Early in the process of creating The Day Dirk Yeller Came to Town, Ard and I discussed Dirk Yeller’s character. Ard wanted to know how I viewed this character. I felt that Dirk Yeller had to be “rough and tumble” but “redeemable” by story’s end. So when Ard sent me an early image of the outlaw, looking like an All-American football star on steroids (Figure 1 below), I shook my head. Way too super-heroish.
Later, when my husband and I visited Ard and his family in Bentonville, Arkansas, Ard hesitantly showed me his studio: a walk-in closet. “But the door locks,” he said with a smile, alluding to keeping out his five active daughters. There on the drafting table was his newest version of Dirk Yeller. He’d “roughed him up.” Warts sprouted from his face and lizards and toads crawled off his head. A little too scary. This character had to become someone Miss Jenny, the librarian, could fall for by story’s end.
Both the author and illustrator do many drafts. I revise over and over, finding just the right rhythm, just the right words. And Ard, too, sketches many versions before settling on the perfect image. I like to think that we’re both listening to the story that wants to be told, in both words and images.
For Dirk Yeller, Ard eventually came up with the right blend of the characteristics (Figure 2). Dirk Yeller is now rough around the edges, but definitely redeemable. Ard’s depictions throughout the story of the outlaw are both hair-raising and heart-warming. He found exactly the right balance to make the story work.
When Ard asked me what kind of horse I envisioned for Dirk Yeller, I sent him photos of majestic Friesians--those often used in historical movies, gallant black horses with flowing manes and feathered legs. But Ard envisioned something “less regal for our outlaw.” Less regal? Hmmm. My husband’s horse, Midnight, wasn’t exactly regal. He’s a cross between a Belgian draft horse and a Morgan. I snapped a few photos of Midnight and e-mailed them to Ard. This time, Ard said Midnight was the perfect inspiration for our outlaw’s horse.
A good illustrator always brings more to the story than what’s in the author’s text. And Ard always does this in spades! In The Day Dirk Yeller Came to Town, for example, Ard added a subtext story of a cat chasing mice, who by story’s end, are chasing the cat. And he brilliantly extends the story with its end-papers (the pages before the title page and after the text). The opening displays a poster that reads: “WANTED: Dirk Yeller, Extremely Dangerous” and the last end-papers show newspaper clippings in the same sepia brown with these captions: “Announcement: Local Librarian Weds Former OUTLAW” and “Overdue Books & Fines are Not Tolerated! --Dirk Y.” Ard got it.
Fig. 1 - Early sketch of Dirk Yeller
Fig. 2 - Final rendering of Dirk Yeller
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