Monday, April 8, 2013

G is for... Great Caesar's Ghost!

Because I've actually done three sketches for today. I figure I need to get some stuff started if I'm going to get anything done... the month will be halfway over in a few days. So, here is what I have that I've... oh wait, I almost forgot...

It's the A To Z challenge this month. Click to learn about and visit all the others participating. My challenge for the month is to go from concept to completion of Andrew Leon's cover for his novel, Shadow Spinner.

Now, where was I? Oh yes, I was mentioning that I will be throwing up concepts all month if I don't get something I can commit to. So I've done a few concept type sketches - enough to at least get the idea down I wanted to.

The idea here is to put the central characters in a scene that gives on a feel for what the book is about.
This one is just supposed to be creepy and clearly give the viewer the title
And finally, the old 'my shadow is a giant spider' trick. One of my favorites.
A all that blank space to the left is for the back side of the book, so the focus of any of these images would be on the right half of the image... and of course, once we settle in on a concept, I can get to work making it actually look good.


13 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Middle one is simple but very effective!! I like it.

PT Dilloway said...

The third one is so awesomely creepy. Now I need to go make sure my hand's shadow isn't a spider.

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

In a story I wrote, I had a character whose fingers reminded the narrator of a spider's limbs. He even took to calling him spider (which had nothing to do with his real name).

Andrew Leon said...

I'm not seeing any of these as the cover, although the hand would be great as part of the cover. Maybe make the spider a bit more hand-like.

The first image could almost work except for the tree. The tree seems out of place to me.

The middle image might be something that could be used as a logo? I like it, but I don't like it as the cover.

Tina said...

It's neat to see how artists work. I've seen some of your finished covers and they're awesome! Can you tell us more about the book...or is that in A-F??

Tina @ Life is Good
Co-host, April 2013 A-Z Challenge Blog
@TinaLifeisGood, #atozchallenge

Unknown said...

Wow. Wow. Wow. Those are amazing. I really really really am terrified of spiders, but the hand/spider pic had a diabolical creepy effect. Perhaps I will have to utilize your talents one day. :)

A-Z Challenger from http://juliawritingjewelsking.blogspot.com/

Tronster said...

Great theme for the challenge. I will try to keep up.

Briane said...

I like them all. If I may disagree with the book's AUTHOR, because WHAT DOES HE KNOW ABOUT WHAT HE LIKES, I think the hand as a hand is great; if it looked more spidery the shadow wouldn't be as out-of-place/creepy.

The top one looked the most Young Adultish, and while I think Andrew INTENDS these to be YA, I don't think they should be marketed as YA. I'd market them more as "Harry Potter as written by Stephen King," and aim for grownups, too.

So maybe use two covers: that middle one gets the adults, while the top one for YA.

Anyway, you are a great artist. I wish I could draw like that. Or at all. But life has chosen a different path for me. One made of gumdrops. Hooray! Only they're those "spice drops" that you can only buy at Walgreens and they're not in the candy aisle. BOO!

S. L. Hennessy said...

I really, really love the hand with the spider shadow. That's awesome.

Andrew Leon said...

@Briane: No, I want the spider, while it's still attached, to be more hand-like. The only "become" spiders (all the way) once they've detached.

Sheena-kay Graham said...

You definitely achieved all your goals for the middle picture. Must fight the green eyed monster... Awesome job.

M Pax said...

That last sketch is really creepy... shudder. Very creative.

Love the title you did.

AJ Lauer said...

Without knowing anything about the book.. The spider one is my favorite so far. Though I also liked the one a few posts ago with the guy walking toward the cave. So fun to see what you're working on!

Happy 2nd week!

AJ Lauer
#atozchallenge helper minion
Twitter: @ayjaylauer