Working for Children - Sad Dog final post

The Final Images 

7-9yrs

I worked in Charcoal and smudged and erased - I could see this working within a book or as a book cover... It ended up a bit more 'cartoony' than I had originally intended though.

This version in pencil wash had a sadder expression, maybe I should have added bars to this one??

I also tried cropping the initial image to see if the feeling of un-ease would be enhanced..

I think cropping does add to the atmosphere, but the full image tells more of a story so might be better on a front cover.

The version for the younger children was tricky...

At first I did a very intricate pen image... but it was too fussy for the younger readers I think, and I kind of lost interest in it as I worked on it... I tried adding colour, but that made it worse. I rather wish I could go back and carry on working into the black and white again, but it's too late now, it's gone!! 

So instead, I decided to simplify and stylise it... 

I then scanned different papers, tissues and velvet and collaged them onto this sketch using Photo-Deluxe.. I am quite pleased with the resulting image

Overall I like the different textures that one can achieve within a line drawing doing it this way... It was good to experiment with and I think you do get the idea that the dog has dug up the whole garden looking for his bone. Maybe it needs a few more different colours or shades though?

Good exercise... nearly what I wanted, but not quite!! Again.