Return to the Dim Knight

I keep my promises. We ARE back to our regularly scheduled art series today.

Since we took a little break, let me list the recap here of my previous posts:

Post #1: The Other Side of Me

Post #2: The Beginnings of Kat the Artist

Post #3: The In-Between

Post #4: Back to the Drawing Board

Post #5: An Inordinate Fondness for Beetles

Post #6: From Cover to Cover

And, that brings us back here. The second cover drawing for Tales of the Dim Knight by Adam and Andrea Graham.

Remember, we put together the drawing of Dave the mild-mannered janitor as he fought a battalion of mops, but it wasn't quite right for the cover. The authors, Adam and Andrea, really wanted to see Dave on the cover in full superhero garb--his "Powerhouse" costume, which they described in the book as a cross between Buzz Lightyear...

...and a Power Ranger.

Which meant me putting on my designer hat. I have never really designed a superhero suit! Maybe as a kid, but it was probably something Wonder Woman would have worn, and, um, I doubt Dave would have been too keen on that ;).

So, I began sketching:

Really rough. Body's out of proportion. Hair is bi-ig. No one is too happy with the fact that his helmet is off. I explain, however, that I can't figure out another way to make him comical. I tried. None of THOSE sketches went anywhere but the trashcan, though. The issue was that with his helmet on, I felt focused on the costume, which meant trying to make it look "cool." His suit isn't supposed to be stupid looking, but this IS a SPOOF. Everyone sees my line of reasoning, so they let me continue in this direction.

*NOTE*

Here's an important point. Publishers don't slap cover images on at the last minute. It takes TIME. If you are a first-time writer, you have probably looked at the Writer's Market (that ginormous book that lists publishers and agents and all the known information about them) and seen that the publishers section lists the time it takes from acceptance to publication for many of them. You may have thought, "It takes THAT long???" Well, yeah. Editing, cover design, layout, tweaking. Publishing a book takes a lot of work.

It is VASTLY important to lay out enough time for these things. Grace came to me for this artwork while there was TIME to get it done, so we had wiggle room. I got to play with my ideas, while Grace, Adam and Andrea thought about what I was doing, came up with suggestions, and we worked together. Remember, though, this is SMALL PRESS. Big presses work very differently--in a big press the author may never even see the cover until it's on the final product. Or they might--but no guarantees.

*END NOTE*

So, I tweak the design--stretching the legs to the right length, taming the hair, designing a cool helmet (Andrea did call my helmet "awesome!").

Much cleaner, eh? This seems to be going the right direction for everyone now, and Grace does a mock-up cover that ends up being used the the sample chapters (which were available before the official book release).

But we were in for a surprise. Remember, there was still time before the release, and while this was fine for the sample book, and everyone was happy with my drawings, we ended up with the opportunity to utilize the artistic talents of someone else....someone with painting skills that added a new dimension to this cover.

Way different! But really, what this book needed. Rest assured, my drawings were used. As interior art--black and white, line drawings. And, of course, as a guide for the new cover artist in designing her version of Powerhouse's costume.

I'll give the full skinny on where the new cover image came from next time. It was a wonderful surprise--and in case you're worrying, no, I was not upset at being bumped from the cover. Teamwork is important, and I truly love the new cover art. My drawings work better, IMHO, as interior illustration anyway.

So, be prepared next time to meet the lovely and talented Holly Heisey....

From Cover to Cover

This is going to be a nuts and bolts post for those of you interested in the process of getting a book cover together. Actually, it's going to span several posts. Hopefully, I can keep your interest through all of them.

Here goes.

A few weeks after doing the key drawing for the cover of The Duke's Handmaid, I received an email from Grace at Splashdown Books asking if I would be interested in another illustration project.

I said: "What ya need?"

The answer: "A superhero."

Not just any superhero, though. Powerhouse is the character in a superhero spoof, Tales of the Dim Knight by Adam and Andrea Graham. Grace sent me some excerpts from their book so I could get an idea of the description of the character, both in and out of costume.

I've never done animation work. I said I'd give it a shot, though, and started researching. I looked up images online, and checked out books from the library--Marvel Comics books and Manga drawing books.

At first I asked only a few questions and began sketching. I chose to start with a scene that occurs before the main character becomes Powerhouse. He's got powers at this point, but doesn't know anything about them. He's forced to find out quick, though, when he's attacked by a battalion of mops.

Oh, yeah, the main character, Dave, is a mild mannered janitor, of course. Superhero fan-boy, too. Who else would be chosen to save the world? ;)

My first sketches were rough, just to get the ideas flowing:

OK, he's facing the wrong way for being placed on the front cover, but Grace likes the overall layout. So I flip it, and add some detail.

That one is actually my favorite. I like that it's cleaned up, but the face is unfinished. We can't use it that way, though. He needs eyes and a mouth ;). The thing with doing this kind of artwork is that it's NOT for the artist, it's for the publisher and the authors. So I add features, which makes it more cartoonish and adds the right comical element.

We do a test version with color. Or rather, GRACE does the color. I don't have the software for that at the moment. I need to get it. Can't call myself a self-respecting artist without it. But good software is expensive, folks, and to be honest, Grace is the one who wants to set the colors anyway :). She rocks.

We all love the end result, but decide it's not quite right for the cover. Maybe the back, but not the main art on the front. And his hair's the wrong color. Oops ;). Easily fixed, but instead of moving forward with this one much more, we shift our focus to the idea of having Powerhouse on the front in full superhero garb.

And that, folks, will be the next post....