New Murder Mystery Cover Sketches

Revised rough sketch as approved

I'm working on a new murder mystery book cover and thought I would give a sneak peek at the cover sketch process.

You may remember the cover art a year or so ago for "Murder on the Bucket List". This was the first book in what was hoped to be a series of mysteries involving a group of seasoned older ladies. Well, the book apparently did well enough to merit a sequel and so I get to do this cover as well.

Rough sketch options

This one called Murder Under the Covered Bridge. The opening scenes involve a period photo shoot and the protagonists discovering a body on the banks of a river spanned by a classic New England covered bridge. I came up with four possible solutions from which the client selected one. I did a revision of the idea to better accommodate the type treatment and it was approved. I'll be working up the final drawing and art next and will post the final art when it is finished up.

Summerbelle Crate Sketch

I'm working on a new project with John Ball at BDG. This one will be for a fruit crate. It's always fun to work with John. This one went pretty smoothly. I rented a costume and took pictures of a few options. I created once version with a hat and one with the umbrella, which we eventually went with.

I think either would have worked, which is a testament to how well the photo shoot went. It also goes to show how much easier things progress when you have great reference material.

In the past, I have shortchanged the reference gathering process and almost without fail, there is some aspect of the final rendering that does not go as well as planned. Some of these obstacles can be overcome easily by drawing upon years of experience or other creative means. Other times I am forced to go back to the drawing board and either find better reference or shoot new reference to solve the problem. This one is going well so far. I will post the final art as soon as I finish.

Was It The Chicken Or The Egg?

Who knows? But for on my current project, I get to paint both. Here are a few more of the sketches for the project to go along with those I posted previously.

I now wait and hope that there are no changes. I can't really afford that on the budget they offered and I accepted. One thing I have learned through years of illustration, is that it never pays to cut corners.

Once I accept a project, I do my best regardless and I don't short change my client. I can't second guess or grumble about the pay, or the demands from the art director or client. I said yes. In these cases I try hard to be efficient, do good work and finish as quickly as possible. Sometimes that leads to a more well thought out and energetic effort and better results. We will see if this is the case here. I am still waiting for sketch approval.

Geronimo Rough Sketch

This is the approved concept sketch for a project I am doing for Boys' Life Magazine. The story follows a boy in New Mexico whose best friend belongs to Geronimo's Apache tribe at the time when they were being forced onto the reservation. This scene depicts that final fireside chat before Geronimo surrenders and a separate small band of Indians escapes into the Mexico territory.

I want to create a dramatic lighting scenario as well as an interesting color palette. Frederic Remington did a whole series of these type of night paintings that I love and I hope to capture some of that same drama in this one. I am especially interested in the capturing the balance of the interesting cool greenish grays from the moonlight against the warm oranges that the firelight throws off. We'll see what happens, but I like where it's going so far. Just took photo reference, so now on to final drawings.

Get - Frederic Remington: The Color of Night

Boys' Life Cover Concepts

Cover sketch/concept #1

I'm going through the concept and sketching phase for a Boys' Life magazine cover project I am working on. I usually have to do a couple of rounds if ideas to get things approved and here is how things have gone so far.The story is historical fiction about an orphaned young man, Matt, arriving to spend Christmas with an aunt and uncle in the Sierra Nevada area who have agreed to take him in. They are all caught in a blizzard and the boy has to rescue both of them when the uncle breaks an ankle out in the barnyard and the aunt gets caught in the storm as well. At this stage, I am drawing nearly everything out of my head. I will concern myself with all the details when a concept gets approved. I did look at some horses and cabins to get a better idea of where to start, but the figures and poses are drawn from my imagination. Concept #1 shows young Matt just arriving at the farm. Since this is for the December issue, I thought the lantern added a nice Holiday glow.

Cover sketch/concept #2

Editors wanted to show a little more of the action of the rescue, so I did another version with the Matt struggling to get his uncle into he cabin. This version, although very dramatic, seemed too graphic as the figure of the uncle was a bit lifeless.

Cover sketch/concept #3

I did another version, this time showing the rescue of the Matt's aunt. I usually prefer to show faces in my compositions since it seems to engage viewers easier, but this one seems to work. Editors decided maybe it showed too much of the story's conflict resolution, so I went back to the drawing board.

Cover concept/sketch #4

In this version, I show Matt as he struggles to pull the sled holding his uncle across the farmyard to the cabin. It seems like this composition is closer to what the editors were hoping for, so I think this one may end up being selected. I will have to make some compositional adjustments to allow for things like the bar code/address box in the lower left corner, but I am looking forward to painting this one. If not, I'll just figure out the next possible solution. That's just how it goes sometimes.

Opening spread sketch can be seen here

Christmas Gifts Rough Sketch

concept sketch- Pencil/digital 5.5" x 3.5"

I'm starting on another project for Boys' Life Magazine. This one is a feature fiction story about a young man arriving for Christmas at the home of his Aunt and Uncle in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Rather than being greeted with open arms, he finds neither of them in the cabin and must search the surrounding homestead in a blinding snowstorm to rescue them both. This is for the December issue and I am enjoying the rather extended lead time that I have been given. This should be a fun one- hopefully my concept will be approved and I can proceed with this sketch. If so, the next  step will be gathering effective costume and props and then shooting photos for reference.

Evolution Of A Picture- Part 2

Yesterday I posted page one of my process tutorial. Step two for me is to do research on my subject. At times I have to do this simultaneously with the thumbnails, especially if I am not convinced i know what my subject looks like enough to draw from my imagination. The rough sketch on the bottom is a combination of elements from the research photos and my imagination. Tomorrow I'll post how my photo shoot factors into making my final drawing. Click image to see it larger and read text.

Evolution of a Picture part 1
Evolution of a Picture part 2
Evolution of a Picture part 3
Evolution of a Picture Part 4