Pull up a chair, grab a drink, and be prepared for a long blog entry but also an interesting one I think. This past week I mailed off all of the art for my 18th book and I wanted to share my process of illustrating the cover. It was a bit unusual for me.
Over the summer (when not preparing for our wedding and month long honeymoon!) I was finishing the interior art for my book Clara Morgan and the Oregon Trail Journey. Usually cover ideas are finalized when the interior paintings are close to being done so even though we had decided on a cover concept, the actual painting of it had to wait till I got back from our trip.
Luckily for me our honeymoon was taking us on a road trip from Chicago back to Washington State so a stop in Nebraska where the book is set was on the agenda. Thanks Jess for your flexibility! Usually I don't get the opportunity to visit the places where my books are set before starting work so this was a real thrill. It would add some authenticity to the cover at least and stir my imagination!
I am now going to walk you through how I illustrated the cover step by step. I hope you enjoy this peek behind the curtain . . .




A close up of the wagon.


I took some photos of my model once I was back from the trip. The only problem was I didn't have the dress we used from the first series of photos I took for the interior paintings. I made do with my existing photos.

Here is my final drawing based on my reference photos. I projected this drawing onto my illustration board. The notes were done while I was painting the cover.







What a fascinating story - loved seeing the development of the art!!!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely beautiful artwork, it was interesting to see the process frtom start to finish.
ReplyDeleteThis is like a mini-lesson on an illustrator's journey! I appreciate his art more than ever!
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