Karen Lewis, artist, animator, illustrator

'Third Wish'
a new novel by author Robert Fulghum

Illustrations in watercolor, pen and ink

To illustrate this story, I was invited to follow the manuscript through Greece, France and England, discovering and sketching the places where the characters must have been.

The resulting art appears in sketchbook form as the work of Louka Mahdis, a character belonging to the story.

You can view the sketchbooks in their entirety.

Third Wish will be published first in Czech, and is currently under consideration for publication in the United States.

A sample page from Louka Mahdis' Sketchbook of Crete

The novel was first published by the author in a limited run of six as a loose-leaf manuscript in a very special box.

The outside box is wooden - fine cedar - Japanese style. The inside of the box is lined with incense cedar and tanned leather. The wood is left natural - no stain or varnish.

There is an inner tray made of piano-grade ebony, containing artifacts mentioned in the novel. The artifacts are enclosed in small drawstring bags made of silk and indigo-dyed cotton.

Underneath the tray is another box - covered in black buckram - which folds open to reveal the manuscript printed loose-leaf on heavy archival drawing paper. The Czechs will publish the novel in this kind of box. The wooden box with artifacts is not feasible in large production runs.

Within the manuscript are an illustrator's notebook with illustrations in color, a journal, sheet music, maps, poetry, and photographs. There is also a CD with ambient sounds of Greece, voices of characters, and music.