A Dog Named Doug

Written by Karma Wilson • Simon & Schuster, 2018.

Doug Dug. And Dug. And Dug. Join this canine earth-mover as he carves tunnels from the Great Pyramid to the White House.

 

Making dirt interesting

A whole book full of dirt? Sounds rather—brown, right? The challenge was to make this fun adventure feel fresh and clean, believe it or not. So I left a lot of white space on the pages, and incorporated the words themselves into the pictures whenever possible. Made possible, I might add, by Karma, who wanted the text to be short enough to leave plenty of room for pictures. After all, they don’t call them picture books for nothing, right?

Scroll down for early sketches from the book.   Click on any image to enlarge it. 

In the Doghouse • Acrylic and Oil on illustration board

Ha! • Acrylic and Oil on illustration board

Under a Pyramid • Acrylic and Oil on illustration board

Eureka! • Acrylic and Oil on illustration board

Oh Boy, Did He Dig • Acrylic and Oil on illustration board

They Scolded Him Hard • Acrylic and Oil on illustration board

All the Way to China • Acrylic and Oil on illustration board

By the way, kids, I could just as easily have shown Nepal or Australia. There’s an old joke that the other side of the world would appear to be upside-down if you tunneled through, no matter where you started. This is of course not true, so please do not attempt this in your back yard.

Oops! • Acrylic and Oil on illustration board

White House Tour • Acrylic and Oil on illustration board

Jackson Is Not Pleased • Acrylic and Oil on illustration board

Buried Treasure • Acrylic and Oil on illustration board

 

Wow! I got a cover right the first time! Thumbnail sketch, about 1.5 inches wide.

Very early studies of Doug. I was originally wondering if he could operate heavy equipment, but that seemed to complicate things for no good reason.

First sketches of Doug as a big, dopey dog. Seems like the obvious choice now, but not in the beginning.

First sketch for White House Tour. Note how the final art was simplified.

Early thumbnail sketch, originally about 1.5 inches wide.

Sketch for Eureka! Pretty close to the final.

Sketch that never became final art. Which is exactly why I stay loose until I know I'm headed in the right direction.

Sketch showing Doug finally coming home. Very similar to final art (not shown).