Now an account of the process as told by Paul Hartsuyker, project artist.....

The development of the illus- trations for this book was a collaboration between the author and myself over a period of time. The cover began as a concept that I had, of a depiction of her street from childhood. The buildings have long since been torn down and there were no actual photos, so we began with some archival photos of the Lower East Side of New York. I asked Alice to pick out images that felt familiar and she identified several as references for the construction of the wire frame models. I have included an image from the program, Lightwave 8.3, that was used for the building of the polygonal models of everything in the scene. Some minor post work and color correction was done in Photoshop, which was also used for the development of the texture maps.

She also had a few narrow view pictures that had been taken at the time, including one of herself standing with two neighbor girls, who partially obscured a clear view of her. I scanned that photo, rebuilt the missing parts and then colorized it for eventual inclusion into the final render. I had initially intended to build a model of her, but the creation of a likeness was beyond the time frames, so it was “flat-mapped” onto a precise cutout of her shape that was built with sufficient depth to create convincing shadows with side lighting. I generated the complete building, including interior walls, stairs, windows, curtains, lights, etc. for her building and the two on either side, one which she described as identical and the other as a mirror, with the exception that “her” building had the fire escapes in the back. It was built to scale by interpolating from small fragments in the available photos.

Alice described the one lamp on the street, and I was able to locate archival photos to use as reference. The same approach was used for the “coal chute” hole cover on the sidewalk. I have included the final render here that is the cover of the book, as well as a view from the other end of the street, closer to the author's downstairs entry to the family's basement apartment; this appears across from the Table of Contents in the book.

The book also includes an image of the street- lamp at night as seen from an upstairs room. At several times in the process, I showed test renders to Alice, and she was thrilled with the development. She also had a strong personal reaction to the images, including the evocation of details of the building, both inside and outside. 

After completing the 3D geometry for the entire project and the renders, I realized that, “as the Director on the set” I could place a “camera” inside the apartment and “take a photo” of the view out her basement window. This is central to one of the stories in the book. Again, this had an evocative, uncanny impact on Alice, since I had gotten enough of the elements correct inside and out, that she had the impression of an actual photo of a long lost place --- very rewarding. 

I have also included a tight closeup of the railing, just to demonstrate that the closer the camera approaches, the more the detail is revealed. In every regard the development was a progression of idea discussion, preliminary renders, feedback, and further development, a collaboration that I enjoy with individuals in the creation of illustrations for books, CD covers, and other content.