Local artist illustrates Christmas book

BY MICHAEL J. RUDOLF

Wyoming County Press Examiner

A artwork of a Tunkhannock woman is part of a newly-published children's Christmas book.

Natalie Mennicucci was the illustrator for the book titled The Christmas Dog, which was written by author Peter V. Tafuri of Fleetville.

The book tells the tale of a stray dog, Bella, who witnesses the birth of Jesus. The dog helps Mary and Joseph, leads the Magi back to their country, is adopted by them and even has a star named in her honor.

The inspiration for the book was Tafuri's own dog, Bella. He and his wife wondered what Bella's reaction would have been had she been around for the birth of Christ.

As Tafuri was penning the words, he looked for someone to provide illustrations.

Mennicucci said she was a friend of the family, so the Tafuris asked if she would give it a try.

"They approached me because they knew I had an illustration background," she said.

Mennicucci, a 2003 Tunkhannock Area High School graduate, has a bachelor's degree in photography from Marywood University, with a minor in design illustration. She said she has done a lot of illustration work on a smaller scale, but had never done a project as large as a book before.

Mennicucci started out making some preliminary sketches to go along with the story line.

"I just wanted to see if my style was what they were looking for," she said.

It turned out her sketches were exactly what Tafuri was looking for, so she set to work on the final artwork. That took close to two years, she noted.

Mennicucci used a combination of techniques to achieve the style she wanted.

"I did actually use three mediums, which is why it took so long," she said.

To begin with, she took photographs that depicted the scenes she wanted to illustrate. Bella actually portrayed herself in the photos, while friends, family and others took on the roles of other characters.

"I would have the dog do different tricks or I would have people in different costumes help me out," she said.

Mennicucci loaded the photographs into her computer, where she used Photoshop software to compile them into the scenes from the book.

She then made pencil sketches from the manipulated photos, and painted them with watercolors to produce the final product.

Then it was off to be printed, which was just a waiting process for Mennicucci.

"I was thrilled to find out it had finally been completed," she said.

Mennicucci said she was fascinated by Bella and the almost human-like qualities she exhibits, and understands how the dog became the inspiration for Tafuri.

In real life, Bella is trained as a therapy dog to assist people with physical disabilities.

"The dog is quite amazing as far as a dog goes," she said.

While at Tunkhannock Area, Mennicucci took several art classes. She started work on the book during her senior year at Marywood, and is now taking graduate classes there to get her art certification. She plans to become an art teacher for elementary and high school students.

She is also working at the Rich Banick Photography studio in Dunmore while continuing her studies.

Mennicucci and Tafuri - and Bella - will be at a book reading and signing on Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 232 Wyoming Ave., Scranton.

The Christmas Dog is also available through Tafuri's own website at frostpocketfarmbooks.com, through online booksellers such as Amazon.com, and at some area retail stores.