A Dummy Layout is Never Stupid

A Dummy Layout is Never Stupid.
(I know. Lame joke. I couldn't help myself.)

This is Peaches. 

Hopefully not the final version of this magic-wielding peacock, but it isn't half bad for someone who is drawing challenged.

I actually had quite a delightful time sketching Peaches into existence when creating the dummy for my picture book, Peaches in a Peach Tree.

Recently, I completed a graphic novel and comic books workshop and not because I thought, like Peaches, magic would rain from me and I would suddenly be able to draw. That would be insane. (Although, a tiny bit of me hoped I would acquire more than stick man drawing ability.)

I enrolled in this class, because I was curious to learn more about the craft and to discover if I could somehow turn my novels into graphic novels. The instructors, Justin Currie and GMB Chombichuk, were dynamic and inspiring and shared their massive amounts of experience and talents with us and I learnt too much to do the course justice on this post. However, what helped me specifically with creating picture books was the idea that a thumb nail sketch didn't have to be perfect. This was quite freeing and when I returned to Peaches, I let my pencil loose and I gotta' say...

...maybe a little magic did happen today.