Project: Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Since I was a kid, I've been fond of 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' (LoSH). When I was in elementary school (circa 1980), we were shown a made-for-television version of the story starring Jeff Goldblum and Dick Butkus(!). It's actually on YouTube! I don't remember much of the details of the film itself but afterward I remember specifically drawing the headless horseman in class (I wish I had kept that thing...). Anyway, that film is responsible for sparking an interest in the story that's stuck with me through the years.

I've been wanting to work on my own version of the story for a long time. Presenting it as a long-form story book with the actual text relatively intact. I love the idea of presenting classic and traditional stories as originally written, rather than editing them down for simplicity's sake or to accommodate current sensibilities. Of course, that will have to thought out as I go forward but it's the initial idea. The format I am thinking is something like a hybrid of a current story book and the old-style children's books of the past with tipped-in color plates, like old Arthur Rackham illustrated books. A combination of spot illustrations, full-pages and spreads, full-color and black and white.

At this point, I'm ignoring all the previous half-hearted attempts I've made in the past, (here and here) and I'm moving forward with a clean slate. I will be posting character design sketches, environment ideas, thumbnails and such. I may also post thumbnails of layout and text treatment.

So this marks the jumping off point for the project: Ichabod Crane.