Prairie River

I did five covers for the Prairie River Series.This was my first 'young adult' series in a while and it was especially memorable because Scholastic wanted it done in traditional oils. The model, Kelley Lynch literally matured as the series progressed, Which was good, because so did the character in the book! In this cover, the first, the heroine arrives as an orphan trying to find her own life in a town way out west somewhere. I put her in the middle of the dusty street, looking a bit lost while the stage coach takes off in a cloud of dust. At the shoot I knew I wanted a twisitng motion in her body and that lost, but confident look and Kelly nailed it. It's one of my favorite parts of the job, bringing out something special in the models. When it's good, it's Art being created before your eyes! Somewhere inbetween silent movies and theater. More later on this series...