The Clever Camel Counted her Chocolate Cupcakes

Jack & I are going to meet with the woman who does prints today. I'm excited to learn about the process and to get going on this so I can start selling.

I have to say how happy I am with these Daniel Smith paints. I think the colors come out so nicely - not washed out like my Winsor Newtons.

Someone asked about my process, so I thought I'd give a brief overview here:

The first thing I do is sit down with a dictionary and sketchbook. I make lists of words that inspire me. This can take a while. Then I start putting words together to see what kind of sentences I can get. I usually end up with a few and ultimately choose the one that creates the most fun (I wish "funnest" was a word) image in my head.

At this point, I start sketching the composition, figuring out where the subject should go in relation to the letter, etc. Once that's decided, I do some color studies on scrap paper to see which colors will go together best. I also often refer to Google Images for reference photos. The camel above is a composite of several camel photos I found online.

Finally, it's time to move to the watercolor paper, where I transfer the letter and do a light drawing. Then I add paint. Voila!

I love every step of the process.