Johnnie Canova
Illustrator
Plaquemine, La.

Godfrey's Rendering by Johnnie Canova

I've also created some other pictures. Just to mention one right quick, is the one called Godfrey's. It's an old house on Main Street here in Plaquemine. Any of these drawings, when I start, I start them as a pencil drawing. I lay down all of the pencil lines first and then I come over it with something called Berol Prismacolor pencils. The Prismacolor pencils are kind of like a cross between a crayon and a charcoal. Its like a crayon because its waxy. Its like a charcoal in the fact that you can blend the colors together, on top of one another. So you can create layers to create the specific color you are looking for.

Belle Grove Rendering by Johnnie Canova

To talk a little bit more about Belle Grove, I did a lot of research trying to track down colors. That was the main thing was trying to find those colors to make it look like it should look. I talked to my mother about the colors. I also read a lot of books that gave me some idea of what the color would be. The harder thing was trying to find the colors of the rails. What I've come up with is a dark green rail. Also the windows are trimmed in dark burgundy. That was hard to find. Whether that's the specific colors I don't know, but it should be close to it. Most of the railings back then were a dark color. Either a black or a dark green.