Lately, I've been feeling a compression of much more activity into the same measure of time. Part of the reason is that THE OXHERD BOY collection has routed through the team of editors and designers at Penguin Random House and has made itself back to me for edits.
What was originally to be a tight 144 pages has been extended by 16 to a final page count of 160! I feel gratified that the publisher felt comfortable doing this, as it means a higher cost to print. This change gives room for front matter and back matter, and I was also free to add three more illustrations into the mix.
So, putting a pause this week on inking the children's book BIG ENOUGH, I've been painting new art for the adult collection and making text changes to lend a stronger narrative connection between sections. While I really like this change in the book, it also feels less like my usual work and more like a collage. At times I've taken art from one comic, paired with text from another, and added a new landscape in the background. Under the circumstances, given what content I have available and my deadlines, I guess it will have to work!
The next big milestone on THE OXHERD BOY collection will working through the book cover. Until then, I'll keep plugging away at BIG ENOUGH.