Painting ‘everything and the kitchen sink’…and a llama
Moments after I first read Claire and the Eager Speaker, Tamara Keith and Davis Gordon’s hilarious tale of a girl who accidentally orders a slew of ridiculous items, I could instantly picture Claire and her big brown eyes, curly hair, and sweet expression. Her personality was not one of a defiant kid; but rather a playful, imaginative girl with a sense of humor who makes a mistake that results in chickens, a llama, a couple luxury vehicles, and hundreds of other comical items arriving at her home.
Like most young kids, Claire is energetic and all over the place. For that reason, I wanted to depict her doing a variety of things throughout the book: singing and dancing, playing a board game, heading off to school, practicing ballet, refining her karate skills, reading about puppies, etc. Her clothes are usually a little mismatched, much like the items she adds to her family’s shopping list. Claire’s vibrant pink house was based on a mixed media art project by Davis and it was cool to translate that to the page. The colors in the book are intentionally bright to allude to the circus that Claire’s home has become.
Claire’s mom and dad are like many parents: just doing the best they can to roll with the unpredictability and hilarity of raising young children. Claire’s little brother was added to the illustrations to provide some extra sweetness and humor. He also made for a relatable reason as to why Claire’s dad accidentally gave the greenlight for the speaker to purchase everything on the family’s shopping list.
While illustrating this book there were two minor artistic challenges. One was depicting the speaker itself–I looked at dozens of smart speakers and learned that they come in nearly all shapes and colors and are designed to blend in with their surroundings. After a few series of sketches, we decided to go with a small oval shape that could boast a simple smiley face. We then chose to add some rainbow lights on top to give it a subtle electronic look. My other challenge was: POOP. How do you portray poop being delivered to a house? Well as it turns out, many of us have had deliveries such as that every spring when we attempt to spruce up our gardens. I decided manure was the way to go!
I had a great deal of fun illustrating this story because I could paint “everything and the kitchen sink” plus find a terrific excuse to use an excessive amount of puns. Smart speakers may be relatively new inventions, but children sneaking things into their parents’ shopping carts has been happening for quite some time. I hope you enjoy our book!
