The Art
A number of intrepid artists have made the journey to the Border over the years. Each one has their own personal vision of Bordertown-and, as befits a magical city, no two artists have even seen or rendered it alike. To view their impressions of life on the Border, follow the links on the right hand side of this page....
Sketches by Brian Froud
The following sketches were created by Brian Froud back in the early 1990s as concept art for a possible Bordertown film. These are Brian's renderings of what Bordertown elves might look like, and what fashions might be like on the Border.
Sketches by Dylan Meconis
Artist Dylan Meconis and author Sara Ryan created a graphic story, "Fair Trade," as their contribution to the new anthology, Welcome to Bordertown. Here, Dylan shares the process of creating a comics page, from initial rough sketch to final inked piece....
Layout sketch for Fair Trade page 282.
A process sketch, in pencil.
Character reference.
Creating the characters.
Another process sketch, in pencil.
Another process sketch, in ink.
Final art.
Process sketch for Fair Trade page 181.
Sketches by Iain McCaig
Two renderings of what Bordertown elves might look like by illustrator and filmmaker Iain McCaig.
Sketches by Rex Van Ryn
The following pencil sketches are by comic book artist Rex Van Ryn, imagining what some of the characters in Bordertown might look like in comic art form.
Now here's the challenge: can you guess who all ten of these characters are? Some first appeared in the older books, some were introduced more recently, but all of them can be found in the pages of Welcome to Bordertown.
Clue: He's been around since the very first Bordertown book, and is an old, old friend of Farrel Din's.
Clue: He likes making deals ("Mockery") and answering doors ("Welcome to Bordertown").
Clue: They are related, in a very complicated way.
Clue: He used to be a Mad River Water addict. These days he's clean...but furry.
Clues: One of them works as the Hard Luck Café, one doesn't. One of them is a halfie, one isn't. One of them grew up in Bordertown, one didn't.
Clue: She has a half-sister in the Realm.
Clue: She has a half-sister in Bordertown.
Clue: He comes from a well-known family, and you wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley.
"Elf Rage" photograph snapped by Midori Snyder.