Abhorsen's House!

First off, I updated www.ciesemier.com with some new work! If you've been keeping up with the blog there probably isn't anything there to surprise you with, but if not check it out!

Second: This is a really long post!! I did a lot of sketches and prelim work for this month's picture book report piece so I'm just dumping it all here! Apologies for the extensive Sabriel-jargon and analysis, I don't blame you if you just skip through to the pictures. ;)

Third: Sabriel! Whew, a bunch of false starts this month! You can check out my little narrative post at The Picture Book Report.
I was having a really hard time deciding what scene I wanted to do next...Sabriel runs away from the Mordicant, she gets to Abhorsen's house, meets Mogget, and sets out in the paperwing. All really cool things I'd like to draw! In the end I probably chose the least narratively-involved thing to draw, but I needed a bit of break from all these dark, intense scenes.

When I was trying to decide what to do I made a bunch of super-quick thumbnails from different scenes in the book I was interested in. I then narrowed down the total 12 (or 11, since I missed a week) that I'll have done in the end...super hard, there's so much cool stuff! I don't think I'll give anything away by posting these because my sketching and handwriting probably look like chickenscratch to anyone else:


I was still struggling between drawing Sabriel and the Mordicant, or something involving Mogget at Abhorsen's house, OR the scarier form of Mogget Sabriel encounters a bit later on...I decided not to do the Mordicant, since it will show up in an illustration later, so I thought maybe the Free Magic version of Mogget would be fun (he's kind of a big lighting-monster!) I ended up with this color sketch:

But the colors weren't working, and the pose was so-so after a million revisions and I was just feeling stuck. I decided to set it aside and try a different subject. However, in the process of making this sketch I had to work out Sabriel's Abhorsen outfit. As I've pointed out before, I really love researching into illustrations and I wanted to be accurate to the book's description of her wardrobe as well as realistic to similar medieval counterpoints. Here's the different pieces of the outfit, in the order they are layered:
*A thin cotton-like undergarment
*Baggy drawers
*Linen shirt
*Doeskin tunic
*Supple leather breeches, reinforced with hard segmented plates at the thighs, knees and shins (and a padded bottom for riding)
*Long armored coat, buckled at sides--knee-length split skirts, swallowtailed sleeves, made of interlocking ceramic/stone plates, like a fish's scales.
*Hobnail boots (guessing they came from Ancelstierre since they're more modern)
*Blue surcoat with embroidered silver keys
*Sword belt and bandolier, with a helmeted turban

Whew! Lots of stuff, eh? Well, in the end a lot of the layers wouldn't fully be shown, like the tunic or shirt, but I like the idea of knowing that they all exist and what they look like together. Here's my sketchy thoughts:
Because I was lazy I didn't put the keys on the surcoat or the plates on the armored coat on the right hand side
I made sure the armored coat and the surcoat were split up the front and the back, because side slits (though sexier) are of no use when riding a horse, and the book points out that her pants are padded for riding. Medieval surcoats in general seem to be sleeveless, or have very short sleeves (probably so they don't get caught while you're flingin' your swords) so the sleeves of her armored coat would be sticking through--probably with a bit of her linen shirt showing at the neck and wrists. I also kept the neck of her doeskin tunic up high, for a bit of extra protection around her neck where the armored coat might chafe. I think the idea of the pants are pretty cool with the sewn in armored plates, even though they're not seen much--it made me think of the overlapping layers of a samurai's armor. Hobnail boots seem to come up around the mid-calf region, so plating in the pants would have to end around there.

I decided not to have Sabriel at all in this month's piece, but at least my rough guide will be helping me in illustrations to come!
Instead, I was charmed by the idea of taking a break and giving Mogget & Abhorsen's House their own illustration. I did many bad sketches, or starts-of-sketches. Some of them started working better:
Mogget by the front door, Mogget in the study, Mogget at the end of Sabriel's bed
Abhorsen's house with Mogget at the front door
I liked the close-up drawings of Mogget that I did, but I thought drawing the house's exterior and doing something brighter and more architectural would be a nice counterpoint to the figure-dominated pieces I've been doing. Plus, I like looking for excuses to use the white of the paper in a spot-type piece, and the whitewashed exterior of the house would be perfect for that. (We have a great Battaglia book here that's a big inspiration for that sort of style). I wanted the house to be a safe-haven (and typical of mishmash medieval architecture), but still a little ominous. Here's the resulting final:


Geez, if you guys stuck around and read even half of that you deserve a pat on the back!! I always really appreciate your comments, and if you want to weigh in on the outfit or Mogget or how I write too much I would encourage it. :)

SABRIEL, as always, is copyright Garth Nix.

There Had Been Too Much Death On This Hill

Hey guys! It's that time again...Picture Book Report Time! I've got another Sabriel piece to share! Check out my post at PictureBookReport.com to get a little more background on the story behind the illustration. I'm glad many of you enjoyed the previous Sabriel process post and I wanted to show the process for this one too.

I started out with the Cloven Crest sketches I had made previously and did some color comps for them...
...which made me realize it just wasn't that interesting to look at! I wasn't really excited about drawing it.

I decided to revamp and do something more focused on Sabriel and her encounter with Thralk. (I was a little sad I couldn't fit the broken charter stone in there though!) N.C. Wyeth's work has been blowing my mind and I've been looking at all his strong compositions--you can probably see the silhouetting influence in this!
I started with a bunch of quick crappy b&w photoshop sketches, trying different silhouettes and cropping. Once I found one I liked, I developed it more and tried a color option.


I wanted something spooky and cold and snowy, and finally settled on these colors:

I looked at a lot of reference for knickers, boots, and coats of the period. The coat she is wearing is one of her father's old hand-me-downs, and is only specified as "oilskin". Since Ancelstierre is vaguely 1920's, I figured her father's old coat could be a variation on the WW1 trenchcoats. I really love researching into illustrations, and I also spent a while sketching ideas for how her bell bandolier functions.(I think the bell handles would have to hang down, so they don't ring while she's walking)

I cleaned everything up and added textures and some digital painting to my usual flats. I wasn't expecting to put the red in there, but I really ended up liking it!

Voila! And here's some closeups!


Thanks for checking 'em out!

When it Rains it Pours

Hello Dear Readers!
First off, thank you for all the lovely comments about "An Unexpected Visitor". I really, really appreciate it. Unfortunately I have some bad news for you....no final Sabriel piece this month. I'm bummed about it, but I've been extra-super-busy with work this month and just didn't have the time to spare (I woke up this morning with my fingers aching from all the non-stop drawing!!)

However, I'm PUMPED to get back into Sabriel's world again, and I think the next piece will be sweet. :) In the meantime, I've got some sketches for different illustration/spot ideas I was thinking about.
Both the top ideas are Sabriel at Cloven Crest, which will probably be my next illo for the Picture Book Report, but I also had an idea for Sabriel passing through the wall to the Old Kingdom (showing the seasonal discrepancies on either side) and the Abhorsen, from the beginning of the book, when he saved newborn Sabriel in the waters of death.


And here to try and make up for this delay is a kitten that wants to sell you eyedrops:


It'd be fun to do a series of these with different animals as unlikely product spokesmen.
Have a good weekend everybody!

An Unexpected Visitor

My first full Sabriel illustration for The Picture Book Report! Yay!
I talk about the illustration and the passage it's illustrating on the Picture Book Report, so I figured on here I would show my process...

Often when I'm first trying to puzzle out a layout, I sketch quickly into photoshop with just black and white until I get a vague idea of what I'm going for. (oftentimes this involves me erasing everything or deleting the layers afterwards when I know what I'm doing, which is why I don't have that to show you!)
As you saw in the last post, once I got the idea of Sabriel turning in her chair in the study, I started with some photo ref to set the groundrules.



Oftentimes in my editorial work, I will go straight to color after thumbnails. Since this was going to be a little more complicated, I worked out the general layout in B&W first. I've been looking at James Gurney's tips about tone & composition and Maxfield Parrish's B&W work, and I was excited about the idea of Sabriel's head being silhouetted by the fire.


From there, I worked out the colors. I imagined the room being dark and warm, that's where the tans come from. I tried out a really blue room too, but that ended up looking less elegant.


Aaaand then most of the rest of my time was spent clarifying all the details, color tweaking, rearranging things, and adding decorative elements!


Finally, I added different texture layers and final tweaks, like the outline of light or shadow on different surfaces and some detail on Sabriel's skin.

Voila! It's certainly a bit different from my very flat work, but I'm interested in where it's heading. Stay tuned for more in the future!

The Vanishing Gatekeepers + Hint

This was a recent quick-turnaround job for LA Weekly about the music industry's A&R men (Artist and Repetoir men--the execs responsible for scouting new music stars). Because many bands these days are able to record their music and find fans through the internet, the music industry is increasingly choosing the bands who have already cultivated a fan base and have less of a need to pay execs to scout through seedy bars for the next big thing. The full article with my illustration is up here!

Since the A&R guys are described as the "Gatekeepers" of the music industry, I thought it would be appropriate to have some band dudes sneaking over a fence to get to the fans, instead of having to go through the gate.

ALSO, I am currently working on my Sabriel stuff for the Picture Book Report and I thought I'd give you a hint.
I rarely shoot reference, but I wanted to get the angles right and I happened to have a pretty good old-timey chair and the right outfit.

I'll be posting the final on Friday, but keep visiting the Picture Book Report! There's been so much great work posted and time invested by all participants, and we're doing it for YOU!

Sabriel Sketches

I'm in the middle of several illustrations, but I managed to sneak some sketches of Touchstone and Sabriel in preparation for my Picture Book Report project!
Sabriel of course is copyright Garth Nix.

So, Sabriel is supposed to be 18, with pale skin and black hair "fashionably bobbed". In most Sabriel illustrations, including the lovely cover, her hair is long, which always confused me a bit. She comes from a 1920's-ish world (and goes into a medievalish one), so I tried to reflect some of that in her hairstyle. She's strong and competent all-around (but with youthful naivete), so I always pictured her relatively pretty but not super-feminine.
Sabriel was pretty easy to get off the bat, but Touchstone was much harder...he ends up being her traveling companion from the Old Kingdom, and seems to be in his twenties. He is fairly serious and careworn and I had a tough time trying to make him look rough around the edges and not too pretty, but still a handsome young man. (Sam Worthington ended up being one of my references) I'm kind of proud of his hair. It's tough to make "short tightly curled hair" look good and not look like this...

...so I think I did okay. :) (sorry Justin, you look much better now!)

DUBPOST: Sabriel Book Plate & Runner's World!

Hey Everyone!
My Bookplate/Bio/Explanation is up on at the Picturebookreport.com! I was the last one, so you can check out everyone else's awesome bookplates & info there too! The first illustrations start rolling in next week, so check back!
addendum: For those of you who have read Sabriel, that fiery guy in the back is the Mordicant, with a lemon tree from the Inn of 3 Lemons & Mogget with a view of the aquaduct from the ocean.

And for something totally different....here's my illustration in the Jan/Feb Runner's world! It was for an article talking about the benefits the author has found about using a treadmill (watching her daughter, avoiding bad weather).
It went through some different revisions, but I'm happy with the result. Enjoy!

Sketches, alternate color:

And the layout!

Picture Book Report & BONUS PRIZE!

Hey everybody!
FIRST I've got some big news! I'm psyched to be a part of the Picture Book Report!
Please take a look!

We're a group of illustrators, each choosing a book of our choice, which we will create illustrations for throughout the year. That's 12 illustrations per illustrator (once a month), with 15 talented illustrators participating! How can you go wrong??!
Posting with me will be Meg Hunt, Will Bryant, Daniel Krall, Andrea Kalfas, Sam Bosma, Israel Sanchez, Jeremy Sorese, John Martz, Julia Somni Heglund, Laura Park, Lizzy Stewart, Phil McAndrew, Patrick Murphy, and S.Britt.

The bookplates and info for Meg Hunt, Will Bryant, and Sam Bosma are currently up on the site. Meg will be periodically updating the site this week with the everyone else's bios and bookplates (including mine), so check back! The first final illustrations start rolling in next week! It's gonna be great.
Here's a teeny tiny sneek peek of part of my bookplate for Sabriel, my book of choice:


Visit again at the end of the week to see the full thing!

And now for the bonus prize: THE TRIUMPH OF OPTIMISM!
Pretty epic title, right? It was the header of an article for Los Angeles Confidential I had the pleasure of illustrating. The article was all about seeing the good in bad things--a mindset I am constantly striving to emulate. So, yay! Here we go sketches:

And the final, trying out a slightly different technique: