Surprises in the inbox are sometimes good. This one was from Denise Cronin, VP of Creative at Viking Books for Children. She wanted to know if I would be interested in illustrating a book about a boy living in the Valley of Kings at the time of Howard Carter’s search for King Tut’s tomb. Tombs? Sarcophagi? Mystery? Desert skies? Ancient ruins?
Yes! I was interested!
But first, Denise and the editor, Tracy Gates, wanted me to do a test to make sure I would be the right artist for this project. They wanted me to illustrate a scene where the main character, Hassan, a boy about 10, is cleaning up an area at the bottom of the steps leading to the tomb. He finds a priceless object in the rubble. Unknown to him, the mean foreman is watching him to see what he will do with it. Steal it? or deliver it to the foreman.
So I began by doing some research about Egypt, Howard Carter and his search for King Tut’s Tomb.
I was having a little DejaVu. Forty years ago there was a big, blockbuster King Tut exhibit that toured the US.
Phil Hays, my illustration instructor at the time, gave us an assignment to do an illustration on King Tut. I remember being fascinated by the strangeness and mystery of this ancient world. This is what I did. It was actually more of a sculpture.
Drawing on this renewed fascination and the interesting things I was learning, I began sketching.
I wanted to to show how big and scary the foreman was compared to Hassan. I finally decided on an approach like this.
I shot pictures of myself using an old monks costume I had.
I made a turban out of a sheet.
I found pictures of Egyptian boys and steps to the tomb.
I did more sketches, refining the drawing
Then comes the color sketch
And finally, the finished painting.
I submitted it to Denise and Tracy and they loved it as did the author. So I was on my way.
I submitted it to Denise and Tracy and they loved it as did the author. So I was on my way.
