Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Paper Flowers


Sorry for the hiatus. It’s been a busy two weeks. But I am back and it’s time to talk about Flower Girl. Where I grew up in Belgium, children exchange flowers for shells on the beach every summer. 
It’s been a tradition for as long as anyone can remember. The flowers are made with crepe paper, thin metal wire and plant sticks. The paper comes in all different colors and the sticks in many different lengths. The result is a colorful array of personal creations. I went back there not so long ago and there were bright little flower shops all over. My childhood beach memories washed over me like a big wave and I came up spitting bubbles and a new picture book idea. I did research, then started sketching and writing.  Here are a few images I want to share with you.   
I tried out a few different approaches. This image is watercolor and china ink. The image below is painted on newspaper covered wood.    
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3 comments:

  1. Even growing up in Belgium, I rarely went on the Belgian sea side but all I remember form those rare escapade was the multitude of flowers on the Beach. We never stayed long enough to do and sell some....What about Conney Island ; )
    Great drawing! Love it already!
    Bzu
    TAm

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  2. These are glorious! I wanted to share my review of your book. Here is the link:

    http://momtrends.blogspot.com/2009/06/hugging-hour.html

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