The Problem with Bikes

My nephews love bikes. Obsessed with them. That isn’t the problem here, by the way.

Billy’s adventures are influenced by the our young nieces and nephews, and we do this for them. The problem is that I can’t capture their love for bikes… not because I have some kind of vendetta or tragic bike-based backstory, but because bikes are really hard to draw.

Try and draw a bicycle now. It’s unlikely to be pretty, or you might be able to pass it off as “impressionist”. The issue is that I don’t think many 3-5 year olds have a passion for the impressionist movement.

I’m not saying that the illustrations to date are perfect or realistic, but I’ve always managed to find a composition or angle that is workable without looking too weird or cluttered. As we’ve progressed through the books I’ve been finding myself adding more detail, focusing in on the storytelling of the images and playful little additions, my worry at the moment is that any bikes wouldn’t measure up to the level that we’ve established so far.

However, there is hope. With each book that goes by, I find myself getting a little bit better at this whole illustration thing. We’ve got tons of idea for future books- some are already written- and a vast well of inspiration from our nieces and nephews so I’m sure it won’t be long until Billy is taking on the world on two wheels. I’ll start practicing now.

Max