Two Bad Pilgrims’ progress

Here's the big scene from Two Bad Pilgrims, where Francis and Johnny nearly scuttle the Mayflower when they fool around with their father's fowling piece.  First the thumbnail sketch: Then the tight sketch: There was some squeamishness…

Being John Singer Sargent

I'm working on paintings (finishing them up, actually) for a story about a cat who lives in Venice circa 1890.  Since the publisher refused to send me to la Serenissima to gather visual research (hey, you can't blame a boy for asking!), I was…

Designing a cover for the new Henry

Sponge out your cannons!  Prepare to repel boarders!  Henry & the Crazed Chicken Pirates will storm bookstores on August 11th! Many eager customers are even now camped out in front of those bookstores, awaiting the big day.  For those…

John & Elinor Billington

Here are some more character designs from Two Bad Pilgrims.  John & Elinor Billington were Francis & Johnny's mom and dad.  The passengers on the Mayflower comprised 2 groups: the Saints and the Strangers.  The Saints were the Puritans…

Underpainting

When I paint, my favorite medium is gouache (rhymes with squash).  It's opaque watercolor and versatile: I can water the colors down to transparency or paint them on thick and opaque.  If I need to make a change after the paint's dry, I can…

More Pilgrims

Here's the character design for Miles Standish.  I do these sketches for the major characters in a book so that they look the same all the way through the story.  Proportions are difficult to keep consistent unless you take the time to do…

Two Bad Pilgrims

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I've got another book coming out in August, Two Bad Pilgrims. It's the true story of the Billington brothers, who came to the New World on the Mayflower.  They were a couple of brats who nearly blew up the ship while fooling around with a…

This one is near, that one is far

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When I talk about perspective, I'm talking about how an artist creates the illusion of distance in a flat drawing or painting.  Two ways to do that are 1) make the nearer object big and the farther object small, and 2) make the nearer object…

La Serenissima

Today I'm working on a night-tme scene: a lady holding a cat in 1890s Venice.  Here are the thumbnail sketch and the comprehensive sketch. I'll start by blocking in the dark areas in Burnt Sienna.