School Revisited

One of the coolest things about being an illustrator for children is getting to go talk to children about what I do. Recently while getting ready to visit a class I climbed out of the shower and rambled through my closet for something other than my usual uniform of pajamas to wear. Hanger after hanger of grownup clothes were paged through and then it dawned on me.

O.M.G. I don't have to wear a business suit... I can actually wear jeans and they won't care!

In fact as it turned out for the class below I COULD wear my pajamas. The teacher had informed me earlier in the week that the day I was scheduled to be there was "pajama day" for the kids so I decided I might as well blend in.

Winnie the Pooh t-shirt and hawaiian print pants it was.

We talked for an hour about where I do a lot of sketching (the bathtub) and whether or not illustrators like to be silly (they do.) In the end I let the kids be my art director and they helped me design a monster for a new book I'm working on. Here's the sketch with the input from my 22 art directors penciled in at the top: