Blog

“A” is for Abalone

Weirdly Wonderful was the first book of three alphabet collections for creatures connected to British Columbia, Canada. This one dealt with aquatic creatures.

        "A" was the first image and I automatically thought that someone hearing “abalone” for the first time would associate it with what they knew. For most of us this would be a “baloney sandwich”, so the abalone shell became the bread for a baloney sandwich.
        What’s a sandwich without mustard and lettuce as well?
        I used acrylic paints on illustration board for the images. After the colours were laid down I used black ink for outlining and to add definition.

The earliest images were done on Denman Island where Diane, my wife, was attending a writing workshop for the        week.
        I was recovering from knee surgery and the place we stayed, Tutu's Bed and Breakfast, was located overlooking one of the lakes on the island. I swam every day to strengthen my knee. Luckily I was far enough along that I was able to drive as well and after dropping Diane off I would head out to explore the island before working on the book and my knee.