For each of the characters in the story, Rebecca went through a series of development stages that she would forward to me for approval. This was an amazing experience as the talents of Rebecca brought the characters to life!
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CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
The first comments, sent in an email 12/20/2003, from Rebecca after she received my manuscript!
"WOW! What a great story!!! I can see why you'd be antsy to get it rolin'!! IT'S GREAT!!!! While I was reading it, I did get several ideas about the characters, however, I have no way of knowing if they follow what you had in mind, but i figured it never hurts to try out different styles. I did come up with a sketch of what I had visualized in the scene where she receives Dasha and Kiesha. It's in pencil, and it is a quick sketch, but I though it might help to give you a better idea of my style. My skills have very much improved since the Wyandotte Hospial windows. I was 17 then! Goodness, seems like yesterday. Anyhow, your story is great, and I'm sure it will be a beautiful book indeed!!" By Rebecca
The first sketch of Orrena and the Final sketch after Rebecca meet our Stephanie
Similar to Disney Animators, Rebecca and I would research animals unique to the Northern Arctic Region. After studying the appearance of these real animals, Rebecca would animate them accordingly.This was awesome to watch!
I am definitely not a graphic artist, lol. After the heartfelt positive responses from elementary students, I tried to create images of the characters to show at future readings.
