"Hello there, nice to meet you!"

That's what I say sometimes when I'm "scratching" the faces in a final art piece. Although I've already sketched out in pencil roughly what characters in the composition may look like, I never know for sure what final features will form under my
exact-o blade. For this new piece for a current client, publisher Augsburg Fortress, I needed to illustrate a congregation of people at a Lutheran baptism. So I'm conjuring and scratching up a nice eclectic mix of community here, and for one male figure, out pops Michael McDonald from the Doobie Brothers! And then here comes a friend's son! And then the lady who has the fabulous knitted shawls I sometimes see at the Co-Op! It is part of the magic of illustration, at least my particular practice of it. For certain jobs, set details are important for character's faces. But for other assignments, I love the process that allows this creator a surprise or two!