Evolution of an Illustration's Composition

As I was working on a recent set of 10 illustrations, I liked how these stage drawings for one of the illustrations looked together. Originally, I had no idea how I could possibly fit 14 mice, in 14 racing cars, zooming around a circus ring all into one image.

The first rough sketch was just to explore how so many object might line up. The abstract quality of this drawing work very well for me. The ovals and squiggles represent how the cars and mice might be grouped. The arching lines are to give a sence of speed. I decided to not show an entire ring inside the circus tent. Each individual mouse and car were already going to be small. By bunching the racers all together, I could have larger characters.

I continued to refine the sketch by tracing onto new paper over my light table. The final inking was done with black ink and brush and markers. You will notice that I eliminated the tall ring master in the final art. He was too distracting and took from the focus on the mice in there racing cars. The background crowd is also smaller than in the sketches for the same reason.

I don't always work in such an orderly fashion; but to organize so many elements within a picture, it was necessary here.