I worked with my artist over a period of many weeks to develop the illustrations. Let me show you this scene (above) as an example of how we worked together.
First, I reviewed several different sketches to determined that the sketch (upper right corner) would work to illustrate the scene. This is the scene where Eddie listens to stories told by Native Americans.
Next, the artist began to add colors to the sketches. He showed me this color sketch (lower right corner) in a book 'dummy' or mock-up. Using the dummy, we explored the color scheme for the entire book and all the illustrations.
Finally, we determined the colors and the artist was ready to produce the finished illustrations. For this, he used a computer to make clear, simple shapes with outlines and color fills. Some of the shapes have gradual transitions from one color to another. This is called a color gradient. The finished digital illustration (large picture) shows Eddie with simple shapes and few details. This gives the picture book a consistent style.