First Day of School

A day or two ago I drew a kitchen. I gave it a big, fat retro fridge and checker tiled floors. As I sketched I tried to toss in some of the cheery items that make a house a home: a kettle, a cookie tin, alphabet magnets, and teacups. Then I decided the kitchen belonged to rabbits and that meant a window with a view of grassroots, dirt, and stone (rabbits live in burrows after all).

Finally I had this illustration:

First day of School

Here's how it progressed: 

Pencil

Pencil Detail of Mama Rabbit

Pencil and Pen

Just pen, pencil erased, ready for painting.

Light washes, ready for details!

The moment is that last look before the little bunny hops off for his first day of school. With his knapsack over his shoulders and his brown paper bag in his paws, he's ready to go! Mom is feeling proud, and baby sister is interested enough to look up from her blocks. To flesh out the scene I added some photographs and reminder notes on the fridge and scattered some of the baby's toys across the floor.

Little bunny and his lunch.

Mama Rabbit and the underground window.

Baby sister and the wooden snail I wish was real.

This will be one of my first actual paintings going up for sale in the shop! I have prints of this already (you can get them here) but starting tonight I will be selling originals on etsy finally. I had hesitated because of the dangers of sending valuable works through the mail, however I have been talking to artists selling their paintings and learning the "do's and don'ts" and I feel confident it can be done successfully. And by successfully I mean arrive in one piece, unbent, unscratched, dry, without getting lost or stolen on the way.

I really enjoyed painting an interior scene, I want to do more of them!