Young Artist Illustrates Christmas Book

Details

Art

Saturday, 24 December 2011 02:30

By caribarena news

Antigua St John's - Every year when Christmas comes around we are all reminded of the birth of Jesus. The story has been told many times over.

Texas resident Steve Dailey has written a children’s book for ages 3 to 10 called The Christmas Log, illustrated by 10-year-old Vega Armstrong. Armstrong is a 5th grade student at St Nicholas, and loves to express herself through art.

Dailey came across some of Armstrong's work that her mother had posted on Facebook.

He asked if the 10 year old would be interested in illustrating the book he had written several years ago.

Dailey felt it was time to finally publish the story, and was looking for a youngster to fill the pages with colourful drawings.

“I was excited and honoured to do this, as Steve Dailey could have asked anybody, but he asked me,"

Armstrong said. "My mother got the script for the book and we read through it together to see if I could get any inspiration for the drawings. As she read out loud, I got out a notepad and wrote down some ideas for the illustrations and made quick sketches. My father and I then went to buy a sketchbook and special pencils.”

It took about nine months to finish all 11 drawings, as Armstrong would not work on it frequently. Sometimes she just did not feel like drawing. “In the last month, I did three drawings, and that was hard work," she said.

Dailey decided that half of the proceeds of The Christmas Log would go to a children’s charity, and asked Armstrong to choose one. “I chose the Make a Wish Foundation, because I heard about it before and it sounded like a very good charity," the youngster said. "I hope that one day I can illustrate some more books.”

The Christmas Log is about a young orphan whose best friends are animals. One day, he was asked by an inn keeper to chop some wood and look after the animals in return for food and shelter in a barn.

• < Prev
• Next >