Final Frontispiece (part 2)
With my thumbnail approved by the team at S&S (and Holly), I was off to refine the sketch and prepare it for finish. For that, I began looking at reference of swimmers photographed underwater, like this image from LIFE magazine:
Immediately I was struck by how wonderful the light refracts through the ripples onto the pool walls and the swimmer’s body. This was great inspiration to me. Energized, I redrew the image and began to hone the composition. Below is the thumbnail sketch redrawn:
Some have observed that the pen & ink illustrations in the Spiderwick chapter books are rendered a little different than say, how I would paint a book jacket, or even the “natural history-esque” plates of Arthur’s Field Guide.
For these books (and my picture books), I use more of an animator’s approach: I study life, collect reference, but draw the scenes from my mind so that the characters are a touch cartoonish. I feel this exaggeration helps them convey their emotion better from the 5 x 7 inch stage of the illustration in the book.
Speaking of, I have the border that I use for the Spiderwick books as a template in Photoshop. Once I find the sketch I like, I drop it into this template and continue to rework the composition.
Here you’ll see that I’ve not only nudged our hero, Nick, up in scale, but moved him so that he overlaps the ring of mermaids. This helps to create a sense of depth in the image. Also, I’ve begun to add some tonal fields (which are really nothing more than notes to myself) as I continue working.
I mirror flip the art around in Photoshop, correcting any errors I find. I then size the piece (here 11 x 14 inches) and print it out on bond paper.
Next, I’ll transfer it to bristol board and prepare it for inking…
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Tony,
Looks great!
Do you have any other projects planned after Spiderwick?
Because I would love to hear about them…
OMG. That is wickedly cool.
This is a great set of posts, I really like how you mention the impact of little tweaks, moving Nick to break the circle really totally does push the depth. It’s always amazing to me how much difference details like that make.
Hi Tony, I’m such a fan of your work, wow! were do you find the time?
Just a quick question, please answer when u have a moment
How do you transfer your printed image to bristol board and how do you prepare it for inking?
In the past Ive rubbed the back of the paper with graphite and have to draw over my illustration to press it onto the board. Is there a better way?
Thanks and cant wait to see your new book, congratulations √
Hi Paul,
I use a light table to transfer the drawing. It does not come through super clear, so it forces me to redraw the drawing and add the details. Obviously, the thinner bristol board is easier to see through and allows me to trace the drawing much more quickly. All the S’WICK art was done using pads of single-ply (or is it double?) for this reason.
Thanks Tony,
That’s a brilliant process! (Paul slaps his face) I should of thought of that earlier.
Cheers!