The Little Engine - pencil sketch

This fast draft was done after several previous explorational sketches. To my horror - I seemed to have internalized the images I saw of "The Little Engine..." - while researching the book online.

My first roughs - which were either action line scrawls or attempts to figure out the mechanical

shapes of a steam engine, looked a lot like covers you can see in a Google image search

of the book. On the bright side - I guess that indicates I am a quick study;)

The Little Engine

This is a final draft - comp for a book cover - created for the company I work for. The story, "The Little Engine That Could" is a classic and a fun subject to illustrate. This version will not see the light of day as is. The image was created entirely in Adobe Flash from a quick rough pencil sketch (The Little Engine - pencil sketch). The idea was to give the Engine a cute, bright, happy look - atypical of previous versions - but give it a clean, cartoony solidity.

IF: pattern

All it took was a little ingenuity to change the pattern of his life.

IF: infinite

Seemed like Grandpa had an infinite amount of lines in his face.

IF: welcome

"Welcome" always strikes me as part of a bigger picture, a slightly longer sentence: "Welcome home!".

The image I picked for "welcome" - is from a book that didn't happen. This is a couple of pages - Grandparents welcoming there grandkids to a day at the farm.

IF: Strong

Strong can cover such a broad range... Its hard to pick an idea that pins it down... So I am going to add several interpretations. The top one being the first that came to mind.

A big strong gorilla

Created with Studio Artist

Anansi the spider - strong in wits and back.

pencil and digital watercolor with SA

A strong hand - but a gentle touch

Created with Studio Artist