The Wonderful Lips of Thibong Linh, written by Theodore Roscoe and published in 1980 by Donald M. Grant Publishing, formed the real start of my illustration career. The book contains three adventure novellas geared toward young readers, each set in various parts of the globe.
I had more fire in the belly then, or so it seems, having churned out twenty-seven pieces of art for the project, mostly in pencil, some in stippled ink, and used colored pencil to render the wrap-around cover art. Don gave me free reign when it came to choosing which scenes to illustrate, displaying a kind of confidence that impressed me. The project, with it’s time constraints, also introduced me to new, more reliable tools and materials including hot-press illustration board, Faber Castell pencils, kneaded erasers and, most importantly, the electric pencil sharpener!
A fun fact -- I had just started living with Suzan (now my wife) and she was a great help to me. At one point during the project while I was working on the maps for each story, she suggested dabbing the illustration with a dampened tea bag to give it an old-world, more antique look. The technique worked, and I was quite pleased with the way they reproduced in the book.
Another fun fact -- I recall dining with both Don and Mr. Roscoe at the Red Coach Inn in Kingston, Rhode Island to discuss the project. I’d just had my wisdom teeth removed--still stitched up and in pain, so I chose a cheese omelet with mushrooms . . . soft food, thank you. Also, I remember feeling some embarrassment by the book’s title – it sounds misleadingly suggestive to me, enough to suggest one of the other story titles, such as “The Voodoo Express”, or “On Account of a Woman” for the book’s title -- lo and behold, to no avail.
All and all, it was truly a wonderful learning experience, one which led to my next illustration project, “Christine” by Stephen King.
