Over the next few days, keep your eyes focused on this site as I reveal some of the behind the scenes process for illustrating the book.

This story came across my email on October and 2019 and was finished fall of 2021. As you might expect, Lenore and myself have been working diligently and waiting patiently for this day.

I’ll be sharing with you some of the early illustrations so hang tight and let’s get to it!

The first step I take as an artist is to read the manuscript and get a sense of the story. My job is to interpret the story and create a visual representation that enhances the text. My goal is to add depth, bring the characters to life and fully immerse the young readers into this world.

To accomplish this, I must ask myself a few questions as I read the manuscript:

• What kind of story is this? Is the story funny, light-hearted, spooky, scary, or emotional?
• Are the animal characters meant to be realistic, comic, or maybe a little bit of everything?
• What kind of motion, and emotion does the writer intend for the reader to feel and see?

Since Lucky, the raccoon is our central character, one of the first steps in the creative process is to come up with the “look” (for Lucky, the family, and the world they live in). I try to do something a little different in every book, which means doing something I haven’t done before.

To find inspiration for The Family Business, I looked at:

• Photos reference of raccoons, chipmunks, pandas, foxes, and other small furry animals
• Anthropomorphic illustrations of animals and how they move or posed
• Illustration styles from various artists and how they approach drawing animals
• It’s also important to see how animals are dressed like humans because our raccoon family have very much people personalities and sensibilities
• Ideas for colors, atmosphere, attitude, and personality.

After absorbing and marinating in these inspiring images, the next logical step is to attempt my take, resulting in the following early sketches.

Many artists have a defined style – something they’ve honed over the years. My style changes a little depending on the project I’m working on. I very much enjoy doing it this way. It’s like trying out different flavors of ice cream and seeing what I’m in the mood for. This keeps things interesting and fun!

Here are some character sketches:

Comicky

Here’s a version that looks bubbly. Lucky has a rounded face and comic book look due to the use of black outlines.

While color is not very important at this stage, I will play around with them to get a sense of Lucky’s personality. Red will often show vibrancy, fun, and liveliness.

Different poses and movements give the character emotion.

Sketchy

This one uses a more “sketchy” style. Loose lines and duo-tone coloring gives Lucky a subdued/softer look.

Simplified

This one has a very simplified style with lots of solid colors, almost no shading, and no outlines.

The arms and legs are thin while the body and head are either a circle or rectangular to keep the basic shapes.

Just right? 

This one is a little closer to the final design.

If you look closely, it combines elements from the previous versions.

The loose feel works well for their fur, while solid outlines work well for their outfits.

The outlines are later removed or colorized to give the book an even softer look.

A few more revisions and this one will work.

Below is the refined sketch of Lucky and his family.

While it’s not the final version, it is close. The emotions are more evident, the shading gives our character depth and each character carries a unique personality.

Another critical question: Should raccoons wear underwear?

The next step is to determine the colors that go with each character.

What do you think so far? In the next post, we’ll look at the inside pages! Make sure to get your copy!

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