I am not sure I will be able to convey how exciting this commission was! I was handed a treasure trove of unpublished poetry that is up there with Shel Silverstein and Lewis Carroll's work. A collection of 26 poems called, "Extinctuary, a Compendium of Doomed Species." These very odd poems told the rather macabre story of 26 animals that drove themselves to extinction through any number of bad habits. Not only were these poems fuel for a strange imagination, they were funny! I especially enjoyed the occasional absurd word balanced by historical reference, giving the stories an almost true feel.
I have permission to share "The Laploo Bear" and then I will share the illustration process.
The Laploo Bear
The Laploo Bear was furry brown
and soft to see and feel
As gentle as the youngest lamb,
with jaws like sharpened steel.
It dined on leafy foliage,
an herbivore by choice.
It's shyness made it hard to find
as did it's dulcet voice.
The Laploo slumbered most the year
as bears are prone to do
and loathed the waking hour
which would begin each year anew.
In early fall their sleep would start
when leaves were on the ground
as weather would begin to change
and food was seldom found.
Why waken for the wintertime
with bitter winter frost?
To wander barren forest land
perhaps at mortal cost.
Soon spring would come with floral birth
but why awaken then?
When rains come unexpectedly
and nuptial chores begin.
And summer's quite intemperate
with soporific heat:
which brought them back to fall again
so their rest might repeat.
With their desire to hibernate
and lengthy slumber deep
they never did awake again
and perished in their sleep.
By: Estil A. Vance III
I wish I could suggest you all order the book and read all 26 poems! Maybe someday :) Currently the author and his family are working on commissioning different artists to paint each poem to create an amazing gallery on their wall! I enjoyed being part of such a fun project!
The first thing I did was get to know the Laploo bear. "Furry brown, soft to see and feel, sharp jaws, though a herbivore." I thought he should also have a long neck and a full collar and stripe to set him apart from today's bears, and big clumsy feet that might make him dislike things like "wandering barren forests" or "nuptial chores." I wanted him to have a cuddly, slow look to him.
After I understood what sort of animal I was working with, I created the scene, nestling a sleuth of bears into fall leaves. These poor bears though..... they never woke up, and became skeletons caked in the ground, sleeping into eternity.
I wanted some sort of "floral birth" to contrast the extinction of the species. In the sketch I used strawberries, but in the final piece they became orchids.
This is the final drawing on hot press watercolor paper. After drawing the forest and leaves, I wanted to give it more of a prehistoric feel and added some ancient looking palms, orchids and succulent type plants. I also gave the tree to the far left an interesting growth habit.
Ok, now things get tricky. I always love the drawing part, but I really struggle with color theory and often feel restricted by my strong lines. At this point I thought I was done with the fossils, dirt and rocks. But as time went on I found that I had to keep adding color to create contrast.
I had a lot of browns going on. The bears were getting lost is the leaves, the underground needed a sturdier look to balance the top of the illustration, and I REALLY wanted the sky to be yellow and pink against blue trees, for a warm, crisp autumn feel. I'm not sure if that was the right decision, but I tried to make it work. I spent a good amount of time pacing, wishing I had gone to art school to learn color composition, and spent time seeking guidance from my 2 illustrator friends. Finally, I ended up with this:
I love the way these bears are cozied into the leaves, and the one guy looking up into the sky... he's about to go back to sleep.
I can't help but imagine the "Crangli Bird" or "Hufari" and "Abso." So many amazing creatures, that we no longer see, and that only a small hand full of us have ever imagined :)
