Behind the Scenes: Down on the Bayou Cover

This is the first time I've done a kidlit/picture book behind the scenes blog post! So exciting. Let's jump right into it:

The original idea for Down on the Bayou's cover was straightforward. We wanted to have the main character, Troy, and his Grandpa sitting in a pirogue together. We wanted Grandpa to be in the back paddling while Troy looked around at the Louisiana bayou. I ended up doing three rough cover sketches. The third sketch is the one we ended up moving ahead with.

However, below is the revised sketch that was actually approved for the cover:

This particular sketch came from one of the interior scenes. It has a similar composition to my original cover sketches, but the only differences are that this sketch includes Uncle Joe, I changed Troy’s expression from surprise to a sense of wonder, and I added the rougarou in the back along with different bayou animals (gator, otter, herons). 

On to color:

The illustration above is my first go around with final color. The team loved the illustration overall, but there were many elements that needed tweaking. The bayou is LUSH, so I had to make it greener and teeming with life. The team asled me to add purple irises and water lilies, to switch out the blue herons with a roseate spoonbill and a night heron, and to add rosy maple and io moths. Done, done, done, and done after a few rounds of revision. Check out the last revised version below.

Véronique, the art director, also had the great suggestion of making the cover wraparound, so the illustration on the front cover continues to the back cover. I loved the idea! The picture below is what my back cover sketch looked like.

I had to make sure my sketch connected perfectly to the front cover final art. I had to play around with the placement of the animals and the background elements to allow room for the quote and the related titles and ISBN, but it worked out well. By the way, I just have to say how much I LOVE the lettering for “Down on the Bayou,” which was done by the amazing David Coulson. 

Here's how the back and front illustration for the wraparound cover came out:

Such a cool process. Here's a small timelapse gif of the design and illustration steps from sketch to final:

Thanks so much for checking out the behind the scenes of illustrating the cover of Down on the Bayou. I want to give a shout out to Véronique Sweet (and the team at Crown/Penguin Random House) for the amazing art direction and book design. Down on the Bayou, written by Glenda Armand and illustrated by me, is now available wherever books are sold!

Rollin' on the river,
Alleanna