More About Paddington

I thought I'd borrow the title of Michael Bond's second Paddington book for this post as it seemed to fit perfectly. I have been working away on my Paddington and he is getting close to being finished. Brendan had made a suitcase for his bear complete with the intitials P.B. on it. He bought a little wooden hinged box and lined it with black fabric. Then he painted the case black and glued in the letters for the monogram. We found a small jar to put in the suitcase and now we justhave to figure out how to make it look like it has marmalade in it.

Brendan's Paddington:






My Paddington is nearly finished.
I have chosen to make him "life-sized" or at least how I imagine he would be. One of the books says he weighs "nearly 16 pounds" and the drawings show him about the size of a toddler. I hope the Paddington I am making will be recognizable as Paddington even though he will not look like the cartoon illustrations of Paddington. I love the first illustrator's gestural pen and ink illustrations for their lively feel, but it is certainly difficult to duplicate that quality in 3-D. The Paddington I am making is going to look like the picture I get in my mind when I read the stories...
I made some pen and ink sketches mimicking the style of Peggy Fortnum,

And then I drew a sketch of what I see when I read the Paddington stories...(the one on the left). This is how I hope my finished bear will look.

Back to work with me! Or should I say back to play--this bear is for ME!