Excerpt from Emily's correspondence with CRICKET

Illo #1: I wasn't 100% sure we should show Cymbril and the musicians before we get to them, but I'm thinking that's what you were looking for, and it was more exciting than some of the things happening until then. I threw in one with Urrt for good measure. I like the energy of the crowd scenes; I guess what we go with if choosing one of these depends on what we want to focus on. I really like the composition and size relationship between the 3 characters in #5. That is one of my favorites.

Illo #2: Here I thought it would be nice to show off these interesting characters, so I kept them all pretty big in the composition. Let me know if you think I need to pull the camera back on any of them. I really liked Bobbin talking about her home being the land she travels, so I tried to hit that moment with most of these. I think 2 and 4 are nice, for that one. I also like the one of them singing and dancing, but only if we don't see them very well in the first illustration. I think trees in the background would be appropriate based on their conversation.

Illo #3: This one was tougher trying to make sure I didn't cram the whole Pushpull chamber in since it's a smaller spot. I liked the bittersweetness of Cymbril's departure, so I liked the idea of her heading towards the stairs but turning back for a last look. I thought it would be really poetic to just have her leaving (maybe not quite as cheerful as I've made her!) with the pink lanterns bobbing around, in idea #1. Looking at it now, this might look better if it were slightly overhead. In #2, I almost think I could fade the background out into a vignette; just a simple image of Cymbril leaving. But I must say, I do really like #4, with Cymbril and Urrt, too.

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