The last bit of summer.

I was thinking back to childhood days. Right about now, I would be savoring the very last bits of summer before the back to school activities started. Last minute trips to the shore, sleeping in late, playing outside... all of that good stuff.

Two Tiktoks helped inspire this illustration. I saw the first one (by reehayes) two years ago and the second one (by kinopif) two months ago. The Black joy of it all stuck with me.

Then, a few weeks ago, it was a really rainy week. When there was a little break in the rain showers, I went on my front porch to get some fresh air, and the light looked exactly like how my illustration looks! I figures that was a sign I should go ahead and draw it.

For the longest, I've wanted to show at least part of the process of illustrating picture books, but I'm not usually allowed to show a lot of the interior illustrations until books are released (or close to being released).

I decided to share a little of the process with personal art instead! I gotta be honest: it feels so weird for me to film myself drawing. When I do, I usually get into the flow of things and I forget to press record. (I forgot to record me doing the background!) Anyways, I had fun with this one! Above is the process gif and you can check out my process video here on TikTok.

Continuing to savor the summer,
Alleanna