Robert Young

Hello everyone,

A quick update on the artistic front.  The book is slowly but surely being coloured now.  Being the end of April, this is the point at which I was hoping (and working very hard) to have the WHOLE book completed and in print.  It truly does disappoint me that my own speed and work regiment wasn’t what I thought it was, and couldn’t keep to this already over extended deadline.  Alas…. it is what it is.  I won’t go into any excuses, only that quality takes hard work and time, and somethings you just can’t short cut.

But rest assured that the work that is being produced is coming out great.  I have been working straight through weekends the last 3-4 weeks, trying to get the whole book at least FLAT coloured.  What are ‘flats‘ you ask?  Well, its the part of the colouring process where I tediously select all the significant shapes and objects with the lasso tool in Photoshop, then give it a ‘flat’ solid colour.  This allows me to select shapes, objects, characters based on their unique colour and render them later when I put in the final colouring.  It’s not a glamourous job, nor a quick one to be done as it needs to be done correctly or you end up having to do a lot of cleaning up later.

Nonetheless, its also 60%-70% of the whole colouring process.  By getting a lot of the lighting and mood right for the scene, little more needs to be done to the overall image later.  I like to get a whole process (like the line art and lettering) done at a time, so that I stay consistent with that ethereal and flighty artistic ‘groove‘ that underlies the very fabric of the universe.  The result is what you see above and below:

There’s still a lot that will be done to these colours, but in many cases, less is more.  But when the lighting and tone is set up well from the beginning, it makes the final image really SNAP.

Even this is probably a little overcooked, but nonetheless, very pretty.  I’m also trying to emulate Ernest Thompson Seton’s own style of painting, or at least some of the colour tones, mixes, and moods he made with this artwork.  He was indeed a fantastic painter, and had a knack for capturing wintery and autumnal tones and mood very well (he also had a real penchant for painting wolves).

My plan for the colouring process is to have the colour pallet slowly change, both with the seasons (Seton arrived in New Mexico in October, and left in February 1894), and with the mood and theme for some of the scenes.  I wont spoil too much more of it for you, dear reader, but if all shapes up the way I’m planning, it should come out really nicely!

Here’s a few more coloured images to tide you over for a while more.  I hope you’re all staying healthy and happy out there in the wider world.  Thank you ALL again for your incredible patience with this project, I truly believe that you will be rewarded for it (SOOON!!).

Cheers,

Daniel A. Becker~