Final Frontispiece (last part...for now)
I conclude today the inking process for the frontispiece to the final Spiderwick book, The Wyrm King.
After my warm up on the Arthur Rackham study, I was ready to begin inking. I started with Nick, who is not only the hero of the books, but the focal point of this image. That means if I was to blow it on inking him, I’d likely start over – so its better to get him finished first.
Just like the pencil work on the Rackham study, there are lines here that won’t be rendered in ink (like the flush on his cheeks). Satisfied for the moment, I move onto the much more complicated mermaids.
Like I mentioned earlier, the cluster here has to act as one. However, I’ve put in details (like different hair color and texture) to differentiate them upon closer inspection.
Here is the full piece in progress. At this point I’ll move onto the remaining mermaids and then the aspects of the environment. The watery surface won’t be done in inks – I’ll save that for the watercolors.
When I feel the inking is complete and ready for color, I scan the image so that it can be used for an interior illustration as well.
This method follows what was traditionally done with old woodcut/black & white illustrated fairytale books: One of the eye-catching interior pieces was colored and tipped in (a process where the color printed image was hand-glued into the book). Often, it accompanied the title page at the beginning of the book (hence, a “frontispiece”) and created excitement and intrigue for the story right at the start.
What’s interesting about my “to-be-colored” inked images is that they are not always rendered in a rich gamut of varying gray tones. In fact, if you browse through the other Spiderwick books (especially book 1), and compare the colored frontis to its black & white counterpart, you’ll note that the linework is little more than contoured outlines. It looks like there is a little bit of that going on here with this image too. So, for the final black & white inked interior illustration, I will add more linework in Photoshop to give the art a sense of depth and finish. However, for its initial use as an inked drawing that needs color, it is ready to go.
With my reference handy of underwater swimmers, I was able to finish the image with watercolors. I’ve been using Yarka watercolors on all of the Spiderwick chapter books, and really like how the colors glow when I glaze them in layers. I’ll go into a step-by-step on how that is done in future post…
…In the meantime, I’ll get to tweaking the scanned inked image for the final book interior illustration and share that with you once it is done.
Click to share thisClick to share this
Beautiful work!
I’ve been waiting for the final piece with bated breath! I’ve wanted a mermaid tattoo for years, but could never find the right image. May I get a tattoo of one of your mermaids, please?
…only if you send photos to share with all once it is finished:)
So cool ,Tony
Tony -
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed following your creative process to completion with this piece. I’m a fellow illustrator, and I love getting to see how other artists work in the studio. Thanks for sharing this with us!
Jeremy
ps – your performance in Jarrett Krosoczka’s latest video was hilarious!
pps – check out my website if you’ve got a free moment! http://www.jeremydevans.com
Nice work Jeremy,
I like the new sketches on your blog and the sketchbook binding is very cool. Keep chuggin!
Tony,
I love the picture!!!
Are you going to be drawing any creepy yet beautiful faery’s in the near or far future?
Mary
Hi Mary,
This last Spiderwick book will probably be the last bit of fairy drawings from me for a bit. Fear not, I’ve been quietly working on designs for a bunch of new creepy-yet-beautiful creatures to inhabit my upcoming novel…
Thank you!
There will definitely be pictures forthcoming, but it may be a ways off.
Wow, fascinating stuff! I’m a huge fan of Arthur Rackham’s work, and now your’s too. The image is fabulous.
Great piece. And what a jump between the final pen-and-ink drawing and the painted image. Did you do any tonal studies, or just dive right in (so to speak)?
Thanks Brian! I’ve been a fan for awhile now, especially the animals you’re doing for Avi’s books.
Sometimes I’ll do a tonal study to problem solve some potential hurdles. In this case, the photo reference I’d gathered of watery scenery was enough for me to jump in (ha!)
Tony,
Really Great to see how you work out the illustrations so far.
Just a quick question…what size is the watercolor part of the front piece and do you print it out on bristol to paint it or do you paint over the original inks?
Thanks again for sharing!
Mike
Hey Mike,
This image is roughly 10×14 on a 14×17″ piece of bristol. I do not paint on a printout, the lines always seem a tad heavier and not quite as delicate as the original…and I am a bit of a purist.
I had the privilege to watch an exhibition with some works by Rackham & Dulac in London and I was astonished by their small size and the brightness of the colors. Nothing to do with the best of the prints I had seen before. It was really inspirational to imagine how these masters would work!
It is a pleasure to see your adventure Toni, and I hope I can also see your original works one day!
Really Great …fascinating, a wonderfull work
I love your pictures =)
Wow this really turned out amazing! I’m a big fan of all your work.
Tony,
Any information or sneak peaks about your upcoming book?
Mary
I’ve been looking at Rackham’s work a lot lately and it is really cool to see you post some information about his process, and your own as well. I’ve been trying out some pen and ink and watercolor washes and it extremely fun. Thanks for posting some great inspiration.
lovely work !!
I want to read this book really badly. Where do you get your watercolors and inks and pens? What paper do you use?
Emily
I paint on Strathmore plate bristol usually. You can purchase it in pads or by the sheet. I paint with Yarka watercolors, and ink with FW inks and a Hunts 102 nib. I was able to purchase all of these items at my local art supply store…
Sweet! I think we have a local art store………. Oh yeah, and I sent in more fan art!
“I’ve been using Yarka watercolors on all of the Spiderwick chapter books, and really like how the colors glow when I glaze them in layers. I’ll go into a step-by-step on how that is done in future post…”
I know I’m commenting on this rather late but I’m working on some underwater mermaid scenes at the moment, and would love to know how you do yours with this glaze technique….. =) please and thank you =)
Hi Laura,
The quick version is:
I underpaint the whole piece in a shade of brown, umber, sienna, etc. I use Acryla gouache for this step, which is basically a mix of acrylic and gouache.
I then paint from back to front building up transparent layers. I often use cool colors for shadow and warm colors for my light (think Max Parrish).
I also paint thin to thick, so the backgrounds will often be very thin and very loose while the places of importance get more detail and more paint.
I hope this helps, best of luck with your piece!
cool, thank you! =) i’m just experimenting with monoprints for it at the moment, using splashes of white spirits over the ink roll up to get a watery effect. . .
thank you so much for taking the time to write back! =)
Mr. Tony, I bet you have like a billion drawings you have to get done right now, but it’d be really sweet to see the end of your process–the glazing in layers part sounds quite awesome to me! I am also curious if you use your computer to touch up or add things when you are finished with the piece. If you ever get time to share, I’d probably giggle in excitement.
I’d like to do a painting process blog post as well, Matthew. I think its a good idea. Btw, I do clean up the image on the computer before sending it off, but it is usually minor stuff. If I can fix it on the actual painting, I will do so.
Good to know about the computer touch-ups. Can’t wait to see what’s next!