When I was just starting out in freelancing in 1992, Charlesbridge Pub. Co, contacted me to do the children’s book Creepy Creatures: Do They Scare You? I was utterly thrilled to do the research to make the art. My very first book would be a bunch of the coolest animals! Teeth! Claws! Scales! Spines! Danger and grossness! Hooray!!

Growing up in the pre-internet era, I’d studiously collected magazine photos of all kinds of animals for my “clippings morgue” (thanks, Ranger Rick and National Geographic), so I already had a lot of reference images to consult. If I was missing something specific, I could hit up the nearest college or library for books. Inexplicably, I found myself without any good photo-reference for the scorpion, so /shrugging\ naturally I bought one from a local pet shop. Neither I nor the shop owner apparently knew what a gravid scorpion looked like, so when I brought it home and she gave birth to about 20 offspring (yes, they’re live when they pop out), I quickly made some sketches, took some Polaroid photos and then carefully returned the baby scorpions to the pet shop.

Awwwww, the new-mom Scorpion and bebehs ( I only drew 8 for clarity). I used forceps to gingerly move them from her back so I could put them in a container for transport.

The book was first published with the Komodo Dragon cover and then later with the deep sea angler fish cover. The book can be found in Spanish and a few other languages around the world. It’s no longer in print so the company sent the physical paintings back to me in 2021— nearly 30 years later. After so much time, it’s fun to see them again in person. And I’m also very happy to know that Charlesbridge Co. is still around and making new books.

The second printing cover of Creepy Creatures. Nope, they don’t scare me. (Well, okay… maybe just a little.)

Edit/ update on this post 4 Dec: This books’ original art is currently for sale through Jane Frank’s art agency, www.wow-art.com.