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test headingHaven't blogged much here lately. My doodles are often done on airplanes, so perhaps more of those when I get traveling again, a lot, starting next month. It's been fairly hectic at First Second, as we've all been busy with the Spring 07 books (and what a load of treats are in store, I [...]
test heading When editor Mark Siegel told me that he was looking for some non-fiction graphic novels for the new Firstsecond imprint, I pitched the idea of what would eventually become Journey into Mohawk Country. Using as my only text the actual journal kept by a 17th century Dutch barber/surgeon, I would fill in the [...]
test heading Not to be missed, Bay Area readers! Hooray the Isotope! Here's what the fine folks there are saying about it: China Books, First Second Books, & the Isotope Launch What Might be the Best Book of 2006 Pardon us while we gush, but if you've seen the advance reviews you'll know we're not [...]
Here I am working out the bodily proportions of Harmen van den Bogaert, Journey into Mohawk Country’s author and protagonist. This is pretty much the final design, as he appears in the book. But he didn’t always look like this: I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that I drew him thousands [...]
test heading Early on in the development of what would become Journey into Mohawk Country I had not yet even decided what style I would be drawing the book in, let alone the appearance of the main characters. This is a sampling of the very earliest drawings of the character of Harmen van den Bogaert, [...]
test heading When last we checked in on the evolution of the appearance of Harmen van den Bogaert, he looked more like a character from a Marvel Comic than Journey into Mohawk Country. This drawing represents something of a quantum leap in his design. His initial depictions were a bit distant and remote—this was my [...]
test heading Unlike the character of Willem Tomassen, who arrived pretty much intact from the start, Harmen’s other companion, Jeronimus de la Croix, underwent some significant changes as I worked on Journey into Mohawk Country. Here we have assembled a smattering of early concepts; some of it works, some doesn’t. In the journal, Jeronimus comes [...]
test heading These are some sketches of the “cover that almost was” for Journey into Mohawk Country. The three Dutchmen, dwarfing a miniature Mohawk River Valley, which was actually merely the strip of hair in some sort of giant slumbering Mohawk. Thank goodness I came up with the final cover idea at the last minute, [...]
test heading This is the earliest group shot I could find that I drew of the three main characters in Journey into Mohawk Country. Notice that at this stage of the project I had not yet even decided on a drawing style for the graphic novel, these characters being depicted in a much more “realistic” [...]
