When I’m on my trike, I put most cars to the test

Here is a quick sketch I made to warm up before drawing The Three Jungle Friends story at 826 last week. I like to loosen up before the kids get there, because once they start writing their book I have to move fast.

This shot also gives you a sense of scale of the art that we create for the books. We keep it large so the kids can see it as we are drawing, but working this size also poses problems for time (ie filling large black areas or even crosshatching).

This image, of being hunched over on a tricycle, had been stuck in my head all morning before I got to draw it out. The funny thing is, that immediately after we finished the kids books, I stumbled upon (literally) a tiny red tricycle just like the one in my head all morning. I thought it would be perfect for photo-reference, but when Mike tried to snap a shot of me riding it, I couldn’t possibly get my feet on the pedals while it was moving (like they are in my drawing).