky per se, but let's just say trouble always found me.
For me, the passage that best embodies Tom's character is the iconic fence painting scene. The scene is so perfect. I can envision Mark Twain's delight as he penned the precise moment that Tom turned the situation around so that Ben actually wanted to do Tom's chore for him. Hopefully you can envision this too (hint: tree branches!).
Originally I wanted to create a paper-cut design, but after exploring several different compositions, textures, and styles, I went with a mix of traditional watercolour and digital painting.
I hope you enjoy this piece as much as I did creating it!
