While working as a Color Designer, John John Bajet wanted to recapture the joy he felt in his childhood art classes. Searching for the old chalky pastels of his youth, he bought something called a water-resistant pastel instead—a happy accident that led him to his love of what he calls “basically, really good quality crayons.” As a children’s book illustrator, Bajet feels that using a nostalgic medium like crayons aligns perfectly with the fairy tales and nursery rhymes that inspire him. Among these is Goldilocks and the Three Bears, the basis for Wakey Wakey.
In creating this piece, Bajet says: “I enjoy how cozy vignettes paired with simple stories can leave a lasting impression.” He admits that he’s never been a strong draftsman, and he drew the simple shapes first, so he could move to his favorite part: the coloring and rendering phase.
For Wakey Wakey he wanted a warm and inviting feeling. He picked a peach-toned pastel paper and a primary pastel palette. “I filled in my line drawing like a coloring book,” he says, describing how he covered it with a flat color first, using an electric eraser to keep the edges sharp. Afterward, he applied more pressure until he filled the tooth of the paper for the darker areas.
While Bajet has enjoyed the teamwork of his animation jobs over the past nine years, including The Tom and Jerry Show and SpongeBob SquarePants, working with wax pastel has been a way to carve space for himself. And sometimes, he says: “You just want to be a kid again.”
Bajet most recently illustrated Harper Handles Big Feelings, coming out this summer. Learn more at www.johnbajet.com
.png)