Gracie
From watercolor sketch to bilingual book
In September 2015 I got my first mail from Katie, who had an idea for a book about Gracie, her dog. Katie and Gracie live in North Carolina, USA. In a big farm surrounded by nature, plants and animals. All green in spring, and snowy and cold in winter.
Katie had created a blog with all her ideas and was looking for an artist who could illustrate her canine friend. As soon as I read her story I was hooked, and had to try my version of Gracie. I made a watercolor & india ink sketch, and that was the beginning of the project!
![](https://www.anitamorra.com/en/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/post02-gracie.jpg)
Illustrating Gracie and the beautiful scenery of Ashe County, the place where the story takes place, was quite interesting and really fun. I had to look for visual references for dog actions (jumping, running, dancing, sleeping). I took some time looking for images, sketching and color testing.
After a lot of mails, a few video-calls with Katie, some parallel projects together and a couple years of hard work, the book is ready! Here are some of the Gracie book illustrations, you can see more visiting this link.
![](https://www.anitamorra.com/en/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/post02-graciestuff-short.jpg)
![](https://www.anitamorra.com/en/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/post02-graciesandkatie-.jpg)
A few months ago, Gracie, who was already a senior pup, crossed the rainbow bridge. But her story lives with us and now everyone can enjoy it : )
![](https://www.anitamorra.com/en/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/post02-ridehome.jpg)
Gracie is a bilingual book, and has three language versions:
English – Spanish / English – French / English – German.
You can also find it as an e-book and download the audio file, to listen as you read. Go to Aunt Katie’s Place, and learn more about Gracie and her adventure in the Blue Ridge mountains!
![](https://www.anitamorra.com/en/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/post02-graciereal.jpg)