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.

Thumbnails 3

These thumbnail sketches (roughly the third set so far) give a glimpse of new layout and illustration ideas.

Pages 6 through 13 are almost entirely new, with the addition of a village scene, the interior of Esther Harris's trading post, Sassoonan telling stories, and Wynonah alone on her Vision Quest. Pages 32-33 will show a comradely pair, George and Wynonah , at their campfire.

Rest in Peace, Thumbnail Sketches

So, these things happen. Most of the original sketches for Buttons & Beads have suffered a mishap-- lost to the pages of history. In other words, never put something on top of your car and then forget it and drive away. Lesson learned! Luckily the sketches were documented already, and they were only sketches.

The color samples as seen here, here and here were found and recovered from a roadway, miraculously, face down with tire treads on the reverse side only.

Brainstorm: The Thumbnail Sketches

Burning farm (initial idea, top, refined sketch, bottom)

Thumbnail sketches or thumbnails, are small, quick drawings used to visualize ideas. Buttons & Beads has gone through two stages of thumbnail sketching so far.

In these "before and after" images, the initial sketch idea appears on top, and the second, alternative idea on bottom.

Wigwam scene. Wynonah's dog (bottom) does not appear in the text