Twin Peaks Illustration + Process

(Audrey Horne's saddle shoes)

A while ago I watched the Twin Peaks series in its entirety, in about a month period. I had only seen a few episodes here and there before, and never really got the mania about it. Once I watched it all in order I was hooked. I noticed so many symbols, like chess pieces and lockets, I thought it might lend itself to a good illustration. I started with image research, and making a list of about 20 items I thought summed up the important plot points and main characters of the two seasons.

(Dr. Jacoby and his freaky glasses)

(Hank and his domino)

(One Eyed Jacks casino chip)

I did ink drawings of all the symbols in my sketch book.

I scanned in the drawings and started coloring them digitally. Originally I thought the composition would be based off the "Welcome to Twin Peaks" sign. However, I mocked it up and didn't think it filled out the space very well.

So then I though I would have the composition be like a spread from Laura Palmer's diary, with these symbols and notes in it. I liked the composition, but not this weird 3-d diary style I tried.

I stepped back a bit, and re-colored each element, since I wasn't so happy with that either. Here is Laura's cousin Maddy Ferguson, with the new color treatment.

I tried the diary format again, but this time a little more laid back.

(Click to enlarge)

This is the final! The process for this illustration was a lot more time consuming than normal, but I was trying out some new coloring and texture techniques, so it's ok. I am happy with the final, and happy to be done with this and move on to other projects. Below are some detail shots.