I Had a Favorite Dress hits shelves this Monday, so I thought I'd show you some studio shots and process work:
Boni Ashburn wrote a lovely story with a very fun cadence to it. Right from the get-go it made me feeling like dancing, I wanted the text to dance, and I wanted the art to dance...(I'm not gonna lie, I had a sweet summer soundtrack consisting of
Animal Collective /
jazz blasting, so I did a lot of dancing around). Boni's words, "SNIP SNIP, SEW SEW" helped me feel playful enough to want to cut up, collage, get messy. I thought: wouldn't it be fun to stitch the title page by hand? So I did:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkGYfrG6WKOtZ9NXASPgGPLiZBBi3tlJ1w3dZiXNqLQ9UCZgATD__53wKXBk1NYOUXQNxIAR-ZGlqimqjyS7zmduSEg3SU6GmV80AL4B0px0n8ruVJkg25NH2jtNoItKShRvD0YlAn6Wma/s320/Screen+shot+2011-07-29+at+3.26.24+PM.png)
It ended up a little bloody (see capital "D!") since I'm not a seamstress of any sort, but I handed it in anyhow (thanks, Photoshop). I spent my weeks in a blissful world of little dresses, buttons, city scapes, and thread...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIbB1omjL9aQ2oTpr6YVzfd_4XVHrBp4B6u3a4VqyK0Ta3rcNdPc9IWWSl5dH7RRApNxauWyeFQQBx_vjhoCLyrVqhc1c6we64geLYd8-TdDPOhSfUefXfVJCersBSgImRpq_7v6Nrvply/s400/Screen+shot+2011-01-03+at+3.03.22+PM.png)
Cover sketch on the light box:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJbNYLa7sCLRriUXRh2hdBdCXfwLNGoVAY8RGxYCMndqW9cTJDkPkYHFntu5QjyczpjYl0bUA1mK4daViSBAopK_5dYE9qDdjQ2K5jozeLuWhASiMO9oHttCkaOemRcrnYy2qj93O4KPIt/s400/Screen+shot+2011-07-28+at+12.11.02+PM.png)
Fall leaves to be cut out for the school scene:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnvpQliCzc89NwPi1MUvZFHoNO0PaUM7xTZYqdLq46Sosm1j6gMAeFVewt7wpwxZ1_ZYj4Be0cJbnjODuDjUSMYTeJS5oQ8UCQXN_MzaNDjZQqu9PsXkrdVel_KvbsnsUhoBZGwQf-CYoR/s400/Screen+shot+2010-09-01+at+6.45.33+PM.png)
Snowflakes for the winter scene:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUih4bESw4xJfumeiGitOWme7UhArLWNoQJtw_8ri3Yy2DEvF8uvMAUQnisakf7L_MxfbYY2-jxyH12J0pJO4iil8cKL4u6NjBnaAF1dL9tKF2q4LSSnFC232ohKuXozYXWn0AxXA0JFuW/s400/Screen+shot+2011-07-28+at+12.05.11+PM.png)
Tree tops in the fall:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsH2FvspyediRJy-gGmq90ViAwMVo1xUirRrNQ4_96GQOx5SAlxB_zb2kX6y2GuOTEYAcvEAUZchJhfMNRMNgidKA03m0W8D7XKkfbm9m7Zh8Ol47dOSp4vMbSQuQauSmJbyJ7BkDfIPW3/s320/Screen+shot+2011-07-29+at+4.16.23+PM.png)
Tracing days of the week by night light:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivRmbwm_9OQQ8iG_AahATuXD4IdhlP1SmUGgLFfICrDnb4vNdcwBjEqAPxiQCITW4d3mwJ6qCe9ZpJabD5P5XUaPv-mdzlmYgO_P7q1hwcNmM0PJo8eGtZlXPkFTUHXRy294mXn26TXO_5/s400/Screen+shot+2011-07-29+at+2.11.24+PM.png)
All the little dress components, ready to be scanned:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzeAoXTxiLKBRBJiMfGQXxf8TTyocFUYHod-onVb3AETR7FCEA3rB8l8exX3GB9mUVFGkZIjZHUzfCfyQsYfWk37hpdCSnW5b4TZ68IsydrAsE_qjHvS36T8eRFlrTolRSJnR2bbN7qDhy/s400/Screen+shot+2011-07-28+at+12.05.41+PM.png)
A very
SERIOUS struggle to find the right pink:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnbjXGPdAHQD_wzhgJZaYak8FUYBeYna6JCbj3EZxOaipNUpsLufZZ6jK-VQ-aEsNWUCkmFinqYg_P0b5cDXzNOxeSX9gOKLAPStGlhCrW4bWksJEWpUtGRe1WTZ4bFqT0lk8KSntWKmYi/s400/Screen+shot+2011-07-28+at+12.05.19+PM.png)
EEEE! Tiny dresses! I love my job!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6fLvBXz9jCnX3LCTGYJ3QSilIlrszfi8wS3YWFlKyZvG8oBVjR0YqwB9Pg8V99thzF6CK3x1nRnm871APv3P5YIpO4sY5JAMJ_-oKzbuRlA6jwrI0iAzxEmCGuipzmywDvGfackxzYxqq/s400/Screen+shot+2011-07-28+at+12.07.10+PM.png)
Chad helped turn these thumbnails into something that made sense:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtL5nJBn-DUNEySvTL_VFDa4P0PkJfRzyi1kfAhnV2iGxtDtheDx4bZPcuzjpTTTYafXDZaiClvZnq4hore2cX2ZmCE3wa8Mzgy-EwaOhXBSGPYz_ha1QmUlyj9gkWlaCxSkRgORVv1B2f/s400/Screen+shot+2011-07-29+at+4.02.32+PM.png)
There is always that initial image you see after shutting your eyes and you've let a manuscript whisper through your mind. For this book, it was a little window on the first floor of a brownstone, with a blossoming tree nearby. As I looked in the window from the sidewalk, I watched a little girl prance to her mother in her FAVORITEST dress for an embrace. I tried my best to stay true to that glimpse for the duration of the work, and expand the world from that little window...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkiwWVuTbKaZXBLSTaOty9xgzkKzU8mUe1ELLM6WvuYmts98iJyyBqeVVCCgc6D7tC7rY5Hqa-Dd6NeyS3TYZAHRS5jFXpNmW7tEGfMEnFVOB4toqYjqby-ayDijD2Kpa7QCzfaCbdf7H_/s400/Screen+shot+2010-11-09+at+2.23.07+PM.png)
The characters and urban settings came right along with the story for me, right from the moment I read it. The city itself is an amalgamation of New York and Boston. My go-to painting soundtracks (supplemented by Animal Collective, and
Jonsi) on this book were jazz guitar/piano albums by:
Admiring thank yous to author
Boni Ashburn, and to the excellent people at Abrams, especially Laura Mihalick in marketing, editor Maggie Lehrman, creative director+designer
Chad Beckerman (for working through so many fixes and edits that our final art file came to be called "FOR CHAD_DRESS_FINAL_INFINITY")
See you again Monday for a BOOK BIRTHDAY!