Tag Archive for: ink

An editorial assignment

Occasionally—very occasionally—I get an assignment to create an image for grownups.   These two were for a business magazine; the article was about decision-making.  One was to be of a couple of football players and an umpire flipping…

The Mayflower

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Another spread from Two Bad Pilgrims.  This is the big splashy first glimpse of the Mayflower. Here is the thumbnail sketch: Everything's there that needs to be, but I was concerned that the direction of the drawing didn't show the Billingtons…

Five not-too-bad cover ideas

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People do judge a book by its cover.  Or at least, it's the cover that gets people to pick up the book in the bookstore and see whether they like it.  Here are rough cover ideas for Two Bad Pilgrims. Art Director Jim Hoover liked…

Plymouth Plantation

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It's November—time to start thinking about Thanksgiving and pilgrims!  Here's another scene from Two Bad Pilgrims.  This one shows the pilgrims beginning construction of Plymouth Plantation.  The first thing they built was the common house/fort. …

Pierre le chien

Besides picture books, I've done a couple of chapter books that were lots of fun for me.  Chapter books are for an older audience (9-12) and the ratio of words to pictures is very different!  There is typically one black & white image…

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…

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…

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…