March 9, 2016 - Posted by Cara Lockhart Smith | Art, Illustration, Uncategorized | children's book illustration, gouache, Midnight Hare, picture book, scottish borders
I’m Cara, and I live in Coldstream, in the Scottish Borders As well as writing and illustrating books for children I have recently been painting on canvas, in my octagonal studio (aka The Tardis) which inhabits a corner of the vegetable garden. My work for children has been published in several countries, and translated into different languages. My favourite form at the moment is the picture book, but I have also had published poetry, children’s novels, and illustrations for the work of other authors, and have worked extensively on projects with children. I go out most days with my camera and create blog entries from the results. Some of the pictures I take will be used as background material for the picture book which I am working on at the moment. My son Matty set up this WordPress blog for me, and it has added a dimension to my life which surprises me. It is also interesting and inspiring to read the blogs of other people from different parts of the world, and to look at their sometimes fascinating pictures.
caralockhartsmith
Beautifully magical Cara✨💕✨
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Thank you, Seonaid – that is so encouraging. I did an earlier version, on grey paper, and it didn’t seem to work at all. In the meantime I looked at some photographs of forests at night. I am keeping to the slightly different shades of the brown Ingres paper now, they seem to work better with the colours I like to use. I suppose I was thinking “night”, “blue-grey – but I am glad I switched. It will also make the book feel more integrated. The grey version is in the wastepaper basket.
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It’s all about trial and error….I didn’t see the first, but thus one has a lovely feel💕
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Yes, magical was the first word that came to mind Cara – I love this! Great mood, muted colors w/exception of the childs’ clothes and the background light.
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We all want to be Milo, don’t we, to posses his courage? It’s what brave and true artists do, isn’t it… explore the deep magic of the woods, the unknown forest. This is a lovely illustration Cara but did I miss why they are wind-up birds?
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It is strange how, without reading the script, you have picked up on so much of the theme. The wind-up birds will appear later in the plot, this is their first appearance, and Milo doesn’t see them yet! I am doing the illustrations in a higgeldy-piggeldy order, which I always do, I think possibly because it means that any changes in technique that occur in the process don’t show up.
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