sketchbook top

Illustration


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One of my favorite things is to try to make living, breathing flesh-and-blood images of historic people from sketchy reference or scant evidence. The two drawings at the top show original period drawings made of the missionaries Narcissa and Marcus Whitman ca.1847, only days before being killed by local Native Americans. These likenesses were the only ones known to exist. I tracked them down at the Royal Ontario Museum and then created the paintings below. I wanted to capture a resemblance to the sketches, show them in correct period clothing and also simulate or evoke the look of period photography. ©Published by Scott Foresman/Pearson Education.

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