Embers of Faith and The Sorrowful Pumpkins
Fresh off of making a few watercolors for his wife’s, Camarie’s lovely story, “Embers of Faith,” Anthony asked me to if I would be interested to help him with his story as well.
A long time ago I teamed up with a friend illustrating stories about a little girl named Laura. 🙂 It was just done with a pencil and it was a lot of fun. Our work was never to be published, but we did have fun uploading them to the now-defunct Geocities for others to read and enjoy.
Having done watercolors for a few years now, people often tell me, “Your artwork would look great as book illustrations!”
Well, apparently Camarie thought so, and I remember being a little nervous at her request, mainly because her story wasn’t just about a little girl, it was a fairy-tale with made-up characters like fairies called collywobbles. Would I be able to translate the preview reading she sent me into a painting that would work with whatever was going on in her imagination? I mean, the Laura stories were easy to illustrate because, in actuality, Laura was my daughter.
Fortunately for me, Camarie was easy to work with, and in the end I wouldn’t have to do many paintings.
Not long after that accomplishment, Anthony, Camarie’s husband, English professor, literature scholar, fantasy, and sci-fi author, approached me with the same request. He had a story, a series of stories actually, that would also need illustrating. Again, I worried a little that I would struggle with the invented characters. Would I create something that would match with his imagination?
Well, it was made easy for me, as Anthony had sent me a drawing of his own with what he wanted!
So I might have never seen a Pumpkin Wisp, but there it was in black and white, and I could build on that!
The next part of the project had me really excited. Anthony sent me a hand-drawn map, and for some reason, this started all the creative juices flowing! Perhaps it was because even as a little girl, I would create maps of make-believe worlds, and spend hours doing it.
As I wondered how to translate his black and white map which one sees in many fantasy books, how to transfer that to color and watercolor art. Just to see if my flow of ideas were in line with what he wanted, I sent him a preview.
The preview image was sent and met with immediate praise. I was so tickled!
I had other concerns as it progressed, for example, I might have some experience with watercolor painting and ink but stressed a little about the next part. As maps need, labels in tex form would have to put placed and I don’t have a lot of experience with writing as an art form. I sent him some font ideas for me to try and copy and it was all decided.
This project was so much fun and so looking forward to his next set of stories. In the meantime while in the middle of writing this blog, Anthony has informed me that this book is now out in paperback, just in time for the pumpkin season!
You can purchase your copy here!
This is the tale of the first Jack O’Lanterns. When things start going missing in the Village of the Valley of Seasons, people start blaming the pumpkin fairies. Nicholas believes they are innocent, but he isn’t able to stop the Mayor from banishing the pumpkin fairies from the village in response to public outcry. Pith the Pumpkin Fairy comes to Nicholas’s aid when he realizes that the banishment of the other pumpkin fairies has brought a curse to the village: the sorrow of the pumpkins has put the villagers under a spell of sleepy sadness. Even worse, the snowtrolls of the Valley are planning to use this disaster to their advantage. Nicholas must get the help of the Queen of the Everfairies if he is to save his village, but the snowtrolls are out to stop him in any way they can .
I hope you enjoy the journey!
