Step 1: Pencil

Each picture in Backbeard began with a pencil sketch. I used an HB pencil on drawing paper and lots and lots of erasers.

Step 2: Finding Textures

For this book, I wanted to try using pictures of actual objects to create the color in all the illustrations. There’s very little painting in the book at all; nearly everything is a photograph.

My next step was to go out and take pictures of all the interesting textures I could find in my neighborhood.

Step 3: The Computer

Next, I brought all the photos into the computer and organized them into categories, like “wood”, “water”, and “fabric”. I took hundreds of pictures, and I ended up using most of them.

Step 4: Finishing Up

Finally, everything was assembled on the computer using Photoshop.