illustration

Completing Cycle City

Early in 2017, while I was about halfway through the illustrations for my debut picture book, Cycle City (Chronicle Books, March 2018),  I had a looming deadline and not enough time.  I thought if I could get away from my regular responsibilities for a week, I might have a chance of getting back on track.  

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I soon learned about the Sou'wester Lodge in Seaview, WA.  Sou'wester lodge is a magical, art-loving place that rents cabins, rooms in a house, camping spots, as well as a fleet of vintage trailers.  They have a sauna, a massage trailer, a music studio trailer, loaner bikes, and a consignment shop trailer.  They host events, retreats, and workshops.  And they do artist residencies!  I applied, and eventually booked a week there.

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The Old Spartan, my residence for one week.

Inside the Old Spartan: compact, efficient, perfect!

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At Sou'wester, I worked about 10 hours each day, mostly on linework!  So so so much linework to be done!  I brought my light table, used a fountain pen and some microns to trace all of my spreads onto 300lb Arches paper (snob-paper for paper snobs).  I listened to the entire Harry Potter series on audiobook that week!

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Amidst the chaos, one finished piece! 

 

 

I'm so happy I was able to have a whole uninterrupted week to work at Sou'wester, it really was a treat!

Click through the gallery to see more photos of the Old Spartan and some of the places I walked to in Seaview, WA!