Scribbled Lives Week 41—Shel Silverstein

American writer Sheldon Silverstein (1930-1999) was known for his cartoons, songs, and children’s books. This prompt sent me scurrying to research him and his work. I didn’t recognize his writings until learning that he composed ‘The Unicorn Song’ made popular by the Irish Rovers. After spending several happy hours savouring his (sometimes quirky) compositions, I chose this poem from A Light in the Attic.

I had been sitting on this design concept for several weeks, puzzling about how to proceed. Then this week I learned a resist technique from Julie Wildman and combined it with Corita Kent’s a.m.e.n. alphabet introduced by Vickie Peart. After playing on a rough draft, it turned out better than anticipated. Sometimes all the stars align!

Watercolour, Pigma micron, watercolour pencil on watercolour paper, 9 x 40.5 cm (3.5 x 16”). The artwork is photographed in two parts so you can easily read the text. The third image shows the piece in its entirety.