Creating the artwork and writing to 'The Twelve Days of Christmas in Washington' was a complicated process.  But it's finally all come together.  Last week I received the printer's proofs to the pages, which I had created using pencil lines scanned and photoshop for color.

It was unlike any book I'd done before, owing to the rich color depth and scanned textures which I assembled in photoshop.  I'd never done anything quite like it before.  My Mac Pro was indispensible in quickly opening half a dozen huge files at a time. I often wondered if the print outcome would work with the many new techniques I tried. At times making the paintings seemed almost symphonic, the colors obtained seemed so rich, deep and textured.

But I'm happy to report that the printed colors were exactly as I'd hoped. Even details the size of a dandruff speck were matched on paper. It is a joy to spend hours just soaking up the details of every digital brushstroke which previously had only existed only on the computer screen.  The writing was another challenge, since the tast was to match the diverse locations throughout the state of Washington and boil it all down into 150 word pages.  No easy task! 

But I think it all came out admirably.