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UNDER THE WILD WESTERN SKY by Jim Arnosky

UNDER THE WILD WESTERN SKY

by Jim Arnosky & illustrated by Jim Arnosky

Pub Date: May 1st, 2005
ISBN: 0-688-17121-4
Publisher: HarperCollins

This companion piece to Following the Coast (2004) takes the author-illustrator and his wife out into the Great American West, photographing and sketching cacti, cowboys, arroyos and wildlife. Arnosky’s enthusiasm for his work is clear in both illustration (a sketch, obviously taken from a photograph, of himself with pad and pencil in hand) and text (“The western landscape is so spectacular, your eyes can barely take it in”). Glowing acrylics of said landscape give a sense of the scope of the vistas; insets focus on the wonders within. Soft pencil sketches also share space with the paintings, adding detail (the elements of a Western saddle) or a sense of “you are there” immediacy. As with its predecessor, this work’s presentation is much more geared toward a scrapbook-like regional overview than an in-depth examination of any one subject, and as such, it partakes of a disarming informality. The author’s regard for his audience comes through clearly in a concluding note that informs readers of the media used and encourages them to “copy all the illustrations using [their] own favorite medium.” (Picture book/nonfiction. 6-9)