I finally (3 weeks later than planned) finished the last illustration for Amelia and Reginald today. Several in the second batch of drawings didn't make good plates, so I had to rework them and send them back. Which left me further behind with the 2 baffling images, an Angel Choir, which Reginald is asked to imagine as he tries to wake Amelia from her comatic state, and Crossing the Alps in the style of 18th c. gentry, being carried in chairs.
I have taken them out and put them away several times, but finally thought of trying to incorporate music into the choir image. Something funereal? After looking through the hymnal and on line, I decided on Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, a melody anyone who reads music is likely to recognize, and another non-18th c. element for the pseudo-ness of the book (like Micky and Minnie on Amelia's bed). I also divided up the group to make the image more vertical to fill space at the end of the chapter, and changed their faces and poses a bit so they are not all playing instruments and they are all singing.
The final bugaboo was the image of A&R crossing the Alps, being carried as gentlefolk were. It's a double-wide illustration that will be folded and stitched in between signatures.
Now to finish printing and start assembling! Here's hoping everything else goes without bumps!
