Tecumseh: Chasing A Legend

An Artist’s Journey To 1812

Taking on artistic responsibilities for Tecumseh: A Heroic Tale of War and Shattered Dreams was both an exciting and daunting challenge.  This is my first time working on a historical story, and I want everything to be as accurate as possible.  Thankfully, our location works in our favour as the soldiers 1812 marched the very grounds upon which this article is written.  So Dave and I have set out on a mission to create a historically accurate and visually engaging saga.

As we iron out each page and each panel, we find ourselves pouring over old documents and paintings; scavenging for any trinkets of relevance.  For instance; I wanted to adorn one page of the story with pieces of currency from the 1800′s.  Did you know that in Canada we relied greatly on currency and coins brought in by merchants and explorers from other lands.  As an example, the Spanish dollar was one such popular coin circulated through the region during this period.

We are also surrounded by relevant landmarks from the Forgotten War.  Dave has consistently and quite passionately pointed these out to me.   We’ve even gone on ‘field trips’ throughout the immediate area, getting a valuable sense of the landscape.    Our stops have included Fort Malden, The Francois Baby House, and even the bridge at Canard River; a site where two British soldiers stood their ground against a force of two hundred Americans.

I’m sure I could have earned some extra credits in high school for working on such a project.  Dave’s been a great guide on our journey back through time.  Now I’ve got to go draw some Spanish dollars.  I hope when you hold your copy of this fantastic project you can appreciate some of the subtle tributes paid to our nation’s history.

 

This entry was posted by preaume on Sunday, November 10th, 2013 at 2:22 am and is filed under Chasing a Legend . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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