#I’m out a tiny amount for the ink and paper I’ve used on trial runs

[nerdierholler]

I have a multitude of things I should have been doing lately: checking my dash here, finishing a quilt I promised my dad months ago, working on a cover letter for a full time job that’s due Thursday. Have I done any of those things? Nope. Instead I listened to the recent fansplaining episode on fanbinding and decided I wanted to poke that. Specifically I wanted to do all of the fiddly typesetting bits and spend time really getting into minute details on something because I don’t ever really get to do that and I like it.

I decided on Pride and Prejudice because 3 copies isn’t enough lol Anywho! After taking a big block of html text from project gutenberg, I think I’ve almost wrangled it into a typeset resembling a real book. It’s very satisfying.

[hunter-the-sad-skeleton]

Finished Chapter One! Putting It Under Read More Because It’s Like, 21 Pages In Google Docs.(Reblogs And Opinions Appreciated!)Taglist: @bccfggffbgv, @new-account-sam-christy-456, Hope Ya Don’t Mind The Tags-Feel Free To Ask To Be Added Or Removed From The Taglist!

Chapter 1: “Into the Inkwell!”

“Today, another batch of Ink was stolen, alongside machine parts. We have no clue who’s committing the thefts, but we’re constantly on the lookout for any clues or suspects.” The TV broadcast.

“Ink and Machine part theft? Why those specific items?” Dipper hummed, confused.

“Maybe it’s a rogue cartoonist out to get revenge on the world that scorned them! The world that decided that they were not worthy to press comics or cartoons to the world!” Mabel guessed.

“Or it could be that they’re creating a machine that relies on Ink for fuel.” Dipper suggested.

“Hey kids, whatcha watching?” Stan asked, leaning in.

“The news.” Dipper said, pointing at the current newscast on the television screen. Stan looked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yada yada, Ink stolen, yada yada, machine parts, yada yada….” Stan read. Stan froze as he read over the broadcast again. “Ink and Machine parts?! That sounds like…” Stan trailed off.

“Sounds like what, Grunkle Stan?” Dipper asked. Stan shook his head.

“Nothing, Dipper. Nothing at all. Just thought I had an idea is all.” Stan declined.

(Flashback.)

“Heya, Ford, can I get your opinion on somethin’?” Hunter asked nervously.

“What is it?” Ford asked, turning to look at Hunter, crouching down to look her in the eyes.

“We-Well, I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I got a blueprint idea and I-I wanted your input if that’s okay with you…?” Hunter asked. Ford laughed, standing up.

“Of course! I’m glad you’re willing to give inventing a try!” Ford smiled. Hunter sheepishly handed the blueprints over, Ford reading them over, eyes narrowing as he read them.

“Hunter,” Ford started, tearing his eyes away from the paper. “Is this,” He said, pointing at the paper. “A machine that’s meant to use Ink as a power source?” Ford asked.

“We-Well, yeah, i-i-i-is that too weird…?” Hunter asked sheepishly, shifting where she was standing.

“Weird? Of course not!” Ford scolded. Hunter’s face heated up in embarrassment. “It’s inGENIOUS!!!!” Ford grinned. Hunter felt hope bubbling in her stomach. “But I’m already seeing one problem with the build here,” Ford said, unrolling the blueprints. “See, the way this is set up, it’s going to be expensive to use because of the sheer amount of Ink needed to power it, even if you just need a small print!” Ford explained.

“Y-Yeah, I tend to dream big…!” Hunter chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck nervously.

“Hunter, my dear, that is preCISELY the kind of dreaming that I encourage!” Ford grinned.

“I-I’m not interrupting anything important, a-am I?” Hunter asked. Ford shook his head.

“No, no, no! It’s PERFECTLY fine, Hunts!” Ford grinned.

“So how could I improve the build of this thing?” Hunter asked.

“Well, you could start by downsizing it a bit,” Ford started. “With the specific Ink you want to power this thing, it’d be outright UNaffordable if you kept it this size! Maybe make it the size of...oh...An average printer! That’d be an affordable amount of Ink AND it’d be a HUGE space saver!” Ford suggested. Hunter nodded, taking notes.

(Timeskip a few hours.)

“Oh! Sorry! I forgot to ask! What’re you planning to use this for?” Ford asked. Hunter winced quietly, sweating nervously. “Hunts?” Ford asked, worried at the reaction.

“I wanted to bring my cartoons to life…!” Hunter explained nervously.

“By printing them into a comic book! Hunter, you’re a genius!!” Ford exclaimed.

“I….I wasn’t being metaphorical, F-Fordsy….” Hunter frowned. Ford tilted his head, confused. “I-I...I meant LITERALLY…” Hunter grimaced.

“WHAT?!?” Ford gasped. “Hunter, you mean to tell me that your plans for this thing are to PLAY GOD?!?” Ford snapped.

“I-I know how that sounds, b-but-” Hunter started.

“No, don’t say ANYTHING MORE. I’ve helped you with this plan ENOUGH. I refuse to help someone who thinks that they can play God. The door is behind you.” Ford sneered.

“Fordsy, I-I-” Hunter started.

“DOOR.” Ford frowned.

“Ford, I-I-” Hunter restarted.

“DOOR, OUT, NOW.” Ford ordered.

“Ford, I’m sor-” Hunter started.

“GET OUT BEFORE I THROW YOU OUT, HUNTER!!!!” Ford yelled, pointing at the door. Hunter winced, picking her backpack and blueprints up and heading out the door before any more harm was done.

“Is everythin’ okay out here, Pines?” Fiddleford asked.

Ford sighed heavily. “Someone I knew that I THOUGHT was my friend was trying to use science for playing God.” Ford frowned. Ford shook his head. “Let’s get back to work on the portal. Where are we at for schematics, Fids?” Ford asked.

(Present day.)

“Grunkle Stan?” Dipper called. Stan shook himself out of it, coming back to reality.

“I’m fine, kids, what happened?” Stan asked.

“Ya just sorta...Spaced out a bit there, are you okay?” Mabel asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine, sweetheart! No need to worry!” Stan laughed. Mabel and Dipper looked at each other, swapping worried looks.

“Grunkle Stan, do you have any idea who the criminal could be?” Dipper asked. Stan froze. He could know, but he didn’t want to risk anything.

“No. I don’t.” Stan declined.

“Hmm…” Dipper hummed.

“Mystery twin investigation?” Mabel suggested.

“Mystery twin investigation.” Dipper nodded.

“Be careful, you two!! I gotta getcha home in one piece!!” Stan reminded as the two ran out.

Stan sighed, walking to his room and pulling out a photo with three smiling kids in it. “It couldn’t be you, right bud…?” Stan thought.

(Flashback)

“Heya, Stan, can uh...can we talk really quick…?” Hunter asked, pacing in place nervously.

“Yeah, sure, what’s on your mind, Tiny?” Stan asked.

“Well, I’ve been hopping around the states with ya for a while now, yeah..?” Hunter asked sheepishly.

“Yeah, is something wrong?” Stan asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Weell….” Hunter winced.

“Hunter, I’m pretty much your brother at this point, is something wrong?” Stan asked, knowing by now how to tell when Hunter was nervous.

“I…….I don’t know how to say this…” Hunter coughed.

“Tell it to me straight, Sister. I won’t get mad!” Stan assured.

Hunter’s eyes filled with hope. Finally! She could speak her mind without judgement! “Well, I got a letter from someone and I uh...It’s telling me to meet ‘em there, so uh…” Hunter stammered.

“Oh! Ya want me to take ya there?” Stan asked. Hunter’s stomach dropped. It called for just her.

“No! I mean, I wouldn’t object! I mean! Uh...Words are hard!” Hunter grimaced.

“It’s okay, Sis! Ya don’t know how to drive yet, so I’m sorta your taxi!” Stan grinned. “We can head out first thing in the morning tomorrow!” Stan beamed.

Hunter hesitantly nodded. She’d have to sneak out at night. Good thing Stan was a heavy sleeper.

(That night)

Hunter packed her stuff in her backpack, sneaking out and starting the trek to the assigned meetup spot. It’d take her about a week on foot while it’d take maybe a day by car, but she didn’t wanna risk anything. On foot was better. Less awkward.

(A week later at the meetup spot.)

Hunter knocked on the wood door. Maybe wearing shorts was a bad idea. How was she supposed to know it’d be cold there?! The door opened and Hunter stood with her shoulders squared, standing upright.

“Hunter, I’m glad you could make it. Are you alone?” Ford asked, looking around.

“Yeah, it’s just me, Ford.” Hunter assured. Ford sighed in relief, moving so Hunter could walk inside the shack.

“Sorry, I’m just...More careful now. Don’t want to risk anything.” Ford sighed.

“Dude, it’s...It’s okay. I get it.” Hunter assured.

“Well, let me show you what I called you here for.” Ford said, gesturing for Hunter to follow. Hunter followed behind him, holding her backpack tightly.

“What is this place…?” Hunter asked, looking around at all the gadgets and gizmos.

“This,” Ford said, hitting a light switch. “Is my laboratory where I keep all my experiments and inventions.” Ford said, sitting down at a desk.

“Whoa…” Hunter gasped.

“Speaking of experiments..” Ford started, making eye contact with Hunter that she didn’t dare break, for fear of death. “How’s...YOURS coming along?” Ford grimaced.

“Oh, that...It’s coming along okay, just need to fix the kinks and stuff! I sorta had one successful byproduct, but he sorta-” Hunter started.

“Wait, it WORKED?!?” Ford snapped.

“Yeah! It DID, for your information!” Hunter snapped back.

“How?!? That should be IMPOSSIBLE!” Ford groaned.

“I had a little outside help, Sixer!!” Hunter snapped, slamming her hands over her mouth afterwards, horror washing over her as she took note of Ford’s facial expression.

“No. no you did NOT just say what I THINK you just said! You did NOT JUST SAY WHAT I THINK YOU SAID!” Ford snapped.

“What?!? What do YOU think happened?!?” Hunter snapped.

“I THINK YOU MADE A DEAL WITH A DEMON!!!” Ford yelled.

“BILL WASN’T A HORRIBLE GUY!! HE UNDERSTOOD MY PLANS AND HELPED ME FIGURE IT OUT AND GET IT TO WORK!!!!” Hunter snapped.

“WHY DIDN’T YOU COME TO ME?!?” Ford demanded.

“BECAUSE I KNEW THAT YOU’D YELL AT ME!!!” Hunter yelled.

“WELL, IT HAPPENED ANYWAY!!” Ford bit back.

“AT LEAST WITH BILL, I HAD A FRIEND, OKAY?!?” Hunter snapped, temper slowly losing itself.

“Do NOT-” Ford started.

“NO, YOU GOT TO TALK, NOW IT IS MY TURN!!! I WENT TO BILL BECAUSE NOBODY ELSE WOULD HELP ME!!! I DIDN’T WANT TO, BUT YOU LEFT ME NO CHOICE!!” Hunter snapped.

“BECAUSE IT’S WRON-” Ford started.

“IS IT WRONG TO WANT SOMEBODY TO HUG AND CUDDLE WITH WHEN YOU’RE FEELING SAD?!?” Hunter demanded.

“YOU HAVE STANLEY!” Ford objected.

“I DON’T WANNA INCONVENIENCE HIM WITH MY PROBLEMS!!” Hunter shouted.

“YOU’RE PROBABLY BLOWING THIS OUT OF PROPORTION!!” Ford snapped.

“I ALMOST WOULDN’T HAVE MADE IT IF THAT ONE BYPRODUCT DIDN’T SURVIVE, FORD!!!” Hunter snapped, last thread breaking.

“...what…?” Ford gasped.

“I was so convinced I was a failure that I planned that day if the trial run didn’t work, I’d just...I-I’d…” Hunter hiccupped.

“Hunter, I-I had no idea…!” Ford apologized.

“I-It stills hurts sometimes...” Hunter smiled sadly.

“Hunter, I’m sorry, I really had no idea-” Ford started.

“I...I gotta go...I have to go deal with some stuff.” Hunter said, getting up and hurrying to leave.

(Present day.)

“People who saw the suspect say that they wore a hoodie, but they couldn’t make much else out because it was dark…” Dipper hummed.

“Well, Robbie wears a hoodie!” Mabel suggested.

“...................Not him.” Dipper said.

“You’re right, too far fetched, Dipper.” Mabel nodded.

“Who else wears a hoodie…” Dipper hummed.

“I dunno, hoodies ARE popular here.” Mabel said.

“Yeah...That’s annoying…” Dipper sighed.

“Hmm….” Mabel hummed.

“Mabel, am I the only one who finds it weird how Stan just spaced out as he read the headlines on the news?” Dipper asked.

“It is a LITTLE suspicious...But I doubt he knows anything!” Mabel shrugged comically.

“Yeah...Maybe I can ask him later…” Dipper sighed.

“Oh! Someone new that we haven’t met yet!” Mabel gawked.

“Really?!” Dipper gasped, eyes wide.

“Yeah, look!” Mabel said, pointing at someone walking by the apartment block. “Let’s go say hi!” Mabel said, speeding off.

“Mabel, wait!” Dipper said, hurrying after her.

The person walked up to the door, grabbing their bag and key for the door. “Hiya!” Mabel greeted, making them jolt in surprise.

“Mabel, slow down!” Dipper said, catching up.

“Oh, uh, Hi…?” They greeted nervously.

“I’m Mabel! This is my brother, Dipper! We saw you walking by and wanted to say hi!” Mabel grinned. The person dripped nervously.

“Isn’t that lovely…?” They said sheepishly.

“Mabel, come on, we can’t just say hello to everyone…! I am so sorry about her, she gets excited when she sees a person she’s never met before.” Dipper apologized.

“O-Oh, no, i-i-it’s fine..!” They said.

“What’s your name, stranger?” Mabel asked. They dripped more in worry.

“Uh...H...Hunter.” Hunter said shyly.

“Hunter! That’s a nice name!” Mabel grinned.

“Mabel…!” Dipper urged.

“Whoops! Gotta go! If ya wanna see us, just go to the Mystery Shack just up the road and ask for Mabel and Dipper Pines!” Mabel said, waving goodbye and following Dipper. Hunter froze, hurrying inside with everything she had, closing and locking the door behind her as she got in.

“Pines...that can’t be coincidence…” Hunter muttered to herself, putting her bag down and going to grab a picture frame from a shelf. “Maybe...Maybe...Maybe not…” Hunter hummed.

(At the shack.)

“Grunkle Stan! We met someone new today!” Mabel announced.

“Yowza!!” Stan yelped, jumping slightly at the surprise yelling.

“Oops! Sorry, didn’t mean to spook ya!” Mabel grinned.

“Who’d ya meet?” Stan asked.

“Just someone named Hunter. They seemed shifty, couldn’t see their face since they had their hoodie hood up.” Dipper said.

“Hunter? Hoodie?” Stan repeated under his breath.

“Yeah, what about it?” Dipper asked.

“Nothing, nothing. Where’d ya meet em?” Stan asked.

(At Hunter’s apartment.)

Stan knocked on the door, waiting for someone to answer. After a few minutes, the door opened, Hunter answering.

“Yello?” Hunter asked.

“Hunter, is that you?” Stan asked.

“Wait...STANLEY? Stanley Pines?” Hunter asked.

“The one and only~!” Stan grinned.

“When I heard Mipper and Dabel-” Hunter started.

“Dipper and Mabel.” Stan corrected.

“I stan corrected. Dipper and Mabel said they were Pines family, I thought it was just a coincidence! I didn’t think you were ACTUALLY living here! Not after…” Hunter trailed off.

“Yeesh, don’t remind me…” Stan grimaced.

(Flashback.)

“Hunter, it’ll be okay, I promise! In and out, nothin more!” Stan assured.

“I dunno…” Hunter mumbled. Stan knocked, shrugging.

“WHO ARE YOU?!? HAVE YOU COME TO TAKE MY EYES?!?” Ford snapped, opening the door, crossbow at the ready. Hunter yelped, Stan getting in front of her in case Ford decided to open fire.

“....Well THAT’S a friendly welcome.” Stan said sarcastically.

“Stanley...Hunter.” Ford frowned. Ford put the crossbow away, moving aside. “Sorry I called you here unexpectedly, I just needed someone-” Ford started.

“AHEM.” Stan cleared his throat, gesturing towards Hunter.

“TWO someones to do something for me.” Ford corrected.

“What is it?” Stan asked.

“I’m about to show you something none of you will believe.” Ford said, opening the way to the basement.

“Ehhh, I’ve been around the world. I’m sure I’ll understand!” Stan smiled.

Ford took the two down to the basement to the portal. “I understand NOTHING about this.” Stan said.

“It’s an interdimensional portal that acts as a gateway to various alternate worlds. I created it to unlock the mysteries of the universe, but it can be used for TERRIBLE destruction. The way to activate it is located in the three journals I have written. The first one has already been hidden,” Ford started, walking over to a table and picking up two journals. “I am giving the last ones to you two, as I trust only you two with them.” Ford explained, handing them to Hunter and Stan.

“O-Okay…!” Hunter nodded.

“Wait, so what do we do with them?” Stan asked, confused.

“Stan, remember when we were kids and we wanted to go on a boat around the world?” Ford asked. Stan grinned expectantly. “I want you two to get on a boat, take these with you, and sail as far away as possible-to the ends of the earth-and BURY them.” Ford explained, Stan’s grin fading away as he finished.

“What?!? That’s it?!? You FINALLY wanna see me-US-after ten YEARS only to tell us to get as far away from you as POSSIBLE?!” Stan snapped.

“St-Stan, i-i-it’s okay, I-I’m okay with this…!” Hunter stammered.

“Nuh uh, no WAY, Tiny!! We haven’t seen each other in YEARS and he just wants me gone as soon as I see him again?!? I thought we were family!!” Stan snapped.

“Stanley, you don’t understand what I’m up against! What I’ve BEEN through!” Ford stressed.

“NO, YA DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT WE’VE BEEN THROUGH, SIXER!!! HUNTER AND I HAVE BEEN TO PRISON IN THREE DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, WE CAN’T STAY IN A SINGLE COUNTRY FOR MORE THAN TWO YEARS SO WE’RE CONSTANTLY ON THE MOVE, WE HAVE MORE FAKE IDS THAN IS PROBABLY HEALTHY, AND-OH YEAH-MY FAMILY HATES ME BECAUSE I’M A FAILURE, STANFORD!!! MEANWHILE, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! LIVIN’ IT UP IN YOUR FANCY HOUSE IN THE WOODS, SELFISHLY HOARDING YOUR COLLEGE MONEY BECAUSE YOU ONLY CARE ABOUT YOURSELF!!” Stan snapped.

“I’M selfish? I’M SELFISH, Stanley?! How can you say that after costing me my DREAM SCHOOL?!” Ford snapped. “I’m giving you a chance to do the FIRST WORTHWHILE THING in your life, and you won’t even listen!!” Ford snapped. Hunter whimpered, trying to get in between the two.

“G-Guys, st-stop it…!” Hunter begged. Stan picked Hunter up, moving her out of the way and plopping her down on her butt. “Hey!!” Hunter peeped.

“WELL LISTEN TO THIS; YA WANT ME TO GET RID OF THIS BOOK?! FINE, I’LL GET RID OF IT RIGHT NOW!!” Stan said, pulling out a lighter and holding the journal over it.

“No! You don’t understand!!!” Ford yelped.

“YOU SAID YA WANTED ME TO HAVE IT, SO I’LL DO WHAT I WANT WITH IT!!!” Stan snapped.

“No, my research!!!” Ford panicked, tackling Stan, the two fighting over the journal, Stan tripping Ford and grabbing the journal, eventually running into the next room, hitting some machinery, and starting to activate the portal.

“G-Guys, please calm down!” Hunter objected.

“STAY OUT OF THIS, TINY!!! THIS IS JUST BETWEEN ME AND HIM!!!” Stan shouted.

“Stanley, give it back!” Ford snapped.

“IF YA WANT IT BACK, YOU’RE GONNA HAFTA TRY HARDER THAN THAT!!” Stan snapped.

“G-Guys, please…!!” Hunter begged.

“YA LEFT ME BEHIND, YOU JERK!!! IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE US FOREVER, YOU RUINED MY LIFE!!!” Stan snapped.

Hunter whimpered in worry, trying to figure out how to stop them fighting.

“You ruined your own life!!” Ford said, shoving Stanley back, pushing him into a piece of machinery, Stan yelling in pain as it burned his back.

“STAN!!!!” Hunter and Ford yelped in unison.

“Stanley, oh my gosh, I-I-I-I’m so sorry, a-are you alrigh-?” Ford asked, getting cut off by Stan punching him and knocking him back towards the portal, hitting the lever to finish activating the portal.

“Some brother YOU turned out to be…” Stan frowned, slowly walking towards Ford.

“Stan, calm down!! You’re hurt!!” Hunter begged.

“You care about your dumb mysteries more than your own family? WELL THEN YOU CAN HAVE ‘EM!!” Stan snapped, shoving the journal back into Ford’s arms, sending him floating off.

“No!!” Ford cried out, panic showing in his voice.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey, what’s going on?” Stan asked, panic rising.

“Ford!!” Hunter yelped.

“Hey, hey, Stanford!!” Stan yelped, going after Ford.

“Stanley!! Stanley help me!!!” Ford yelped.

“Oh no-WHAT DO I DO?!” Stan asked in a panic.

“Stanley-DO SOMETHING!!” Ford panicked, tossing the journal back out. “STANLEY!!!-” Ford started, getting cut off as the portal closed as he was sucked in, room flooding with a bright light as it closed.

Stan slowly got up, rubbing his head as he registered what happened. “Stanford…?” Stan called, only getting the sound of a glasses frame hitting the stone cold ground in response. Stan was confused, shock hitting as he remembered, running up to the portal frame.

“STANFORD, COME BACK!! I-I-I DIDN’T MEAN IT!!” Stan said, smacking the frame in hopes of reactivating it. Stan ran over to the lever that activated it originally, pulling on it in an attempt to reactivate it. “I JUST GOT HIM BACK, I-I CAN’T LOSE HIM AGAIN!! COME ON!!!” Stan stammered. Stan stopped trying, looking back at the portal frame. “STANFORD!!!!” Stan called.

“He’s gone, Stanley.” Hunter said coldly.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! This is one of his pranks! He’s gonna come out any second now!” Stan said, chuckling nervously.

“This is STANFORD, Stanley. He doesn’t joke about mystery stuff.” Hunter said, voice flat as paper.

“Awww, come on, Hunty…! Ya don’t need to keep me in the dark, you two got m-” Stan started.

“THIS IS SERIOUS, STANLEY PINES!!!” Hunter snapped.

“Hunter, come on, I was just-” Stan started.

“YOU FOUGHT YOUR OWN BROTHER WHO LOVED YOU WITH EVERY FIBER OF HIS BEING AND SENT HIM TO WHO KNOWS WHERE, ALL FOR WHAT PURPOSE?!? OH YEAH, TO BE PETTY!!” Hunter snapped.

Stan frowned. “I didn’t mean to-” Stan started.

“AND YET IT HAPPENED ANYWAY!!” Hunter snapped, Stan looking at the floor. “HE REACHED OUT TO YOU, AND FOR WHAT? YOU TO BACKSTAB HIM FOR NO REASON?! YEAH, SOME BROTHER!” Hunter growled.

“At least I’M not being a big old bee with an itch about it!!!” Stan bit back.

“AT LEAST I’M NOT THE ONE WHO PROBABLY KILLED HIS OWN BROTHER!!!” Hunter snapped.

“YA KNOW WHAT?!? FINE!!! I ALMOST WISH ME AND FORD LEFT YA WITH THOSE PARENTS OF YOURS!!!! THEN MAYBE I WOULDN’T BE FEELING AS HORRIBLE RIGHT NOW!!!” Stan snapped.

“............Heh……….Just as I thought….Just when I thought you couldn’t stoop any lower….You fall down further….” Hunter laughed sadly.

“Hunter, wait, that didn’t come out righ-” Stant started.

“NO, IT’S FINE!!! I KNOW I’M WORTHLESS AND A FAILURE!! I KNOW I SHOULDA DIED LONG AGO!!! I KNOW I’M NOT WORTH A DARN!!” Hunter laughed sadly.

“Hunter, please-I-I-I’m sorry, I-I-I’ll make it up to ya-” Stan started.

“NO NEED, STANLEY!! YOU’RE FINE!!” Hunter snapped. “NOW, IF YOU’LL EXCUSE ME,” Hunter said, picking up the second journal. “I HAVE A DUTY TO TEND TO.” Hunter scowled, making eye contact to make sure Stan knew how she felt, sending chills down his spine.

(Present day)

“I...never really saw ya after that…” Stan frowned.

“I think it was understandable why.” Hunter said.

“So…” Stan said.

“So….” Hunter trailed off.

“I’m….I’m sorry.” Stan apologized. Hunter perked up, confused.

“Sorry? For what?” Hunter asked.

“What I...said, that night, I had no place sayin’ those things, especially to you, someone I consider...Family.” Stan winced.

“Stan, I said stuff like that too, I had far LESS of a place to say those things, you REALLY didn’t mean to…!” Hunter peeped.

“Jeez, can a guy get sappy for five seconds?” Stan teased.

“I dunno, can a gal have a chance at having a normal life for five seconds?” Hunter teased back.

“Hey, uh, sorry if this sounds weird or anything, but uh, you never made any motions to shake hands, is everything like...Okay?” Stan asked. Hunter dripped nervously.

“Yep! Fine I’m!” Hunter lied.

“That was sad.” Stan said blankly.

“I….Well…” Hunter stammered.

“Ya sure you’re okay?” Stan asked. Hunter knew he should know, but she didn’t want to hurt him.

“I’m sure, your concern IS appreciated, though.” Hunter smiled.

“Well, before I head back to the Mystery Shack, one handshake, for old time’s sake?” Stan asked sheepishly. Hunter hesitated a moment before nodding, holding her hand out, Stan eagerly taking it for a handshake.

“Ew….Your hand feels a lot more...Goopy than usual.” Stan grimaced.

“Ya caught me baking.” Hunter lied.

“Ah! Baking! Good luck with that!” Stan waved. Hunter nodded, waving before closing the door.

As Stan walked home, he noticed the batter was black and almost Ink looking. He could ask about that some other day.

[stevensalerno]

the illustration process of Steven Salerno for the new picture book, THE CRAYON MAN

I’m often asked about the process in my creating illustrations, particularly for picture books… So this post will describe how I created the illustrations for the upcoming non-fiction picture book, The Crayon Man -showing the various levels of sketch stages, all the way through to the finished illustrations…

The Crayon Man is the picture book story, wonderfully written by Natascha Biebow, and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt -to be released in March 2019. It’s the true story of Edwin Binney who was a chemical manufacturer making black inks, black dyes, black pigments and black paints for various industrial uses, until 1903 when he was inspired to invent one of the most iconic American products ever… The first color crayons made just for children! And his wife Alice suggested a unique name for Edwin’s new product: CRAYOLA -which was derived from the French word craie for stick of chalk, and the word ola from the word oleaginous, meaning oily, like the oily texture of the crayon wax. Crayola Crayons was born, with the first pack having only 8 colors, and costing 5¢. They become an instant hit!

author: Natacha Biebow illustrator: Steven Salerno publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt ISBN#: 978-1-328-86684-4 editor: Ann Rider art director: Sharismar Rodriguez designer: Opal Roengchai

above is a cropped detail view of one of the illustrations for The Crayon Man. Edwin Binney was a chemist and manufacturer producing only black inks, black dyes, and black pigments for various industrial uses… So his daily working life was a dark, smoky, black smudged environment…until he had the idea for creating color crayons just for kids!

Thus far in my career I’ve illustrated 30 picture books… and of the last 12 picture book projects I’ve been involved with 7 have been non-fiction stories. This current string of illustrating non-fiction titles began back in 2012 when I illustrated Brothers at Bat (written by Audrey Vernick, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) which is the true story of 12 brothers who made history as the longest playing all-brother professional baseball team in history! It was the very first non-fiction picture book I illustrated because prior to 2012 all the picture books I had illustrated were fiction titles. I really enjoyed the added challenge of depicting real people in a historic time and place which I stylistically illustrated in a more realistic manner, compared to the much more whimsically stylized look of the illustrations I create for my fiction picture book titles. The success and popularity of Brothers at Bat became the spark for other publishers asking me to illustrate their non-fiction picture book titles, too

Click here to view a complete list of Steven Salerno’s published picture books to date, both fiction and non-fiction.

For those unfamiliar with the relationship working with a publisher to illustrate a picture book, in a nutshell it goes like this: The publisher obtains an author’s story and then the story’s editor, art director, and designer determine who they feel may be the most appropriate artist stylistically to illustrate that specific story, and offers that person the project. So I was contacted by editor Ann Rider at the publishing house, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, with the offer to illustrate The Crayon Man. After reading the manuscript, pondering the subject matter, and envisioning how I might approach illustrating the text, I readily and enthusiastically accepted the project. We negotiated a mutually agreeable royalty contract and then I proceeded with the long process of creating the original art images for the picture book…

ILLUSTRATING THE CRAYON MAN

FIRST THINGS FIRST: thumbnail sketches & reference search

With a historical non-fiction picture book, in order to create the illustrations that correctly depict the real life people described in the story, as well as to accurately render the appropriate fashions, architecture, time period, etc… the illustrator must spend a great amount of time researching and locating sufficient, historic period photos to use as visual reference to accurately create the sketches and illustrations. However I delay the photo reference search task and instead jump immediately into reading the manuscript while simultaneously drawing tiny, very rough thumbnail sketches directly in the margins of the story manuscript to quickly visualize my thoughts on which actions and events within the story I want to illustrate, which then dictates what specific people, items and places I need to locate reference photos of.

In this early rough stage I create a great many of these tiny thumbnail sketches, and through trial and error work out my basic plan for all the intended illustration images. It can take a couple weeks experimenting with these tiny rough thumbnail sketches just to get a firm grasp on my intended art images for the entire story, and in so doing this also tentatively adresses placement of the text blocking and page turn breaks, too.

My tactic of waiting before doing the photo reference research is merely because at this crucial early stage I just don’t want the reference photo search to possibly distract me from my main task of initially feeling the story and instinctively planning my the art images. These tiny thumbnail sketches are a kind of visual shorthand executed in a quick, rough, simplistic manner indicating the content of the scenes, the dynamic composition of the scenes, and even the general placement blocking of the corresponding text within the scenes. They are only about 1.5” x 3” in size, nearly postage stamp size, and drawn with ball point pen or pencil directly into the story manuscript margins (and on additional sheets of paper when I run out of room on the manuscript!) These rough thumbnail sketches are always just for my eyes only… and never shown to the publisher.

Its only after I’ve completed drawing this wave of tiny rough thumbnail sketches that I then also finalize all my photo reference research. The photo reference material is an essential visual tool to proceed with the next stage in the sketching process: to refine and expand upon theses tiny rough thumbnail sketches into a series of larger format sketches that eventually lead to even further refined final sketches. (It’s the official final sketches that will be formally presented to the publisher’s team consisting of the editor, art director and designer.)

BELOW are some of these tiny, very rough initial thumbnail sketches, drawn directly in the margins of the story manuscript… as well as the corresponding final stage sketch, which you can see expands and refines upon the core idea visualized by the initial thumbnail sketch. Also shown is a cropped detail of the final completed illustration -which of course was directly derived at through the various evolving sketch stages…

STEP BY STEP PROGRESSION OF AN ILLUSTRATION START TO FINISH

(1) initial rough thumbnail sketch (2) small refined sketch (3) enlarged refined sketch (4) final sketch with color (5) final completed illustration

above: STEP (1) ROUGH THUMBNAIL SKETCH

My initial very rough visualization of workers in the chemical factory where inventor Edwin Binney is experimenting with the creation of COLOR crayons for children. In this scene Edwin’s workers are leaving the factory covered in the early crayon colors. This initial thumbnail sketch is tiny… only about 1.5” x 3” in size, and drawn with ink & pencil directly in the margins of the story manuscript

above: STEP (2) SMALL REFINED SKETCH

The more refined sketch stage… wherein the worker characters are more fully defined. At this point I referred to reference photos I researched of workers and fashions from the 1900 to 1910 era to help create an authentic period feel to the sketch. (That’s a circa 1900 lunch pail the man on the far right is carrying) I have also begun to work out the composition relative to the book’s actual proportion, and have also blocked-in where the corresponding lines of text will roughly be placed. This pencil sketch is still relatively small, only approximately 8.5” wide x 5” high.

above: STEP (3) ENLARGED REFINED SKETCH

…in this stage I have scanned the sketch from STEP (2) and brought it into Adobe Photoshop as a layered digital file, where I enlarged it up to the actual full size of the book’s spread format. Now the sketch is at 17.5” wide x 11” high. I also further refined the look of the worker characters and added in gray scale tones, background atmosphere of the factory interior, and a wall clock because in this scene the workers are ending their long work day and heading home… You can see I have also tentatively determined where the text associated with this spread will be blocked in, so I can make sure the art image is allowing sufficient space for the text.

above: STEP (4) FINAL SKETCH with essential COLOR INDICATED

…in this last sketch stage I have added color digitally. This is the official FINAL sketch stage which is then formally presented to the publisher for their review and comments. NOTE: normally when creating final sketches for a picture book project I do not show color at all, preferring to keep the sketches only in B&W. But because with The Crayon Man, since the story IS about color playing an essential role, I was logically compelled to makes the final sketches in color.

above: DETAIL CROPPED VIEW OF THE (4) FINAL SKETCH.

NOTE: Once all the final sketches are shown to the publisher and get their full approval, the corresponding final art is then created based directly on these approved sketches.

above: STEP (5) THE COMPLETED FINAL ILLUSTRATION

above: a cropped detail view of the FINAL ILLUSTRATION

The final illustration shown above was created by using the final sketch as my guide… and briefly described, my final illustration process is: I take the B&W version of the final sketch, place it on top of my light box and then place a sheet of fine-textured cotton rag paper on top of the sketch and use the illuminated sketch underneath as my guide for making the final line drawing of the characters with a dark sepia compressed charcoal pencil as well as a dark sepia crayon pencil. As I am creating these drawings I make further refined adjustments to all the characters as I go along. I then scan all these final charcoal & crayon drawings into a Photoshop file where they are arranged and composed into the final scene, again using the final sketch as my compositional guide. The background textures and other textures seen in the final illustration are derived from gouache textures I paint then also scan into the same Photoshop file. I compose all these various elements comprising the scene in a hierarchy of individual layers (including added digital color layers) to create the final full look of the completed illustrations.

above is a screen shot of one of the final illustrations in progress as a layered digital file in Photoshop. To the left of the art image you can see the LAYERS window with 28 individual layers which comprise all the elements of this particular illustration. Once I have finalized the completed look of the illustration I then save a flattened version of the digital file so that the publisher gets a copy of the final illustration but without access to any of the individual working layers.

NOTE: another sample of working in Photoshop layers to make the completed final illustrations is further ahead in this post…

PHOTO REFERENCE MATERIAL

Above are a couple of the vintage period photos I referred to when making the sketch and final illustration of the workers walking in a line all covered in splotches of pigment colors seen above. The true story of inventor Edwin Binney in The Crayon Man takes place mostly between 1900 and 1910, so my research looking for pertinent photo reference was within that specific time period.

Let me put the photo reference search generally involved with a historical non-fiction picture book story into some perspective… my photo reference search for The Crayon Man involved reviewing an estimated 3,000 period photos to narrow them down to the approximately 130 reference photos that I actually used as printed visual assistance in creating my sketches and final illustrations for the book. It’s generally not too difficult locating the needed pertinent period photos of the people, places, fashions, objects, and architecture from the specific time frame -but obtaining photos that are of a sufficient enough pixel size enabling me to print them out at a reasonable size and use as reference sometimes can be very difficult. And sometimes locating a reference photo of a specific person at a specific age is impossible! I might have to review 50 photos of an item or person before finally selecting just one that meets my photo reference requirements!'

Above is 1 of the only 2 effective reference portrait photos of the real Edwin Binney that I could locate which I used to assist in creating the sketches and final illustrations for The Crayon Man. However there was a problem! …in the story Edwin was only about 36 to 38 years old, however the only 2 reference photos I had of him he was much older, about 53 and 65 years old. So I had to employ my skills of facial characteristic analysis and projection to create the illustrations of him in the picture book at the much younger age of 36 to 38 years old. This kind of necessary manipulation is often the case when using photo reference that isn’t quite sufficient for various reasons.

above 2 images: The top image is a period reference photo of an old hand-cranked grinding machine, circa 1890… which I used to assist in creating the illustration seen above (cropped view) depicting some of Edwin Binney’s workers grinding and sifting various colored minerals and rocks to extract their pigment colors to use in making the initial color crayons which ultimately were named CRAYOLA. You can see that I followed the reference photo quite closely in creating my drawing of the grinding machine… The fashions and various objects seen in all the final illustrations: weight scales, bottles, crates, bins, barrels, machines, buildings, wagons, etc… were all based on photos and diagrams from research within the 1900 to 1910 time frame of the story.

above 3 images: The top image is my initial tiny rough thumbnail sketch of Edwin with his arm draped on Harold Smith’s shoulder, who was his cousin and business partner.

The middle image is a period reference photo that I located, of two unknown workers posing for a candid photo. It immediately caught my attention because it was almost identical to the pose I had already devised in my initial thumbnail sketch, so I referred to this wonderful photo when developing the sketches and final illustration of Edwin and Harold standing together.

The bottom image is a cropped detail view of the refined large sketch. You can see how I used the photo as direct reference for their pose together. Edwin and his business partner and cousin Harold Smith are standing in front of the their chemical works factory which produced only black inks, black dyes and black pigments for industrial uses… until Edwin came up with the idea for color crayons just for kids. Edwin was the chemist, inventor and manufacturer, while his cousin Harold was the company salesman, which is why in the sketch he’s seen next to his travel trunk with labels from around America and the world.

STEPS CREATING THE FINAL ILLUSTRATIONS

As I described earlier in the post, the final illustrations are created first by drawing the characters and objects in the scene. I do this by taking the B&W version of the final sketch, placing it on top of my light box and then placing a sheet of fine-textured cotton rag paper on top of the sketch and using the illuminated sketch underneath as my guide for creating the final drawing(s) using a dark sepia compressed charcoal pencil as well as a dark sepia crayon pencil, and making further refinements to the characters and objects as I draw. These drawings as well as my gouache painted background textures are then scanned into Photoshop where all these various elements are composed in a hierarchy of individual layers, including layers of digital color, to complete the final look of the illustration.

BELOW are some of the final charcoal & crayon drawings created for the opening illustration appearing in the book -which depicts Edwin Binney outside his home in the flower garden appreciating the very colorful world in which he lives, with a red Cardinal flying by against the blue sky. It was his colorful world that inspired the creation of Crayola Crayons. These drawings are then scanned into Photoshop along with painted textures, where I then begin the elaborate steps of creating the completed look of the final illustration.

NOTE: below is the sequential progression for completing the final illustration (once the charcoal drawings seen above have been scanned into Photoshop). This particular illustration eventually was comprised of about 25 individual total layers to make the completed scene. But for sake of brevity in this blog post, I’ve condensed these 25 layers down to just 7 layer groupings. This abbreviated version still allows you to understand the essential process in creating the final illustration.

TIME INVOLVED ILLUSTRATING THE CRAYON MAN

To illustrate this kind of historical non-fiction picture book story I purposely choose to create the illustrations in a decidedly more realistic style (compared to the more whimsical and stylized look of the many fiction picture books I’ve illustrated). Therefore I must accurately portray the likenesses of the real life people in the story as well as accurately render the period fashions, objects, and places. So sketching and rendering these accurate style illustrations (plus conducting all the photo reference research at the start) demands a tremendous amount of time to complete… much more time than completing illustrations for a picture book where I create the characters in a more simplistic, whimsical, stylized manner.

To complete one of the double-page spread final illustrations took about 7 to 10 days, depending on the complexity of the particular scene. The Crayon Man required 17 double-page spread final illustrations for the inside of the book… plus of course, also the front cover art, back cover art, and endpapers art, too.

For The Crayon Man, to conduct the photo reference research and to complete all the sketch stages took me about 3 months. Then once I got full approval of my final sketches from the publisher it then took me almost 4 months to complete all the inside final illustrations, then another few weeks to complete the final cover illustration and conclude minor revisions and tweaks to the interior illustrations. So completing the entire project took me about seven and a half months, working full time.

Hopefully this post gives the viewer a clear impression of the many steps I went through in creating the illustrations for the non-fiction picture book, The Crayon Man. Any questions, please contact me via email. Or just leave a comment on this post.

View many more of my popular picture books for kids on my web site stevensalerno.com

Thanks!

Steve

In 2018 I had 3 picture books released:

PRIDE -The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag (Random House, 2018) written by Rob Sanders & illustrated by Steven Salerno

PASS GO and Collect $200 -The Real Story of How MONOPOLY was Invented (Christy Ottaviano Books/Henry Holt, 2018) written by Tanya Lee Stone & illustrated by Steven Salerno

Tim’s Goodbye (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2018) written & illustrated by Steven Salerno

And in 2019 also look for:

above is the cover of Wild Horse Annie -Friend of the Mustangs (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2019) written by Tracey Fern & illustrated by Steven Salerno