We are in the US for the holidays and woke up to our first snow of the winter this morning. Balancing travel and visiting, childcare with meetings and end-of-year projects, I fell a little behind my intentions to keep working on The Oxherd Boy book. To be honest, I didn't think I needed to progress so much!
The first time I worked on the picture book THE RABBIT AND THE SPARROW, things progressed much more slowly, but I think this book BOY MEETS OX (it's a terrible working title, but there it is) is pacing ahead for a few reasons:
More action: There is a lot more action in this story, lending itself to straightforward, less emotive story-telling, and more ideas of composition.
Familiar process: Being the second go-around, I find myself more familiar with what is expected of me and the work I produce, thus saving a bit of time.
Feels right: I am also simply feeling more comfortable in the story than before. I find myself second-guessing myself a little less, and making decisions more confidently.
At any rate, I decided to do a rough digital storyboard this time around to get feedback from my agent Liz, before committing too much time to pencil sketches. Here is an example:
All in all, though I miscalculated the amount of work to do while on vacation, it doesn't feel like it sometimes with any of The Oxherd Boy stuff, because it's such an important piece of my heart at the moment. I truly am a lucky one.
Sending you all love,
Regina