Memorable Night: Fire Drum Circle

Here's a peek at color work in progress.

This image depicts Wynonah, her parents, and her younger brothers singing around a fire with Uncle Sassoonan. Old Sassoonan beats his deer hide drum. Wynonah shakes a turtle shell rattle.

The final image will be quite luminous with a dark, wooded background. It is being created with underlying washes of watercolor paint. Details are added with colored pencils.

I'm hoping to capture some of the atmosphere of life, music, and emotion that Wynonah and her family experienced that memorable night.

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North of Kittatinny Blue Mountain

This is just a teaser of some full color work I've been doing for the book. Unfortunately, I only have a black and white version right now.

Wondering what it looks like in color? Keep an eye open for this and more. The book will be on sale very soon. Want it earlier rather than later? Send us a note at wynonah.lives@gmail.com and we'll get back to you with sales information.

See the color concept art for this piece here.

Colors for George

Here's a concept sketch showing how George Washington might appear in color. I've sketched this same page probably six times already and it's finally shaping up into something I like. This is not the final image.

The uniform is his colonel's uniform in the Virginia Regiment. Keeping the color scheme in the red-white-blue range we get hints of historic events yet to come.

The spyglass (based on one of Washington's own spyglasses) plays an important role in the story.

George and Wynonah Campfire Colors

I have been experimenting with the two illustrations involving campfires-- basically trying to create a unique identity and feel for each one, even though both involve people sitting by campfires.

Storytelling With Sassoonan

The Sassoonan sketches that appeared in earlier posts were made for one purpose: to help me envision Sassoonan's appearance on page 8 of the book. In that scene, family members gather around the fire to share stories.

The image above helps me place Sassoonan's face in a context of other people, under certain lighting conditions.

Sassoonan Version Five

Here we have the same sketch seen in versions three and four, but re-worked. I used a Q-tip with some alcohol to smooth the color, and emphasized the masculine features more, including more prominent chin, cheekbones, and brow ridge.

Sassoonan Version Four

This sketch is actually the same sketch seen in the last post, but the complementary colors (yellow and violet) have been blended and layered more to add depth and warmth. Also, black and umber colors have been added to create greater contrast. A colorless blender has been used to smooth color by filling in the white depressions caused by the paper texture.

Sassoonan's face is a challenge-- combining lighting environment, character, and many wrinkles. Click on the "Sassoonan" link at the foot of this post to see the many incarnations of this face. I find that no matter how much I think I know, drawing is still always a learning process.

Read below for more information on version three, which is really the "under-painting" of the version four drawing:

Sassoonan's Face: Second Attempt

Here is my second rough attempt to draw Sassoonan's face. It's actually a re-worked version of the drawing seen in the last post. I've darkened it quite a bit-- allowing the fire below his face to cast shadows more assertively on the upper parts. Also I've attempted to age him more, and to remove the "startled" look. Drawing people is quite challenging!

Sassoonan's Face (First Version)

This is practice for a page where we see back into Wynonah's youth: Uncle Sassoonan is telling stories to younger people by the light of the fire.

Anatomically this face can be done better, and so can the lighting. The purpose of this was to familiarize myself with the problems I will encounter when trying to make the final image.

Also drawings like this help me create a color palette-- a chosen, limited set of colors-- for each page. Colors don't simply tell us what color things are; more importantly they convey mood and atmosphere.

Large Color Sketches

Six-inch color concept for campfire scene using Prismacolor pencils

I've already done small color thumbnail sketches which helped me determine what colors I generally want to use on each page. Thumbnails are small, inspirational scribbles, if you haven't been following the blog. In some cases I made several versions for a single page.

Now I am expanding and refining those little inspirational scribbles like the one on the left into larger color sketches: I know what colors I want; now I'm trying to replicate them on purpose, not just by happenstance.

Since these sketches are used for color purposes only, this is why no facial details have been drawn.

While I am at it, I am also teaching myself how to develop RAW camera files-- giving me much more control over the final appearance of the reproduced colors in the book.

A second, "hotter" version of the same image can be seen to the right.

Playing with Color

Third color concept of wigwam-- warmer and lighter for better text contrast

The first set of color thumbnails showed me right away what might work and what definitely would not. In some cases it simply showed me that I had no concept, really, of how to color particular pages or spreads.

I played around with some of the original ideas (or lack of ideas) and adjusted colors in this second set of sketches.

Sometimes the colors were too dark or too red, for example in these earlier wigwam sketches seen to the right and below. But that's what thumbnails are for-- to spot and correct mistakes while it's still easy, or even to just play and see what feels right.

I'll continue with sketches like these (done in dry media like colored pencil) and then refine them further in larger, wet media sketches. Since watercolor will be the final medium, I'll get some practice for the final pieces in the "wet" sketches, too! Here are three early color concepts for the "tales" page:

Color Thumbnails

Moonlit scene along the Schuylkill (color thumbnail sketch)

Here is the fourth version of the thumbnails, which serve a different purpose than the earlier sketches. The first three sets of "thumbs" were were used to generate ideas of what to draw on each page. Now for the first time I've attempted to get an idea of what each page will look like in color.

Being a first attempt, things will change. Some of the sketches work nicely, and others don't. But that's what these are for-- to see where problems are popping up with the color, and to fix them.

The first rough interpretation of all pages of the book in color.

I get a general idea of the distribution of color throughout the story, and what emotional role it will play in sequence. Also, palette themes begin to emerge. With practice I should be able to harmonize color relationships from page to page.

Pen and Ink Style

Leaves drawn in washes of watercolor and accented with ink

Maybe Buttons & Beads is more of a watercolor wash and ink kind of story? With so many style options it is hard to choose. We need a style that resonates with and amplifies the themes of the book, and which can get the technical business of illustrating the subjects done as well.

The heavier approach to paint seen here (particularly the top illustration of the squash) is suitable for the guidebook-like nature of some of the drawings. On the other hand the the illustration above gives a sort of nostalgic feel appropriate for the story.

Full Color Sketches

Top squash in Gouache; bottom squash in Gouache wash and Conté crayon*

Buttons & Beads' storyline will be illustrated in sepia, and the parallel sidebar areas (describing American Indian ways of life) will be full color. In some instances full color art will illustrate the storyline as well. The same squash drawn twice (above) illustrates some style options for full color art. *Fun fact: "Gouache" (a kind of opaque watercolor) rhymes with both "squash" and "wash." It is pronounced "gwash."