A little over seven years
ago, I was packing a lunch for my daughter to take on a school field trip and
decided to doodle a princess on the brown bag she was taking that day. She returned that evening with the bag
laminated and informed me she wanted a drawing on her lunch every day. Foolishly I agreed and each day her lunch bag
had a quick sketch of a popular character or relevant holiday theme, but
sketching a drawing a day can eat up the subject matter quickly. So I decided
to write a story about Sara and her family that would travel with her each
day. When my son asked for the same
treatment, I was knocking out two of these bags a day. Finally, at the end of the school year I put
my foot down, and in one of the greatest bargaining sessions I have ever been
involved with, I managed to get taken in by two kids. I went from a couple of daily 10-minute
sketches to something that consumes most of my free time in the evenings. I now produce a fully illustrated and
rendered bag each week for my daughter.
Fortunately, my son let me out of my contract with him a few years
ago. Each Friday she gets a bag, which
revolves around a story that begins on the first day of school and ends during
the last week before summer. The stories
include Sara and her friends and family and often take place at school. Each year is a different adventure as we have
seen her deal with Soggy Stickers, go on a Freaky Field Trip, handle a Problem
Puppet, and other unusual escapades.
I start with normal, store
bought brown bags that are flattened out so the side without the seam is
available for drawing. Then, using a
blue or red pencil the week’s image is sketched out and composed before it is
inked and hatched, and finally markers and other media are used to finish up the
image. The bag remains fully functional, with the image having no impact on the
size, structure or capability to successfully deliver a regular middle school
lunch.
The story is generally
plotted out at the beginning with enough flexibility to incorporate changes
that appear during the school year, such as the time when Sara got a new puppy,
both in the story and in real life. The stories also try and address real
issues that she has to deal with, such as stage fright or transitioning to middle
school. They have changed a little over the years as Sara has grown older, but
they still revolve around her family, friends, and school. The weekly adventure
is written in serial form, printed on card stock paper, and cut down to the
size of the lunch bag. The card stock
helps give the bag rigidity and protects the image from the food inside.
In Sara and The Broken Bean Bag, Sara is sucked into the books she reads
while relaxing in a bean bag, but something isn’t quite right; the stories are
slightly “off” and suddenly, she is meeting Maura Shingles instead of Laura
Ingles and Gary Kotter instead of Harry Potter.
Soon she comes to realize the classic story characters are jealous of
the attention that the newer characters are getting and are plotting to steal
the books. Sara has to use her imagination to overcome these villains.
This year we find Sara exploring the world behind the locker, where she
meets up with the Locker Gnome. He’s
that guy that steals your homework or picks up a misplaced coat. She sneaks into his lair only to discover he
is having issues maintaining quotas due to the amount of electronic media the
kids are using today. He may get
downsized, and the Gym Rat, who wants to move his equipment into the Locker
Gnome’s territory, is threatening his storage facility. Finally Sara’s mom
shows up in the story with a plan to help the situation.
Another tradition that has been added over the years has been the holiday
bags. After Thanksgiving, the story is
put on hiatus while we explore different Christmas Carols. A song is picked and I research where the
song came from and create an image to illustrate a scene from that carol. A brief history of the song is written up and
inserted into the bag for that week.
These bags have been fun to create and Sara looks forward to each Friday
when she can bring them in and share the latest chapter with friends and
teachers. I have been fortunate that she
has allowed me to continue to make these for her, even now that she is a middle
schooler. They have allowed me
opportunities to explore other avenues of illustration, just so long as I meet
that weekly Friday deadline!
For more information please see:
doodlebagdesigns.blogspot.com
@doodlebags – Twitter
pinterest.com/doodlebagsprod/ (recently created)
