Quest: More than
just a coloring book
For he was day, and she was night. Without one, the other was sure to fade.
Once upon a time, a little faun set out on a daunting quest. Wandering far across distant lands and into forgotten perils, she could not have known where that path would lead her, what trials she would endure, or what triumphs she would find.
An Artist’s Journey From Concept to Completion
In 2015, I was approached by Blue Star Coloring, a subdivision of PCG Publishing, about the prospect of working on a fantasy themed coloring book. Though I had no prior experience drawing coloring books, I had previously released a handful of line art drawings from my illustrations as downloadable coloring sheets on Etsy. This came after numerous fans reached out to me with explicit interest in coloring the line art from work in progress shots I had shared. I was touched by the thought that other people felt inspired to color my creations.
*Artist’s Note* Hark, possible spoilers below! If you have any interest in opening this coloring book up and seeing the story unfold for the first time, please don’t scroll any further. You can purchase Quest through my publisher, Blue Star Coloring, or request a copy through your local book store.
‘Midwinter Fauns’ - Drawn for ‘Holiday Parade’, released by Blue Star Coloring in 2015, this page is also featured at the end of Quest.
From the beginning, I knew this would be no ordinary coloring book.
Character ‘Turn Around’ Sheet for Night
Instead of the typical mandalas, animal patterns, and constantly repeating motifs, my editor and I discussed the idea of the entire book functioning as a complete story. My editor and I were both keen on a fantasy epic told through images alone.
Character ‘Turn Around Sheet for Day
Several brainstorm sessions and script drafts later
I was ready to start drawing. My inspiration came from Flora & Faun, a small watercolor illustration I’d painted on whim the previous year. I saw something in her eyes, a fierceness and a fragility, and I knew she had a story to tell me. The final script included the complete story arch and detailed descriptions for each page, but I never wrote the story out in full. I wanted the book to be left open to interpretation.
One of my favorite ways to thwart rainy days as a kid was to flip through my mother’s collection of art books and make up my own stories for the images, and this was a chance for me to hand that joy off to my audience. For every person who opens this book, the narrative will unfold a little differently.
Quick ballpoint pen character sketch for Night, based on Flora & Faun
I had a fantastic illustration teacher in art school who taught us a sneaky trick. “Always draw your thumbnails as tight and detailed as you can.” He flashed us a grin before divulging his secret, “Then you can blow them up full size, and trace your own work.” I took his advice to heart, but then took it a step further. I had a total of 3 months to conceptualize the story, create the characters, and draw an entire 40 page coloring book. Looking back, I absolutely should have asked for more time on such a detail heavy project.
Such is hindsight.
40 tiny thumbnails! This image is included in the book as an Easter Egg surprise. If you look at the inside of the front cover, you'll see a very subtle ghosting of my minuscule pencil sketches.
My process went as follows:
I digitally enlarged each thumbnail to 5x7in, roughly half the size of the final 8x11in pages for the book. Using a light pad and regular sketch paper, I traced over my work, correcting anatomy and compositional issues as I went. These images were then enlarged to 8x11. I pulled out my light pad again, but this time used marker paper and inked the final illustrations over the enlarged art.
In order to meet my deadline, I had to draw one 5x7 and ink 1-2 full sized pages per day, for 3 weeks straight including weekends.
I cannot emphasize enough the importance of preparing for a project like this. My script took the guess work out of what I had to draw for each page, and my thumbnails provided a solid foundation for the art.
Each year, Day ventured out into the wild world, always to return with an exquisite gift for his beloved Night.
"Follow the sunrise, and go with haste. You will encounter many dangers, but none as deadly as the despair growing in your heart."
Night and the fairy offered up what little they had to appease the dreadful Sphinx, and earned a blessing from each of her frightful heads.
It was only a nightmare, but the vision seemed so real. Day was in terrible danger, and time was running out. If only she could find him.
Night was aware of the Beast following them. Though her heart was heavy with grief, it burned with a fire lit by love and kindled by vengeance.
The Master Collection
Shortly after meeting my deadline, My editor contacted me with some exciting news; Blue Star wanted to include Quest in their new Master Collection line up. These books would feature heavy vellum textured paper for both colored pencils and watercolors, perforated pages, a satin touch embossed cover, and several full color illustrations.
The final cover! Featuring my own watercolors. This is also the only page I have ever bothered to color myself.
Born of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water
Artist’s Self Portrait - 2015
9x12 on Hot Press Watercolor Paper
Watercolor & Mixed Media
Blue Star requested a recent portrait for the book. At the time of completion, and for at least a few years after, this was a pretty accurate representation of yours truly. My hair has a habit of changing a lot.
Suddenly, Quest was no longer just a coloring book, it was now an Art Book, just like the ones I grew up with.
Another feature I had discussed with my editor previously was the use of full spreads. Among my thumbnails were several concepts that really needed two pages. This took a little extra care with the printers as we didn’t want to risk my art getting cut in half. In order to mitigate printing issues, these images were rotated and shrunk to fit a single page so as not to disrupt the flow of the story. They are included again in the back of the book as full sized as fold outs.
Night & Day - One of four full spread pages! While this page is featured rotated vertically and at half size to keep with the flow of the story, you’ll also find a gorgeous 11x17in fold out version included in the back of the book.
The symbolism behind Night & Day: characters in a tale about Duality and Balance as much as Friendship and Love
Night dozes next to shade loving Trillium, a beautiful white flower with a symmetrical leaf whorl. Trillium is both a delicate and resilient plant. A native wildflower to the States and a perennial, it will do just fine when left on it’s own. One must be cautious not to disturb its roots when transplanting, and in some jurisdictions, it is illegal to disrupt the plant at all. Picking any part, but especially the flower, will kill Trillium outright even if the roots are left intact.
Day reclines next to a patch of wild strawberries, a plant that needs lots of sun and loves to wander. Wild strawberries are also native here. They are known to thrive in a variety of environments and can even survive forest fires! Too much shade, however, and they will never bear fruit.
A Missing Page
No matter how careful we are, mistakes happen.
I was beyond ecstatic when I received my stack of coloring books from Blue Star’s first printing. I had forged over a quarter of a year into this book, and here it was finally in my hands, a real and tangible mark of my accomplishment. I immediately flipped through the book from front to back, pouring my attention over each page. While I supplied the art, the Blue Star design team took care of the layout. I had no idea how the book would be pieced together in the end. They did a stunning job of translating the tone of the art into the layout, and I was blown away by the print quality. But…There was something missing.
In fact, it was page 34. While not the worst scenario for a missing page, a missing page 33 would have certainly have been a real problem for the story, I still felt my heart drop. I alerted my editor and he reassured me the next printing would contain all 40 pages. Fortunately, I had previously requested the Midwinter Fauns piece I drew for Holiday Parade to be added as a bonus, so the book still rounds out to 40 completely unique coloring pages, plus the 4 additional fold outs.
In light of this, I want to make sure anyone who bought the book or who was given one as a gift has access to page 34. Please email me at sam@therealmofsam.com or click the button below. Simply let me know you own one of my Quest books, and I will send you the download link for the missing page. The file is formatted for standard letter sized paper so anyone can print it out at home and add it to the book.
The Infamous Page 34
