B is for Bigfoot: Behind the Scenes

"B" is for Bigfoot, An ABC Book of Wonderful Creatures
by Suzanne Nikolaisen and Matthew Smith

Behind the Scenes...
When I started on the cover art for "B" is for Bigfoot I was trying to be logical about it. "It's a cover. Reach for InDesign." But then as I was struggling to make it what I really wanted, I realized ... "I really should be hand drawing this." So I pulled out my drawing paper and drawing board, sharpened up my #2 pencil and went to work. The initial drawing was in 2B pencil, then black ink, and last of all I applied color and shading with Prismacolor colored pencils.

This fall has been a blur of "plein-air" (outdoor) painting, color theory and other classes as we continue on our way through our college art courses. Matt's rolling up his sleeves to help me finish color application then we'll be moving the book through the final stages of editing. We can't wait to share "B" is for Bigfoot with other fantasy and cryptozoology fans and their kids! There were no books like this when my daughter was little and now that fans of cryptozoology, fantasy, creatures, and the supernatural are coming "out of the forest" so to speak we think it's the perfect time to share our book about these wonderful creatures for the littl-er fans.

"A" is for Abominable Snowman, "B" is for Bigfoot & "C" is for Centaur...
"B" is for Bigfoot is more than another ABC book as the subject matter by default makes it a great story-telling companion and conversation starter whether at bedtime or on-the-go. Perfect to have on your iPad or mobile device for a bedtime read or when you're camping for fun storytelling. For example "B" is for Bigfoot depicts the redwood forest. With each letter of the alphabet you can delve into what the picture has to do with the mythos of the creature. For Bigfoot you can talk about the huge trees (show them the Nat Geo Redwood Portrait that features climbers in the trees), about the "Patterson-Gilmin" film taken at Bluff Creek in California, native American myths, Jane Goodall's study of primates and if you watch any of the Bigfoot reality shows--? "B" is for Bigfoot, the creature they're looking for.

"B" is for Bigfoot, 2 is on the publication schedule, but we haven't released a publication date yet. It will include more illustrations about the creatures and myths, legends and research about each creature. This book will be for older kids and adults.

Now that the physical cover art has been completed we'll be taking it digital for final processing, as we're preparing to release the book for preorders on the Kindle and Nook. Watch for links coming soon!

Watch for Updates on the Blog, Twitter, Facebook & Pinterest

You can follow SuzChirp on Twitter if you want realtime updates (like the link to the blog post "B" is for Banana Bread (and Bigfoot) and the pic of the cover nearly completed). We also have a Fabled Garden Press Facebook page and are on Pinterest too. For super easy updates, sign up to be automatically emailed each time we post to the blog (look for the form field on the right side of the blog to sign up and be sure to click to verify your subscription when you get the verification email).

Watch the video about Fabled Garden Press.

We're looking forward to sharing "B is for Bigfoot!" It's been so much fun to work on!

Suzanne

Copyright 2014, Fabled Garden Press (A digital press by Suzanne Nikolaisen and Matthew Smith)

Robot Placing the Evening Stars

Did you see the movie Pacific Rim with the giant robots? While there was plenty of "cheese" to go around and the monsters were a little over the top for me, the giant robots with psychic links between the pilots, in my opinion were pretty cool. As far as other movies with robots we all have our favorites; Westworld, C-3PO,  The Iron Giant, AI, Wall-e, Hal 9000, The Last Mimzy there are some pretty big robot movie lists out there. The robot I drew lives in a peaceable world placing and straightening stars while the night wind passes through the flowers.

I'm working on converting The Cupcake Tree to eBook for Kindle and Nook so I'm sharing a drawing from the archive. The Robot Placing the Evening Stars was an assignment for my Foundation Drawing class in college last fall. This giant robot, on task placing the stars in the night sky, was a Halloween themed drawing reinforcing perspective and drawing with straight lines. I was tasked with creating a "monster" from a series of boxes, drawn in perspective on the horizon line. I found inspiration from children's book illustrator Etienne Delessert's bird and flowers and Van Gogh's 1889 painting, The Starry Night. The primrose helped to both soften and frame the vignette even though the flowers were drawn with straight lines just like the robot. Our diligent, star-placing robot friend treks through the night where only pencils, rulers and imaginations roam.

I've thought about taking this drawing from the confines of straight lines and perspective to a regular drawing. "R" could be for "Robot" in the upcoming book "B is for Bigfoot an ABC Book of Wonderful Creatures." What do you think?

- Suzanne

Copyright 2014, Fabled Garden Press (A digital press by Suzanne Nikolaisen and Matthew Smith)

"B" is for Beginnings (and Bigfoot)

B is for... Beginnings
Well, actually "B" is really for "bigfoot," as in the eBook "B is for Bigfoot, an ABC Book of Wonderful Creatures" currently in development at Fabled Garden Press. This book is being written for children, but with added features for more advanced readers who want to learn about the wonderful creatures found in stories all around our beautiful world. Still, since this is our first post, we need to start at the beginning and "B" is a great place to start! The attached drawing is one of the early drawings in the font series being created by Suzanne Nikolaisen for this eBook. Further illustrations are being created by Suzanne and the book is being cowritten by the illustrator with Matthew Smith. "B is for Bigfoot, an ABC Book of Wonderful Creatures" is scheduled for release in winter of 2015. (Update: we are planning to release our first edition this year! Preorders will be available in November)

On the subject of beginnings, Suzanne and Matt met at a foundation drawing class at the local community college (in Salt Lake City, Utah) in a valley surrounded by mountains, near the Wasatch National Forest area. While that initial art class was all about contour lines, triangulation and perspective, we discovered that besides being artists, we were both writers. The Cora Frost series was well under way with the initial stories in publication (including our favorite The Fasting Spider) and soon after Suzanne released Sandshadow.

Fabled Garden Press combines the efforts of our small cooperative group of writers and artists. We're looking forward to sharing more details about our stories, eBooks and creative efforts as well as highlights about what's up in our neck-of-the-woods.

Our books are available on the Kindle and Nook.

We look forward to sharing our world(s) with you.

- Suzanne and Matt

Copyright 2014, Fabled Garden Press (A digital press by Suzanne Nikolaisen and Matthew Smith)