Big Mama and the Ducks

In honor of Mother’s Day here’s a a peek at one of the projects I’m working on.  I’ll show you no more until it’s much, much further along than this.  But, since it’s about a child and how he doesn’t listen to his mother, I thought it was a fitting post.

The author’s goal is realism combined with cuteness.  Less cartoony, more naturalistic, but still expressive. 
So, am I there?

Here’s one of the preliminary layout sketches.  You can see where I’m working out placement of text and general eye-flow for the pages.  These are for young kids, so I’m going for a visual circuit that will lead the eye around and around the page, keeping the viewer engaged.  It ends up being more refined.  The finished version will be colored with watercolors.

Happy Mother’s Day, for all of you that qualify.