My assembly line
illustration process
Brandon writes:
Hey John, I noticed back in 2010, you said that you paint all your backgrounds first and then your characters to get a consistent look. Does that mean you have 16 masonite boards with paper taped to them throughout your studio?…
Jack and the Giant Barbecue color studies
book promotion, illustration processHere are close-up scans of the color studies I created for Jack and the Giant Barbecue. They're shown here individually, but they were created together on one big piece of watercolor paper as a color script. Each study is roughly 6" x 4".
These…
Inside the jukebox
book promotion, illustration processHere is an image I was very excited to draw from Jack and the Giant Barbecue—Jack inside the jukebox, trying to get at his daddy's recipe book. In the original manuscript the giant had hidden the recipe book inside a cash register. We ran…
Dennis
illustration processA caricature of my old pal Dennis Dittrich—
Jacket art
book promotion, illustration processHere's the sketch, final painting and lettering for the front jacket of Jack and the Giant Barbecue.
[slideshow]
Jack climbs Mount Pecos
book promotion, illustration processHere's the final painting from my last post—Jack climbs Mount Pecos in Jack and the Giant Barbecue.
Masking fluid
book promotion, illustration processMasking fluid (or liquid frisket) is a pretty handy item to have around. Many of the scenes in Jack and the Giant Barbecue have characters in front of the big, wild & woolly American West. I like to spread out and paint that kind of backdrop…
With trumpets a-tooting
book promotion, illustration processAnother night-time party scene from Let's Have A Tree Party! A thumbnail sketch, tight sketch, the painting in progress and the final illustration. My former student Julia Kapp assisted with blocking in the big areas of color for this book.…
Moon
book promotion, illustration processHere's a night-time scene from Let's Have A Tree Party! The sun's gone down and the animals say 'hi' to the moon.
Thumbnail sketch, tight sketch, some shots of the painting in progress and the final illustration.
To the tree!
book promotion, illustration processHere's the copyright/dedication spread for Let's Have A Tree Party! from Candlewick Press. It's the first big image you see, so this is the establishing shot. It tells you where the story takes place.
