ILLUSTRATION COLLABORATION

In addition to being my older brother, Daniel is a fantastic artist, and I’m so glad he agreed to be the lead on the huge task of illustrating The Traveler. We’ve figured out a fun and collaborative working arrangement: first, we share our ideas on what sort of illustration we’re looking for—we consider the role it will play in plot and thematic development, and, of course, the aesthetic appeal—then we draw up preliminary sketches. Once they’re completed, we discuss these crude images and, after selecting the best concepts from each, Daniel takes over. He ties together our rough ideas, meliorates them, adds more of his own, and magically creates an illustration. We critique it together, then Daniel continues to develop and hone the illustration until we’re happy with the result.