Learn Spanish: Dance

TO DANCE
Spanish: bailar (bahy-LAR)

Gustavo's Daydream

In one of the pivotal scenes in the book, Gustavo dreams of what it would be like to be in his family's mariachi band.

I sketched out this spread early in the making of the book. It is a big doodle made with a ballpoint pen, filling a large page in my sketchbook. This was one of my first drawings I ever made of Gustavo and the rest of the characters.



A refined version:



When I painted the illustration, I did it in pieces. First, I made the "daydream" portion of the image.



Next, I painted Gustavo and his dog.



Using the computer, I placed them together to create one picture.



To finish, I added a little bit of texture onto the paper to make it a little more interesting.

Learn Spanish: Singing

TO SING
Spanish: cantar (kan-TAR)

SONG
Spanish: la canción (kan-see-OHN)

SINGER
Spanish: el cantante (kan-TAHN-tay)

Sketches

A behind-the-scenes look into some of the scenes from the book:

Coloring Page: Gustavo

Download: PDF or JPEG

Learn Spanish: Cowboy

COWBOY
Spanish: Vaquero (vah-KAIR-oh)

Learn to Draw Gustavo

1. Draw a circle.

2. Draw guidelines.

3. Make circles for the eyes.

4. Add nose, eyebrows, and mouth.

5. Add hair and ears.

6. Fill in the details.

7. Shade your drawing.

Learn Spanish: Family

FATHER
Spanish: Padre (PAH-drey)

UNCLE
Spanish: Tío (TEE-oh)

BROTHER
Spanish: Hermano (air-MAH-noh)

COUSIN (male)
Spanish: Primo (PREE-moh)