These are my first drawings of Gayle and her friends. Their personalities are a bit different than the version of the kids that you meet in the book. Maddie was in a band, Elijah rode a skateboard, and Gayle was significantly older. At this point, I hadn’t written the whole story. But as the book’s plot and themes developed, so did the characters.
After weeks of sketching and writing I finally discovered the real Gayle, Elijah, Maddie and Lex.
Here are some concepts that led to the kids’ final designs.
More early character sketches.
First of the stone pillars.
First sketches of the island.
Below are selections from the original Shark Summer ‘pitch.’ A ‘pitch’ is artwork created to show a book publisher what the finished book will look like. The overall design of the book had yet to be settled so you’ll notice some difference (Gayle’s eyes!) and similarities to the finished Shark Summer.
