Step-by-step progress of the first spread of Always My Brother.
	Step 1: Thumbnails. These are actual-sized thumbnails for pages 2-5. These two illustrations ended up being combined into one for the first spread of the book. Step 2: More detailed thumbnails. I've put the text in place so I know how much space to allow for it and enlarged the thumbnails. At this point I was thinking they'd be tiptoeing through the snow.
	Step 3: Working on the full-sized drawing. I enlarged the last thumbnail with my photocopier and traced it onto tracing paper. I changed the figures so they're walking instead of tiptoeing and added a soccer ball under the boy's arm. This intermediate step shows the structure of the figures and the beginning of clothing and other details. Step 4: Final drawing. As the drawing evolves, bit by bit the structure lines are erased. The characters are roughly based on the actual people in the story. It was very important that their cast shadows appear as if they're holding hands. I'll photocopy this drawing to capture the lines for the cast shadows and then erase them to avoid having a black outline around them. Then I'll scan and print the drawing onto watercolor paper. Step 5: Color study in colored pencil. I scanned the drawing, printed it on legal-sized paper and colored and erased and colored again until I liked the colors. Step 6: Final printed art. Here's the final watercolor art printed in the book. I was careful to keep the colors light behind where the text would print. Using a light table, pencil and the photocopy made previously, I lightly traced the outline of the cast shadows of the two kids. After I painted it, I erased the pencil line.