Zachary Pullen Answers 6 Questions About Illustrating A Home for Steamboat

Storyboard for “A Home for Steamboat”

Working on “A Home for Steamboat” was an extra long process. It’s not every book that gets to simmer for years until the time is right. Working through the story arc with Casey was very satisfying and many of the ideas we tossed around ended up in the final product. The storyboard process was a ton of fun for this one. When the story started coming together it became apparent that the text needed to be longer to tell the story of this Wyoming icon. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t fit the visuals into a typical 32 page format. To expand a book into more pages, takes commitment from everyone(editor, art director, designer, printers, proofreaders, etc). The entire team was on board so I got back to the drawing board and was able to add more visuals to emphasize this tremendous story. While in the final stages of the paintings, we surrounded ourselves with an enthusiastic and dedicated group to help us market our Steamboat across the finish line. While they’ve spent plenty of time in the studio, it was their turn to ask me a few questions about process, inspiration, and maybe the irrational belief in this particular book. 
These are the questions and my answers that hopefully aren’t too vague but just vague enough. 

Do you ever model the characters after people you know?

When I’m in the planning stages of the book, I have a sense of who would fit the character I’m trying to capture. When possible, I will use someone very specific for all the angles of their face I can capture during a reference shoot. “A Home for Steamboat” however, I used old reference books that I have lying around the studio for the faces and heads. There were just too many characters to fit involved to do a cattle call of friends. Once the characters were drawn, I did bring in models, looking for different body types, and orchestrated a photo shoot to capture the posture and gestures to fit the heads on. As for the main character, Steamboat, I sourced everything I could get my eyes on. I used a moquette, reference photos of my own, and historic photos. 

A finished drawing for a background element and small details from a couple illustrations in “A Home for Steamboat”.

What’s your favorite thing to paint?

The older I get, I find my favorite things to paint are the little details both hidden and obvious. I enjoy finding something historic and adding it into the painting to make it time appropriate. (Early 1900’s currency, horse trailers of the day, a chuckwagon)

The icon - Illustration in “A Home for Steamboat”

What’s the most challenging?

For this book in particular, the most challenging aspect was capturing the mood of the story and how the narrative would interact and move it forward. The mood is in the skies, landscapes, and body language. The narrative and time jump is done through an entire color shift that works as a flashback. These images allow the viewer/reader to seamlessly time travel with the narrator. 

Do you have a ritual before getting into the mindset you need to be for illustrating?

Caffeine seems to be my ritual. When working on this book, it was all I could focus on 24/7 so the caffeine helped trigger my late night thoughts and kickstart my day at the easel. 

Who inspires you?

Artistically? There’s so many artists that I look at. My walls are covered with contemporaries and idols. Here’s a list of a few all of which are worth looking up. 
-Dean Cornwell
-Maxfield Parrish
-NC Wyeth
-Fredrick Remington
-JC Leyendecker
-Norman Rockwell
-Allen Tupper True
-Harvey Dunn
-James Bennett
-CF Payne
-Mark English

Collage of some of the illustrators Zak finds inspiring.

Is there an activity or hobby you look to when you’re feeling like you’re in a creative rut? If so, what is it? 

I can’t quite settle into a painting, I usually make myself busy in other ways. I’ll re-arrange the studio, I’ll flip through some books to get inspired, or I’ll putt a few balls on a putting matte in the studio. All are fantastic winter activities because they’re indoors and out of the harsh Wyoming weather. Now, if the weather cooperates and I can tee it up on a golf course, that’s where you’d find me.

Zak and his favorite summer activity.