I am excited about the work that I am accomplishing in the studio as I work on the finished layouts and finished artwork for A BED FOR LITTLE CUB!   I’m not doing any writing at the moment because I have to get 17 finished illustrations done by the end of August.  Then back to writing (and still drawing).

Here is the almost final revised layout for the first page of the story (page 5):

I am very pleased with this sketch.  I have to decide if the second mouse should be perched on top of Old Bear’s chair or quietly sitting on the edge of the hearth behind his chair.   The duck decoys work beautifully in this picture and I’m so glad that idea came to me before I did the final drawing and painting of this illustration.

Here is the almost original layout (the stacks of books were added later):

It is easy to see how the composition has greatly improved since this very early sketch/layout.