Dad’s Bear

…is the name of today’s story on Fictive Dream.

Throughout the month of February 2021 I will be showing you illustrations I did for Flash Fiction February 2021 at Fictive Dream, an online short-story magazine. For more information about FFF21 and my artwork process, look here.

Here’s the image editor Laura Black chose for this story, Dad’s Bear, by Kim Magowan.

And here is the artwork with the banner. Take a look at this image. And then…

Read the story at Fictive Dream.

12 thoughts on “Dad’s Bear”

    1. Claudia McGill Post author

      Yes. I thought the same, once I read the story. The magic of the grid, and that each square can hold something different, fits in well. Plus. You know how I just like making grid images.

  2. Laura Black

    Diane above has hit the nail on the head. In this illustration the squares are, indeed, like the windows of the house which is why I chose it for Kim Magowan’s story Dad’s Bear. Fortunately, the opening line of the story describes the house as blue and goes onto to say that it was like a “fully open Advent calendar.” There wasn’t a more fitting piece of artwork among the entire selection. I find that you have used the most beautiful shades of blue. In fact some shine through like gems. Thank you, Claudia. Just perfect for today’s story.

    1. Claudia McGill Post author

      Thank you. I am amaxed at how well this image fits. Once again I think you made the perfect choice. As for the colors, I used a lot of acrylic inks here – they have a bit of shine to them, and if you spatter or use droplets, rather than brushing on the ink, then there is a nice concentration of color that is a little raised, and light can go through it.

    1. Claudia McGill Post author

      Thank you. I like making pictures within a grid, it lets my mind either fill them in or ignore the lines and see what happens, but somehow it gets me started off in a good way. Plus I like blue, yellow, and orange together, too.

  5. Laura (PA Pict)

    I don’t have time to read the story so my comment is going to be just about your art and not reflect how it operates as an illustration. I adore the colour combinations and all of those wonderful squares. It makes me think of a patchwork, either of a quilt or of fields seen from the air, and also of reflections in the windows of a highly glazed skyscraper.

    1. Claudia McGill Post author

      I think this was a successful piece with or without reference to the story – because the grid layout is to me a time honored classic way to organize an image (an one that I really like). Plus, the colors came together well and those acrylic inks were just right for this one.

Comments are closed.