Cloud Nine

I LOVE painting clouds. They seem like solid sculptures to me. So when I was asked to illustrate a book with clouds as the main characters, I couldn’t say yes fast enough. Yet I wondered if kids would love them as much as the author and I do—would a three-year-old need more? So I suggested a second story within the story, about a boy and girl surrounded by sky, trying to connect to each other. Nothing in the text mentions the kids, which is as it should be—after all, the sky is the hero, providing the plot.

By the way, I really had to study up on clouds. For example, I couldn’t have told you which cloud comes packing lightning, cirrocumulus or stratus—both sounded like Roman emperors to me. But now I can use cloud trivia to impress (annoy?) my friends!

Click on any image to enlarge it. 

Scroll down to see some sketches that led to the final art.