When I published my first book, Names, Nations, and the New Testament, I told myself I would never do another book with images. That book was fraught with issues. I changed my formatting and notes halfway through (zero stars; I do not recommend doing that) and hand-drew my own maps for my book. While those turned out fairly decent, inserting them into my manuscript was a huge pain. Converting it to a usable ebook was even worse. But here I am three years later with a book of pictures, and in color no less!

This book was also a steep learning curve for me, but it was one I greatly enjoyed. Over the last few years, I have been stretching my artistic abilities into the digital world. Before now, I have mostly used pencils, oil paints, and watercolors. I also almost exclusively drew animals and painted landscapes, though I have done a handful of portraits. But something cartoon-like was out of my wheelhouse. Yet this is one reason why I enjoyed this project so much. I got to try my hand at a new thing and combine it with my writing! Of course, I’ve always had a fascination with dragons. I wrote my first dragon story when I was in elementary school. I have it somewhere in a little spiral-bound notebook. I also drew the same dragon over and over again (although it was just the head. I had a thing for avoiding drawing the whole of anything. Just ask some of my friends!). I think perhaps I was bound to write and illustrate a story with a dragon in it someday.

But as I mentioned previously, it took me a while to put this book together. There were two years between the idea for this book and its publication. While the story came fairly easily, the art took a while longer. I made so many sketches trying to figure out what I wanted my main character and his dragon buddy to look like.

Once I had those down (for the most part; I ended up changing a few things along the way), I started making my thumbnail sketches and layouts. And even those changed, too! Watching how my kids played and how they acted when they found a creature outside or showed me something helped me nail down certain details in my drawings and layouts. I also added an idea partway through that resulted in me having to redo several of my drawings. All of these drawings I did on paper by hand before I uploaded everything to my laptop and digital sketchbook. 

Figuring out how the digital program worked was a whole learning experience of its own. And I did hit a lot of bumps along the way. It took me a long time to figure out the different brushes, how to resize my canvas, and how to properly use layers. In fact, the other day I learned something new about the program I use! But I appreciate the challenge. It makes the book a real labor of love, requiring a long-term commitment to the task that results in long-lasting skills that will aid me next time.

Believe it or not, I’m already planning out my next storybook. The next one will be longer and in a slightly different art style, but hopefully, it won’t take as long to complete! And just the same, I’ll probably have learned more about art, storytelling, and putting it all together next time. But until then, I hope you enjoy my book My Little Pocket Dragon, which will be available in just one more week!

Blessings to you and yours,

~Madelyn Rose Craig