Making a drawing from start to finish takes a few hours or even days, so, before beginning, it helps to know what the final art will look like.

That requires a different approach. Ideas are sketched in a very basic way. From those sketches, you get a sense of what to include on the page, and how to portray all the elements for the effect you are aiming for.

At this point, don’t think about the edges of the paper, just scrawl. It is a pell-mell of images you are sketching. They can cut into each other, and if you reach the edge of the paper before you wanted, just place another sheet underneath and tack it on with clear tape later.

When art accompanies a story, the art must also reflect the drama and suspense.

You can think about each page as an emotional ride.

• What is the reader’s first reaction when turning the page and seeing the art?

• Will they continue to inspect the art and notice things which surprise and delight them?

• Will they be motivated to turn to the next page?

In the example, the rabbits climbing into a rocket and the farmer (also a rabbit) reclining against the tractor were conceived as parts of one page.

However, on reflection, the relaxed farmer might not be right for this stage of the story, when the excitement is building.

Perhaps it belongs after the climax, when we want to peacefully remember what has transpired, and convey rest and readiness for sleep.

Keep going and work everything through as many times as you need.

Also, give your mind time and space to create. There is a scene in this book where the rabbit reaches with their paws to cup the earth — the earth as seen as a blue marble from the moon. You can see this in the sketch above. Two or three days after sketching that, I was working in a garden next to a statue of a person reaching up with long arms and making a cup with their hands. While I was looking at the statue, my mind clicked to the idea that rabbits could be standing on each other’s shoulders with the smallest on top making the cupping gesture. I thought this would convey more emphasis than the original sketch (above).

I continue on this theme next week, so please look out for Tuesday’s post to find out what this is, and why it can help you draw the natural world.