Drawing with Baby Dragons

Hi! I'm so excited to announce that today my very first book comes out. Baby dragon Baby Dragon, written by Melissa Marr, illustrated by me, and published by Penguin! It’s about the adventures and friendship of a high energy little dragon and a fierce little girl and it's so fun. Melissa modeled the story of the baby dragon after her own young son whose high energy has sometimes made making friends difficult.

I also can’t help, but see my own kids in this book, especially since the illustrations were made at a time when my small family was expanding. I started rough drawings for the book right after my second son was born. And the energy of Baby Dragon reminds me so much of the energy of my oldest son: all over the place and exuberant.

Working on Baby Dragon thumbnails while baby sleeps.

So today, on Baby Dragon’s birth day, I'm thinking so much about my kids and also reflecting on what a crazy, messy thing it was to illustrate my first book during that first year of keeping a tiny human alive. Many of the illustrations were made while holding a baby or worked on during nap time.

There was a lot of drawing with the baby sleeping in a sling or during the few minutes when he entertained himself in the playpen. Holding him while I drew worked great until he figured out how to grab things off my desk. My studio originally doubled as the baby's room... so I could draw while he slept. Then we moved the kids into a room together and my studio doubled as the playroom. It was a mess.

This is what it looked like.

It seems fitting that, on the day of Baby Dragon's birth, it's spring break, both kids are home and things at the house are crazy. The kids were especially dragon like this morning. With that, I gotta run. The toddler is up from his nap and it's time to pick up and help with dinner. The adventure continues.