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Thanks for a great blog. I was able to get the information that I had been looking for. Thanks once again!

Aw.

And it's amazing to me how much your parent bunnies and cats often look like your mother and father! I don't know how you get so much emotion and character
into the way you draw animals-- what a gift!

Not to re-open the whole talent/hard work argument again. :-)

ANyway bravo Anna!

Thanks Libby!

I love these process posts and the finished paintings (of course). Thanks for putting them up.

Sure thing, thanks Matt!

Wow. Gorgeous!

I love the way the leg is crossed. It makes the moment seem more intimate for some reason.

Hi Anna -- would you share a little bit about your writing process? I am always curious about how author/illustrators work, how they segue back and forth between the two sides of the creative process.
Thanks!

Hi Abigail- I go back and forth between writing and sketching pretty organically. Usually I start by sketching a character, then slowly build a story around him or her. After the basic plot and character have been fleshed out, I go about refining the writing, giving the story a rhythm, cutting out anything unnecessary until the text and sketches balance eachother nicely.

Hope that helps!

Anna, so you make a character first? Interesting.

I don't at all. I write the story first and don't think about the art until I'm done. After I finish the art I'll cut the text since some of the story might be in the art.

I guess we all do it differently!

meghan

The colors are beautiful and the characters are so rich! Just the way they're sitting -- the father looks so relaxed and comfy, the daughter thrilled and eager, on her best beahvior....and fashionably dressed, of course. (ala the child's comment on ABIGAIL: "Everyone in the book has good fashion.")

Lovely!

This is great, Anna! Thanks for sharing your process!

It's looking wonderful already! I just love his pose and the fact that we the reader can see him but his friends can't. Just adds to the fun of the piece! :o)

Thanks for posting these process posts, Anna. They're really great.

Thanks guys!