cover work

i've been meaning to do this for the blog a while, but jsut never got around to it. this cover turned out to be something nice enough to go thru step by step of how i normally go at a cover.

anyway, so usually, the writer/producer/editor/dude who wants it done will come with the initial idea, or waht they want to convey. we go back and forth, look over characters, stories, scripts ( sometimes), and ..whatever. i doodle out some rough layouts-


this woudl actually be one of my more detailed sketches, sad, i know. i am fortunate enough to have worked with the same amazing editor at wildstorm for over 6 years now, so i can actually jsut do stick figures on napkins and he'd get the idea. when you're eye to eye like that, its awesome, and thats the kind of editor you hope to work for in comics. we decide on #2, and i start more refined sketches-

i start at about print size ( 7x10.5) on some bond paper, rough it out(i did the two figures on seperate sheets since she'll be transparent and i am too lazy to think aroudn it, thats why the paper is shaded odd in some spots) , go back and forth and see what they think, get the thumbs up and move on-

i scan in the art, blow it up to 11x17 and transfer it over to some bigger paper. at this point i still havent decide if i wanted to do the art watercolor or photoshop, or a hacked out mix of both. so i choose to go with the windsor newton 140lb hotpress watercolor paper to be safe. ( for me- this paper comes closest to the DC/Marvel art boards, but without warping wiht washes.)

*for those who care- DC offers 2 kinds of boards to us, smooth and rough. the rough has excellent tooth and is great for artist with a chunkier, heavier, rougher style. I prefer the smooth though, because i tend to press harder and make lots of mistakes and i need that security. Marvel paper is somehwere in between so its a pencilers dream i hear, but inkers love the DC smooth stuff i hear as well. anyway..

since the paper is thin enough and clear enough, i use a lightbox to transfer it over.

i get tired and i decide to go with the photoshop. i do a light wash for the jacket, i refernce some sherpa from my own jacket and scan the final into photoshop and do more cleanup work. the cordoroy is also a lined patterned layered on in photoshop btw. after a few hours of lots of lassoing, and paint bucketing, i get to a point i think might be okay to show to my editor.


later we find out that the girl is a blonde so away goes the red hair, gone goes my carefully positioned freckles. i do like the blonde version more and feel it balances out the characters more for soem reason... though i was content with the freckles. if i have more time, i might be able ot add more details to it.. i never know when its done. but for now, i have to get back to penciling interiors.

-dustin