This Folio Life: The journey behind the artwork of Anansi Boys
The cover and slipcase art
Thought it might be fun to make a thread going over the process used to create the Anansi Boys covers! @foliosociety @neilhimself pic.twitter.com/SyPtWOspKX
— Francis Vallejo (@francisvallejo) February 1, 2019
The typography
Pumped that I was trusted to design the Anansi Boy @foliosociety title type. Once again, the conceptual duality of the Boys was key in deciding to use the separate angles and palettes for "Anansi" and "Boys." Included some process shots as well. Extra fun! pic.twitter.com/vPStyjhA6E
— Francis Vallejo (@francisvallejo) February 2, 2019
Interior artwork
Anansi Boys interior illustration @foliosociety w/ @neilhimself I inked it w/ a parallel pen and smudged to turn form. Used a razor blade to scratch in some texture & a toothbrush for splatter. Added stippling digitally & played w/ a digital screen print process 2 bring 2 final! pic.twitter.com/WtBQllo0xz
— Francis Vallejo (@francisvallejo) February 4, 2019
Interior from Anansi Boys 4 @foliosociety! This is my homage to Eduard Thöny, & perhaps my fav piece from this whole project. Finish was done in BnW w/ ink on top of acrylic wash w/ a bit of graphite rendering. Final was converted 2 color digitally w/ simple complimentary colors. pic.twitter.com/jCs4Lz8Yqs
— Francis Vallejo (@francisvallejo) February 4, 2019
Back to Anansi Boys. Today's image is the frontispiece featuring our hero Charlie. Thanks to @imontoya_illustration for handling the midtones in the ink section - he did a killer job and really helped me stay on schedule. The painted section was done in acrylic. @foliosociety pic.twitter.com/b7kFYGkYv2
— Francis Vallejo (@francisvallejo) February 6, 2019
Chapter headings
Anansi Boys contains 14 chapters, so I thought it would be fun if a separate supplemental sequential story was slowly told through the chapter headers. Here's a detail and book shot: pic.twitter.com/WGBXCDIFkK
— Francis Vallejo (@francisvallejo) February 8, 2019
Also, the marketing team at @foliosociety put together a great .gif of the chapter headers!! pic.twitter.com/wEtnPjdetN
— Francis Vallejo (@francisvallejo) February 8, 2019
Black and white integrated illustrations
I prepared 11 BnW interior spots for Anansi Boys. In this post are some samples from said ink drawings. Midtones by the mighty @imontoya_illustration . Figuring out how to vignette and design the drawings to work within the page was a blast! Pick the book up via @foliosociety ! pic.twitter.com/kaOLuGfSIw
— Francis Vallejo (@francisvallejo) February 8, 2019
Jesus "Johnny" Vallejo
Didn't have an chance to dedicate Anansi Boys formally inside the book, so I want to do so here & dedicate it to the memory of my grandpa Jesus "Johnny" Vallejo. He passed away at 106 yrs old the night before I filmed the AB video in my studio. Rest in peace grandpa. Love you. pic.twitter.com/5dlmz1uG8k
— Francis Vallejo (@francisvallejo) February 10, 2019