The Rabbit and the Hare

Something a little different. I'm thinking of getting back into children's book illustration. One of my previous children's books was criticized for being "dark and murky" so here I'm doing something a little lighter, brighter, and less realistic than my usual style. To be fair, the criticized book was about things like electric eels and catfish which swim about in mucky waters! But, nevertheless, children's books should be brighter and more colorful. So here I'm going for more light, bold, clean colors as well as a little more cartoonish style.
 
This painting is for a story about about a cottontail bunny and a hare (or jackrabbit, if you prefer). The story is about how the hare thinks he's better than the cottontail bunny. In this scene the hare teases the bunny about her small feet and short legs. He brags that his long legs and big feet enable him to run faster and jump farther than the she can.

I tried to exaggerate the hare's long, lanky features here, and make the bunny compact, to emphasize the differences the hare is pointing out to the bunny. I also wanted to make the hare a little ragged and maybe not so attractive, since he's not a very nice guy, while the bunny is cute and cuddly, nibbling innocently on her clover.

 5.5"x9" oil on Gessobord

Available here.