The paperback edition of Uncle Wally’s Old Brown Shoe by Wallace Edwards is on shelves now. The following post is written by Wallace Edwards.
The idea for Uncle Wally’s Old Brown Shoe came to me while I was sketching an old shoe of all things. It occurred to me that it might be interesting to depict the shoe in a variety of possible alternate uses–as a boat or car or plane. I then thought why not have the shoe traveling through various environments and interacting with peculiar characters. These situations would build on each other until they would be revealed as what they really are–the thoughts of a daydreamer. As I thought through the storyline, it made sense to have the shoe end where it began to tie together the surreal images. The concept opened the floodgates for colorful fantasy imagery as well as silly wordplay.
I also had the good fortune to work with a truly great art director and designer, Teresa Bubela. Her help and patience made working on this book a truly fun and painless experience. That said, here are the stages for one of the illustrations in Uncle Wally’s Old Brown Shoe.
I had a wonderful time working on Uncle Wally’s Old Brown Shoe. Thank you, Teresa, and thank you, Orca!
The paperback edition of Uncle Wally’s Old Brown Shoe is available now!
Wallace Edwards is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and an award-winning author and illustrator. His paintings and illustrations are found in public and private collections, books and magazines and on public display in Canada and the United States. Wallace has been the guest speaker at many conferences, literary events, schools and libraries. He finds visiting with students from kindergarten to grade six especially enjoyable, where his presentations consist of reading, discussions and drawing. For more information, visit www.wallace-edwards-art.com.