Today is a momentous day! Why? Because the first piece of final artwork has been finished for Buttons & Beads!
Days of preparation, hours of research, many, many sketches, and a single, 24-hour marathon session of drawing have yielded the art seen here.
The front endsheet includes Wynonah's family tree and a regional map for reference, including all places mentioned in the text.
Days of preparation, hours of research, many, many sketches, and a single, 24-hour marathon session of drawing have yielded the art seen here.
The front endsheet includes Wynonah's family tree and a regional map for reference, including all places mentioned in the text.
This sketch was used to plan the final colors
Both have been made with the 18th century in mind. The tree was inspired by one I saw at Mount Vernon; the map by the Mitchell Map and maps of that era.
Materials used include a full range of hard to soft graphite pencils, opaque watercolors, sepia ink, natural sponges, colored pencils, kneaded erasers, white plastic erasers, ordinary pink erasers, masking fluid, and a blending stump.
See sketches for this particular project here, here, and below.
See sketches for this particular project here, here, and below.
Finished endsheet artwork. Between three and ten layers of paint were applied
Detailed family tree practice version done before the final artwork
Final map artwork showing story locations. Lettering was done by hand.
Wigwam sketches. More detailed than those appearing in the final art
Final art: The Lenape village beneath the family tree. Doors are east-facing, waiting to receive the sun in the misty predawn hours.
