I love character noodling when starting a new book
(early sketches for characters in Embarrassed Ferret)
(now with outfits!)and since Lisa Frenkel Riddiough’s 2nd Ferret book (first book: Embarrassed Ferret, out from Disney-Hyperion Fall 2025) is set somewhere these characters’ parents might show up, well…
It’s time to find out what animal FAMILIES look like wooooooooo!
For Cobra’s parents — can I just say: it’s so fun getting to play with some of my favorite animals who don’t usually get used in kids’ media, like cobras and komodo dragons. And I’ve always loved snakes:
(the evilest child photo ever, but look at that lil guy)
I mean, isn’t there something about that face that screams Bucket Hat?
(I wonder if other illustrators have a preference for drawing characters facing left or right when they’re doodling?)Frog might have a younger sibling, so of course that means tadpole. So many sketches stop halfway through, leaving a disturbingly incomplete figure haunting the page, like this one.
I love Dragonfly’s dads. The parent backpack! The dad watch!
(fun fact I learned today: dragonflies can be gay. I mean, her parents were going to be regardless, but it’s just a nice nature thing to find out too).Finally, let’s get their teacher, Ms. Bunny on the board:
All these details can change later on, but it’s fun building who you’re working with.Thanks for reading!
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