(Part One)
I wanted to dive right into my sketchbook the minute I received the manuscript and deal summary for Turkey’s Sandtastic Beach Day. But first I had to put on my agent-hat and iron-out all the details with my editor, Kelsey Skea at Two Lions. The deal summary is basically a simplified contract that summarizes the advance on royalties I’ll receive, percentages, and the schedule for the delivery of sketches and finals. Once all the ‘i’s are dotted on the final contract, Kelsey and I switch back from business-mode to creative-mode. It feels a little bit schizophrenic jumping from businesspeople talking about numbers and due dates, to creative people discussing the latest shenanigans of Turkey and his barnyard pals, but we’re accustomed to it. We’ve now worked together on six of the eight Turkey Trouble books…and everybody in this business wears a lot of hats.
I love illustrating the Turkey Trouble books. I don’t know how the author Wendi Silvano does it, but she always comes up with great new adventures for Turkey that keep it interesting and fun. In Turkey’s Sandtastic Beach Day, Turkey and pals visit the ocean for the very first time. The story includes lots of action, silliness, and word-play. And the fact that the story was set by the ocean made it extra fun to illustrate. I have many fond memories of vacations ‘down the shore’… and I LOVE to paint the ocean!
Like a caveman, I still create all my pictures by smearing pigments around on a surface.
So, before I begin drawing, I take inventory of my art supplies and make a list of everything I’ll need to paint a forty-page picture book. During this preparation time I spread all my tubes of paint out on my taboret and make a color chart with the main palette I intend to use. For each book my palette is a little different depending on the season, setting, and colors I want to emphasize. For the ocean scenes I mostly used a mix of PB27 and PO62. I find it helpful to think of the pigment names and not the marketing names of the colors I use.
I also usually purchase a few new brushes when I begin a new book. With all the painting I do, my brushes tend to lose their sharp tip. And you can never have too many brushes.
Unlike a caveman, I order most of my supplies from Blick.com.
My Blick.com order for Turkey’s Sandtastic Beach Day might havelooked something like this:
5 Derwent Water Soluble Sketching Pencil – 8B (Dark Wash)
4 Derwent Water Soluble Sketching Pencil – 4B (Medium Wash)
3 Derwent Water Soluble Sketching Pencil – HB (Light Wash)
3 Blick Wirebound Sketchbook – 12″ X 9″, 80 sheets
1 Faber-Castell Dust-Free Vinyl Eraser
20 Arches Watercolor Paper – 22″ X 30″ sheet, 140lb Bright White 140 lb. Hot Press
1 Winsor Newton Professional Watercolor – Winsor Blue (Green Shade) 14ml tube
1 M. Graham Artist’s Watercolor – Azo Orange, 15ml tube
1 Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolor – Prussian Blue, 15ml tube
1 Holbein Artist’s Watercolor – Cadmium Red Deep, 15ml tube
1 Turner Water Colour Masking Fluid, 40ml jar
2 Da Vinci Cosmotop Spin Brush – Quill, Short Handle, Size 0
1 Winsor Newton Series 7 Kolinsky Sable Brush – Pointed Round, Size 6
During this preparation time I also make myself a precise work schedule to help me keep on track during the long process, which from start to finish usually takes about nine months. This amount of time includes three months for drawing, six months for painting, any vacation I might have planned, photo reference collecting, school visits, book signings, and a little padding for unanticipated delays and miscellany. I greatly appreciate that I have a publisher that accommodates and values the care I put into all my illustrations, and from all my experiences visiting schools, I can tell you with certainty that the kids appreciate it, too. They see EVERYTHING!
Finally, before I begin drawing, I mark up the manuscript with notes about pagination, font size, font style, trim-size, and big-picture ideas I want to remember. For example, on the manuscript for Turkey’s Sandtastic Beach Day I wrote:
This is fun, real fun! KEEP IT LIGHT! (It’s the beach.)
And with that thought in mind, I conducted one last frisket test and dove in!
(In part two I’ll talk about the drawing process.)