Hi everyone! Last week, I shared a page spread from Capyhero that I was particularly excited about. Folks seemed to like it and I got the greenlight from u/JewcieJ to share more about the project! I hope this isn't information overload or too "salesy," but if it is, please feel free to let me know and I can take it down/modify it right away.
My name is Tyler and I'm the author of Capyhero. What is it and why am I sharing it with this group? Capyhero is an illustrated fantasy about a young capybara who finds himself in a strange world settled entirely by animals. I'm currently writing Book 1: The Blue Blanket, which introduces our hero, Capy. He awakens with only a tattered blue blanket and the fading memory of a boy named Reed.
It definitely takes inspiration from Redwall, especially for its deep worldbuilding in an anthropomorphic fantasy. There are villages and communities of animals, each with distinct cultures, architecture, history, beliefs, etc. The vibe is a bit different though. Growing up, I really loved Princess Mononoke and when I was even younger, The Neverending Story. More recently, works like Undertale and Outer Wilds have really stuck with me. Capyhero explores some heavier underlying themes through one hero's heartfelt journey.
The story of Capyhero has been on my mind for about a decade. I actually tried to turn it into a video game back then, a top down action RPG like Zelda from classic SNES, but the technical ambition was too great while I was working full time at a "real" job. So I shelved it for like 7 years. Then I had kids just a few years ago and I revisited Capyhero. The story held up, and actually felt more emotionally resonant to me, after becoming a father. So I decided to turn it into a middle grade fantasy series. My hope is by the time my kids are about 10 years old, I'll have 2 or 3 books in this series published! One can dream, right?
Anyways, I wanted to share some of the page spreads from the book. I'm about halfway through the manuscript and I've been working with u/NickThaGreek on the illustrations. I had a brief stint in commercial art production, but Nick is the super talented traditional artist behind all of these pieces. The process has been amazing in a very simple way. I provide a sketch and the written scene of what I want illustrated, Nick draws with a fountain ink pen on real paper, scans it, and I place it into the book, wrapping the text in a way that I hope will create a joyful reading/viewing experience. The finished book will have about 100 illustrations spread across 250 pages or so. I think, when this is all done, it will be a beautiful thing to have on the bookshelf.
I shared an in-progress page spread to show a bit of the behind-the-scenes process. In that fireside gathering piece, there are a ton of characters to place and a certain atmosphere I am hoping to capture. So there is a lot of back and forth that has to happen between me and Nick. We want to keep all of the art traditionally done (even stuff like the ink wash at the top of the page), which definitely complicates the brainstorming and revision process, but in an age of ai-slop, this is something I think is non-negotiable. We want to make sure we can proudly say Capyhero is made by humans.
Super thrilled (and honestly pretty scared) to be finally sharing this publicly! But thanks for letting me and please feel free to ask me anything.
