How The Book Was Conceived


Mark Penta was basking on Falmouth Heights Beach one hot summer day in 2005. He had just seen Close Encounters on TV the night before, and as he watched the Island Queen ferry leave Falmouth Harbor with a boatload of tourists, he had a weird thought: What if a flying saucer came out of nowhere and followed that boat?

Penta went for a swim, and when he returned to his beach chair, his weird thoughts continued: What if those UFO's suddenly appeared all over Cape Cod? A full-on invasion! He imagined them flying over the Cape's most familar landmarks, like Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown, and the Days Cottages in Truro; places where people could say "I was there!"

Luckily, Mark had his sketchbook handy. He scribbled his ideas
and even wrote the words, Cape Invasion!:





Feeling excited, Mark ran home, grabbed his camera, and spent the rest of the summer driving all over Cape Cod, shooting photo reference in every town, including Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

The Theme of the Book
Mark quickly realized that the UFO's were a metaphor for tourists who "invade" the normally quiet Cape towns every summer. He didn't have a particular story in mind, he just wanted to see flying saucers hovering over the beautiful beaches and salt-shingled cottages, visiting every village, just like tourists. Mark envisioned a picture book with captions describing the activities of both tourists and "alien visitors".



How It Was 'Crafted'
When he wasn't traveling the Cape, Mark set to work illustrating. He used watercolors and colored pencils on acid-free Crescent matt board.

Using Photoshop, Mark manipulated the reference photos; composing scenes, altering colors, or cropping a seagull or person from one photo and pasting them in another. Photoshop was a very handy tool, helping Mark to "finalize" his vision for each painting. He'd print out each Photoshop image, then transfer it to his board using pencils and tracing paper.

Next, he layered watercolor washes, creating a foundation of color. When the paint dried, he picked up his Prismacolor Pencils and drew very slowly, applying more and more detail. He used acrylic for highlights, and india ink for black areas.

When an illustration was finished, Mark launched it on his website so that his art buddies, The Red Olives, could see it. They emailed him praise and encouragement, which Mark appreciated very much, since he worked alone on the project for many hours each day!

How Long Did It Take?
It took seven months to complete the art. Even though the illustrations were small (8"x10"), each picture took two weeks to make. Mark woke up every day, ate breakfast, took a walk, made coffee, and sat down to work; sometimes for 3 hours a day, but often for 6, and sometimes 10 hours. He didn't have a publisher yet so he wasn't getting paid; it was a labor of love. But he knew in his heart that if the artwork came out good enough, someone would want to publish it.

One day, Mark had a stack of 21 finished illustrations--a scene from every town on the Cape, plus a few 'spots'.

It was time to show 'Cape Invasion!' to a publisher!

Getting It Published
Commonwealth Editions was Mark's first choice, since they specialize in books about New England. They loved the artwork. The publisher, Webster Bull, helped Mark create captions to complete his idea and felt that a better, more specific title was Cape Cod Invasion!. Penta agreed.

Sacrifices had to be made. There simply wasn't enough room in a 32 page book for every Cape Cod town! Reluctantly, Penta removed Mashpee and Yarmouth because his other paintings captured a more quintessential Cape Cod look. In October of 2006, the book contract was signed, but there was still
more work to do!

Mark scanned all the art, creating high resolution digital images. Using Photoshop again, he touched-up the illustrations, re-painting a sky in one scene, adjusting colors in another. These digital files were sent to the book's designer, John Barnett of 4 Eyes Design. John designed the postcard-style cover and the book's interior, which include a map of Cape Cod next to each illustration. Penta was thrilled--his vision was truly coming to life with the help of these talented individuals! He and Webster Bull continued tweaking the captions until February of 2007, when the final design was sent to Korea for printing.

In April, an advance edition of Cape Cod Invasion! arrived in Mark Penta's mailbox. His dream of publishing a picture book came true!