This book took me years to complete the illustrations for when it was first released, and I'm so pleased to have it back in print, so for this week's post I'm going to share the art process of one of the color illustrations from the book: Badger's Kitchen Hearth.
"...from the rafters overhead hung hams, bundles of dried herbs, nets of onions, and baskets of eggs. It seemed a place where heroes could fitly feast after victory, where weary harvesters could line up in scores along the table and keep their Harvest Home with mirth and song..."
Even though I knew this piece was going to be in color, I needed the inks to enforce the idea that the hearth was emitting the warm glow and the rest of the kitchen started falling into shadow. So I used a lighter touch on the texture and detail the closer everything got to the flames and more dense with ink the closer to the edges of the illustration.
The details of all the food stores hanging from the ceiling were hard to color––I needed the various objects to read properly as hams, onions, garlic, eggs, etc, but I also needed them to fall away into those outer edges of the illustration and not draw attention to themselves.
This step is also where I established color holds (areas where I want the ink lines to be a color other than black) for the flame, fire glow, Mole's glasses, Badger's gown, Rat's coat, and the china pattern on the table.
The last step was doing the final coloring render––adding in shadows and highlights and textures. That was all done in Photoshop using the dodge and burn tools with a stock textured brush.
It was hard to strike that balance of warmth and glow while also implying the rest of the kitchen has fallen into a late winter's night darkness.
It was hard to strike that balance of warmth and glow while also implying the rest of the kitchen has fallen into a late winter's night darkness.
"The kindly Badger thrust them down on a settle to toast themselves at the fire, and bade them remove their wet coats and boots. Then he fetched them dressing-gowns and slippers... In the embracing light and warmth, warm and dry at last, with weary legs propped up in front of them, and a suggestive clink of plates being arranged on the table behind, it seemed to the storm-driven animals, now in safe anchorage, that the cold and trackless Wild Wood just left outside was miles and miles away, and all that they had suffered in it a half-forgotten dream.
My illustrated edition of Wind in the Willows is available NOW for purchase:
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/796673/the-wind-in-the-willows-with-illustrations-by-david-petersen-by-kenneth-grahame-david-petersen/
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/796673/the-wind-in-the-willows-with-illustrations-by-david-petersen-by-kenneth-grahame-david-petersen/
The book has Grahame's original text, with over 70 illustrations by me as well as a new cover (blogpost about that art process: https://davidpetersen.blogspot.com/2025/09/wind-in-willows-2nd-edition-cover.html).
