Introducing A Dragon Named Parasol! July 30, 2025.

Social media, commercial art, and algorithms have heavily influenced the way some folks may think the art-making process works. For some folks, they are not recording every moment a brush strokes is touching the canvas. I've tried doing that stuff and it is very disruptive to my flow. My reason for stating all of this is to say that for the last two years I have been working on a collaborative project that I haven't shared much of. In 2023, following the Middleton Library art installation, I was contacted by a local budding author, Naomi.

Naomi shared with me an incredible vision for a story about a dragon who doesn't feel like he fits in. After all, the other dragons don't blow bubbles, shrink, or grow. Parasol does all that and his scales change color depending on his mood and the mood of those around him. He has some friends, Fairy Fina and Fernwort the Turtle and the three of them live in a realm where colors are brighter, bolder, and much more integral than this world. Together, we have been working on developing a children's book about these creatures and Naomi envisions many other books to follow in the series.

For the last two years, we have been working through character and world-building designs, layouts, and vibing. Working with Naomi has been such a positive experience of collaboration. It was difficult at first to overcome many of my sore spots left over from making comics, but Naomi has been such a flexible and determined creative person it's been an enjoyable journey.

Having only done greyscale comics in the past, adding color has been a very time-consuming but rewarding process. Learning so much more about watercolor paint, pigment, and mixing has been a large part of the journey.

We are nearing completion of the book, here is a sneak peak at some of the character designs and early artwork from the last two years. I will share more as we start wrapping up images that will be featured inside the book.

Working out a very different color palette than I use for plein air. These include many cool paints with high pigmentation for bright, popping hues.

Once I had the paints figured out, I built Parasol's color palette.

Each character went through sketches, color changes, and adjustments to their final forms. Together, Naomi and I would review these and I would make adjustments based on her feedback.

I'll be sure to post more soon as we get near to the finished product! As always, thanks for reading and your ongoing interest and support!