Sunday, June 19, 2011

hey diddle diddle



i'm working on a book at the moment, not my own of course, i was commissioned by o'brien press in dublin to illustrate a book of nursery rhymes. there's 54 illustrations. its been a steep learning curve for me, i've never done a book before (although i think i've always said i was doing my own). i've learnt several lessons i hope stay with me. they only gave me 2 and a half months to do this, i've learnt that really is a ridiculously short amount of time, while totally possible, it still isn't realistic. i learnt to prepare the night before for what you will do the next day, i was spending way to much time just fiddling about, working out where to start. i found out its better to keep working, rather than dwell on a problem, i realized i saved a lot of time when as soon as i ran into trouble i dropped what i was doing and moved onto something else, without fail, when i returned to the thing i was stuck on, it made more sense. oh and drink fancy expensive beer, this helped late nights feel a little more human, and less like i was physically attached to my desk. i recommend sierra nevada pale ale.

bellow is a sample from the book due out for christmas.

all the best,

your pal,

mr steve mccarthy

1 comment:

Shelley Whiting said...

Those are the coolest and hippest three blind mice ever. Really fun and adorable.