Tom Sawyer process:

Okay, the following is the process for the Tomie dePaola contest... I will try and explain my thoughts as I go along:

Step 1: VERY rough sketch

Step 1: I actually had thought of doing some of the more iconic scenes for the book, including the fence painting, or the funeral scene... but after going through the book, I tried to select a scene where Tom uses his imagination (hence, it would give me the ability to use mine)... so I picked the scene where he imagines himself coming home in a variety of guises: Soldier, Indian and Pirate.

I imagined Tom's pirate idea as being much more elaborate, and thus having much more face time on the page. I though of the idea of using his soldier and indian idea in the sails on the pirate ship.

Step 2: Kinda Rough Sketch

Step 2: After taking my initial rough, I refined it, by making the character more round (so he would look less adult pirate, and more like a boy playing a pirate... I enjoyed the way he looked proportions and all, so instead of redrawing him like I would have done in the past, I used my new tracing table (which I don't know why I didn't buy it sooner... talk about a time saver!)...so I transferred the image.

Steps 1-3

Step 3: the image was transferred via tracing table: you can see the penciled version in the lower part.

Step 4: Inks begin

Step 4: I started to ink the work using India Ink, and planned on doing the values in Sumi ink. I really have fallen in love with using the brush. In the past, I used pen/ink only, and while I still enjoy that, I think brush gives it more or an organic and less of a mechanical feel (I have been accused of having a photocopy in my hands when I show a pen/ink work, because I keep my lines so tight).

Step 5: Inks continue

Step 5: I continue adding the ink, and dark areas. You can see the upper left that the soldier is not developed, because I didn't really know how to show him... I also laid down some frisket/masking agent to keep some whites from the ropes on the ship, highlights and some clouds... I also noticed the prow was viewed from the side, while the rest of the ship was viewed from the top. Damn you, perspective!!! 

Step 6: Sumi ink is laid down

Step 6: I laid down the sumi ink, trying to show a range of value, and embellishing forms.

Step 7: Add text

Step 7: I added the text. There were no limits on the layout of the book, so I laid it out with a horizontal idea in mind. There were numerous problems with this last step. My Photoshop program wouldn't save it, and the photo-merge feature wouldn't work.... Dumb technology. Overall, I am content with it on a scale of 7 out of 10. Most of the problems came in the last step here. That's it! Now to work on art for the upcoming Austin and Houston conferences!