Late Winter in the North, Wolf and Raven, Wolf, Raven, Caribou (2002)

Today, curious as to the exact dates that I had done these illustrations, I looked on the backs of them and was surprised to find that they were done in spring of 2002.

In 2001, I hadn't painted at all.

It seemed a good idea to post all the illustrations today in the order they were painted, now that I know for sure what that order is. Tomorrow, I'll be posting the first of that series of images that I created in 2002, of which these illustrations were a small part. After doing these five illustrations, I was unable to come up with any more and eventually bowed out of the illustrating project, although I completed 15 more paintings in 2002.

Wolf and Raven (2002)

In spring of 2002, I mentioned in conversation with a small group of new friends that I was an artist but had been doing very little painting since 1993. One of my new friends approached me later saying that she was a writer who had written a story about a wolf, a raven and a caribou for a children's book and was looking for an illustrator. Although I had never done illustration, I agreed to give it a try. I thought it might be somewhat like making drawings from my dreams.

My process began with reading her story over and over again. I liked her story very much. When I began to have some pictures in my mind, I went to the library to find books with photos of wolves, ravens and caribou because, in 2002, I didn't yet have a computer on which to search for those images. When I finally sat down to paint a skinny hungry wolf and a well-fed raven, the above painting was the result. My first thought was, "Yikes! I'm no illustrator." I'm glad I kept this, though, because I like it now.

Feeling discouraged, I showed it to my friend who said that it was a good start, and that she hoped I would continue.