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\nI’m happy to host Jarrett Pumphrey and his brother Jerome Pumphrey here at 7-Imp today. Their debut picture book (as both authors and<\/em> illustrators), The Old Truck<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, will be on shelves in January (Norton Young Readers), and it’s the story of a truck that lives on a small farm and the girl who grows up with it. The story is a celebration of family, persistence, and female badassery (you will read below that this story was inspired by the strong women in Jarrett’s and Jerome’s family). You will also read on the book’s jacket flap that the two brothers created more than 250 individual stamps to make these illustrations. Fortunately, in their visit today they talk more about that and share some process images. So, let’s get right to it, and I thank them for visiting!<\/p>\n
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[Edited to add, 4\/2\/20: Here<\/a><\/strong> is my <\/em>Horn Book review of<\/em> The Old Truck.]<\/em><\/p>\n Jarrett and Jerome<\/font><\/strong>: We used a mix of traditional and digital media to make the art for the book. Yes, that included making stamps. First, we\u2019d start with a marker sketch of the spread. We don’t, however, work on the text and the art at the same time. Usually, we write the text before we start drawing anything. Of course, as we write, particularly with how much interplay we want between the text and the art, we\u2019re thinking about and discussing the visual story we want to tell as we write the text. Our great-grandmother worked years picking cotton, saved up the little money she earned, and bought her own farm in Louisiana. She set an example that\u2019s been carried down in our family for generations \u2014 work hard, persist, and dreams come true.<\/p>\n The truck in the book was inspired by all the old trucks we saw, growing up in Texas. Many of those trucks had been sitting idle for decades, long forgotten and overgrown. When we were thinking about this story, we wondered what one of those trucks might have seen if it had been on a small farm with a little girl who had big dreams.<\/p>\n This is our author-illustrator debut. We\u2019re currently working on final art for our next book with Norton Young Readers. They\u2019ve been a dream to work with, by the way. Simon Boughton \u2014 publisher, editor, art director, everything-er \u2014 has just been fantastic. He totally got us and what we were trying to do right from the beginning. With a light but insightful touch, he\u2019s helped us make our first book a beautiful book, and we can\u2019t wait to follow it up with another one. THE OLD TRUCK. Copyright \u00a9 2020 by Jarrett Pumphrey and Jerome Pumphrey. Published by Norton Young Readers, an imprint of W. W. Norton and Company, New York. All images here reproduced by permission of Jarrett Pumphrey, Jerome Pumphrey, and the publisher.<\/em><\/p>\n Note for any new readers: 7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks is a weekly meeting ground for taking some time to reflect on Seven(ish) Exceptionally Fabulous, Beautiful, Interesting, Hilarious, or Otherwise Positive Noteworthy Things from the past week, whether book-related or not, that happened to you. New kickers are always welcome.<\/p>\n 1)<\/strong><\/font> I love this visit from Jarrett and Jerome, and I love seeing all their stamps. <\/p>\n 2)<\/strong><\/font> A delicious meal and good conversation with friends this week. <\/p>\n 3)<\/strong><\/font> Elbow’s<\/a><\/strong> new album. <\/p>\n
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\nAnd more stamps.
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\nAnd even more stamps. Over 250 by the time we were done.
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\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/7pics\/2019\/10\/stamps-use.jpg\")
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\nOur process started with making a pretty polished dummy. We like to work out as many details as we can in the dummy stage so by the time we get to final art, we can just execute. Below are dummy images vs. finals.
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\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/7pics\/2019\/10\/TheOldTruck_DUMMY_9-small.jpg\")
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\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/7pics\/2019\/10\/TheOldTruck_FINAL_9-small.jpg\")
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So the old truck rested …”<\/em>
(Click each to enlarge)<\/center>
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\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/7pics\/2019\/10\/TheOldTruck_DUMMY_11-small.jpg\")
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\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/7pics\/2019\/10\/TheOldTruck_DUMMY_19-small.jpg\")
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\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/7pics\/2019\/10\/TheOldTruck_FINAL_19-small.jpg\")
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(Click each to enlarge)<\/center>
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\nWhen it came time for final art, we usually approached it a spread at a time. Here\u2019s how it would work:<\/p>\n
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\nFrom the sketch, we\u2019d pull objects from the spread and turn them into individual foam stamps. Sometimes we\u2019d make the whole object in one stamp, like each tree with all those leaves \u2014 so many leaves. Other times, we\u2019d split the object up into multiple stamps, like with the truck or the barn.
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\nOnce we had stamps, we\u2019d use them to make prints with black ink on Bristol board. If an object appeared on multiple spreads, we\u2019d use the same stamp but make multiple prints, so each appearance of the object in the book would be unique. That was a rule we gave ourselves. Another rule was to never use the same stamp twice on the same spread. So even though all those trees kind of look the same, each one got its own stamp with its own print.
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\nThen, we scanned the prints into the computer; reassembled any, if necessary; performed any clean-up needed; and then put everything where it belonged on the spread.
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\nFinally, we added color and painted in the characters and minor details.
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\nWe both work on the text and the art. We each have our own strengths and preferences, which naturally helps sort out who does what as we work. Jarrett tends to edit. Jerome tends to art direct. But for the most part, we both do a little bit of everything. We both come up with the story. We both write the text \u2014 sometimes together in the same room, sometimes apart. The art is always done together. We work out the compositions together. We work out the palette together. We make stamps, make prints, and make the composite spreads together. <\/p>\n
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\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/7pics\/2019\/10\/combined.jpg\")
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\nWe were raised with a strong belief that if you work hard and persist, anything is possible. Our main character was inspired by the women in our family, who exhibited this spirit. Our mom always wanted a big family \u2014 but not at the expense of a career. Though it couldn\u2019t have been easy, she raised four boys and ran our dad\u2019s dental practice, helping him build it into one of the largest practices in the country.
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Our grandmothers both worked for the U.S. Post Office in the segregated South. In the face of discrimination on two counts \u2014 race and gender \u2014 they persisted. By the time we came along, they would put up with very little trifling nonsense. If you set out to do something, you did it.<\/p>\n
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\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/7pics\/2019\/10\/TOT_IRL-small.jpg\")
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\nWhen we finished the final art for the book, Jarrett wanted to celebrate. So with a bit of life imitating art, he decided to do something he\u2019d always dreamed of doing \u2014 restoring a real-life old truck. He found a beautiful 1956 Ford F100 and got to work. He plans to complete a full restoration of the truck before the release of the book in January. (Fingers crossed.) It\u2019s been a lot of hard work so far \u2014 definitely easier restoring a truck in illustrations than in real life \u2014 but he\u2019s persisting. He spends his days working on the truck and his nights making books with Jerome. He just recently got the truck fully stripped down to the frame, and now he\u2019s started rebuilding it.
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\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/7pics\/2019\/10\/TOT_IRL_progress_500.gif\")
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\nIt\u2019s been a fun project and one entirely inspired by the book. We hope, in the same way, the book inspires kids to pursue their own dreams, even the ones that are hard to imagine ever coming true.
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