Here’s a sketch from one of the early versions of Field Trip to the Moon where the kids are shown getting ready to disembark from the bus and explore the Moon. This scene didn’t really add anything so I took it out, but I do like how the kid with the crayons doesn’t look to thrilled to be on the moon.
Going for a drive
Guinea Sam sketch examples
Here are some examples of the Guinea Sam comp sketches. Researching materials for the illustration of this book has lead me down some fascinating rabbit holes. (fascinating rabbit holes?) I've really enjoyed making these and I look forward to the final art.
(These sketches are for the Notable Missourian book series to be published by Truman State University Press)
Guinea Sam as a young boy captured and sold to slave traders in his native Guinea
Guinea Sam as a slave on a rice plantation in South Carolina
After working on a sugar cane plantation in Louisiana, Guinea Sam was sold to a man from Boonville Missouri. There he tended an apple orchard.
This is an alternate approach for Guinea Sam in Boonville. I like the scene better but the figure is not great. Guineas Sam was freed at the end of the civil war. He stayed in Boonville for the rest of his life as a gardner, storyteller, and conjure man.
Guinea Sam using his conjuring to lift a curse
A family refused to put Guineas Sam up for the night, so he hexed them by telling them that before the end of the night they would be driven from their home. That night there was a big storm and what sounds like a ball lightening incident. The timing is awesomely spooky.
Guinea Sam as an older man mixing herbs and traditional folk remedies.
Big Neck's Trial
Here is the Chapter 5 illustration for the Notable Missourian book on Great Walker (Truman State University Press).
The raid on Big Neck's village resulted in the deaths of three Ioway and three militiamen. Big Neck and his band thought the village they were defending was located on ancestral land outside of the state of Missouri (and therefore not in violation of the treaty). In fact they were about 20 miles inside of Missouri. Big neck was brought to trial and quickly acquitted by a jury that believed it was an honest mistake.
