In February of 2024, while scrolling through illustrators’ posts on Instagram, I ran across an announcement by Monty Lee for an upcoming illustration challenge called the Book Series Challenge. The challenge was to use any media of choice, excluding generative AI, and create illustrations for seven prompts taken from classic book excerpts. The Book Series Challenge for March of 2024 was Pinocchio.
I was intrigued. I was tempted, but having never read the original Pinocchio book, I was undecided about committing to the challenge. However, I knew I needed something to help me break out of a drawing practice rut. Perhaps this type of fun, no-pressure challenge was just what I needed.
While watching college basketball one night on TV with my sketchbook open, I began experimenting with Pinocchio the character.
Pretty soon, a character design idea developed. Simple, angular shapes for the puppet made of wood scraps to reflect Gepetto’s economic situation and the value of the wood pieces to his craft.
Pretty soon, a character design idea developed. Simple, angular shapes for the puppet made of wood scraps to reflect Gepetto’s economic situation and the value of the wood pieces to his craft.
Soon, the seven prompts were released, and I jumped into the Pinocchio Book Series Challenge headfirst. It was a blast. I tried not to do too much pre-planning. I tried to work fast and loose with a focus on getting the one post done for each day of the week-long challenge. I did it!
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five
Day Six
Day Seven
Seven pieces in seven days. I do like a few of them. Others could have been better, but at least they got done on schedule. If anything, it led me on a journey to study Pinocchio at a deeper level. I even read the whole book, and it’s much better than I expected.
Since the Pinochio Book Series Challenge, I’ve participated in two more. The second was Wind in the Willows, and the third was Peter Pan. I’ll post about those two challenges later. If you’re interested in joining the Book Series Challenge fun, there’s an upcoming event, so keep an eye on Instagram and follow Monty Lee (@mosokje) for information.
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