I used elance.com, a freelancing site, to find two illustrators, one for each of the first two Isaac and Darby books.  I have been very pleased with each.  The experience of creating dBooks is thrilling.  And a big contributor of the thrill is finding and working with talented artists.  In this case, one is from the Ukraine and the other from Pakistan.  Had someone suggested that I would meet these people from these countries online and grow to respect their contributions to my efforts, I clearly would have thought that someone crazy.

As for their work, each met and exceeded my specifications.  Each demonstrated a style that I like.  Tanya, in the first book, set a high mark which earned me (and therefore her) many compliments.  Fedd, in the second book, added features and moved the mark up.  This is the way things should be.  I hope you will use of the contact page to let me know your opinion.  I'm very interested in it.

The Day the Apple Bopped Darby on the Head

Where Does the Sun Go at Night?

Exactly as I requested, Isaac is rendered in a very simple, happy style.  His face, hands, and virtually all surfaces are monochromatic, much like a child might fill in the colors.   

Fedd followed my request to work on taking the renderings "to the next level".  Depth has been added to the face and surfaces.  In putting the illustrations side-by-side we see a change in skin color.

The monochromatic hair is great fun.  The hair color on Darby is an Irish red, and worked out great.

We added a bit more depth to the hair.  I don't think that the added details take away from the story.  Does the detail complicate the work? 

Tanya hit a home run here for me with the expression on Darby's face and the extended arms.  Her directions were only, "An apple falls out of the tree and hits Darby".

Fedd's home run was in the first rendering he offered to me in the dark under the table.  This one set the tone.

In "Apple", we used a soft fade of the picture in a circle.

In "Sunset", we used a larger format by using a square with a modeled edge.