Watercolor Illustrator for Heirloom Picture Book

I’m ready to bring my 34-page children’s story to life and need an illustrator who can paint it as though it were created in Old-World Montréal itself. The scenes unfold in 17th-century Montreal, wrapped in snow and lit by twilight blues and lavenders that are gently warmed by candle-glow spilling from windows. My young characters are quiet, reverent souls—round-faced, rosy-cheeked, and dressed in period-true, muted earth tones.

The entire narrative is threaded—literally—with a single golden strand that must gleam as the brightest element on every page. I want each spread to feel timeless, as if discovered in an heirloom trunk rather than on a modern screen.

Medium & technique
• Watercolor with fine pencil detail is essential; no digital shortcuts.
• Soft washes with visible texture should dominate: puddled edges, granulation, and all the happy watercolor accidents that give life to paper.

Scope of work and flow
1. Thumbnails for pacing (quick pencil, low-res scans).
2. Color roughs that lock in the palette of cool twilight blues, lavender shadows, and candlelight warms.
3. Finals: 34 high-resolution, hand-painted illustrations delivered as 300 dpi TIFFs (or layered PSDs if you prefer). Each piece will measure 11 × 17 inches with a 0.25-inch bleed.

Acceptance criteria
• Authentic sense of 17th-century Montreal architecture, clothing, and winter environment.
• Consistent portrayal of gentle, softly stylized children across all pages.
• Golden thread rendered with the highest value/contrast on each spread.
• Traditional watercolor look: no perfectly flat fills or vector-clean lines.

If creating cozy, reverent winter nights in glowing watercolors sounds like your dream assignment, I’d love to see a short sample or a link to similar work.