New Prossia Cover Reveal: Cover Origins

As we near the reveal to Prossia's new cover, why don't we take a look down memory lane? I figured we could start with the image that inspired the original one. :)

So, here I was, months away from graduation, with a manuscript to this sci-fi novel I wanted to publish. I don't think the word, "busy" could describe the numerous undergoings I had back in '09. Still, it's a pretty common tale for most authors. When it comes to this line of work, if one isn't hunkered down with something, he/she probably isn't trying hard enough.

Up to this point, I hadn't told a single soul about my future writing goals after I graduated. I guess I didn't want to have people coming back to me and pointing out my failure if I didn't publish. Then I realized accountability might very well be the best thing for me. So, I decided to announce Prossia at my senior show. I mean hey, if you tell over a hundred people that you're going to have a book out within such and such, I don't think I'll have much  of a choice beyond following through!

The first draft of Prossia had been on my numerous backup files for a while by this point, so I had plenty of time to reminisce on the feelings and emotions I hoped this coming-of-age story. I wanted to present those feelings when I presented the upcoming book to my family, friends, classmates, and other guests at the show. I also found my tagline for the book, the very one you'll see at the header of the new cover: where were you when you had to grow up?

An eerie picture displaying what appears to be a young humanoid creature looking down at a sword, with that question being asked over her head, probably raised a lot of questions. What type of creature is that? Why does she look so sad? Did she just kill someone with that weapon? Is that how she grew up?

I called the title to this early illustration of Aly "A Soldier's Burden." When I finished it, I felt that the simplicity of the image bore a lot of weight. When I approached the subject matter again, I'd come back with some more confidence when it came to drawing on the computer, as this was the foundation to Prossia's first book cover.

Forbidden Future Cover

And here it is, the sci-fi anthology cover is finally done! A big thanks to Mark and his Masquerade Crew for letting me tackle this. Hope you all like! Be sure to check the Crew out. They have BIG plans for this exciting project of theirs.

Sci-fi Anthology Cover Pt 2

Happy Memorial Day! Things are starting to come together, bit by bit, for my client's anthology cover. Work on the city was a bit of a tuffy, but it was loads of fun to work on! Now it's time to work on the illustration depicting the past. It shouldn't take quite as long as the city scape since I've done numerous landscapes before. This thing is just about in the bag! Can't wait to show off the final product! ^_^

Sci-fi Anthology City 2

I'm putting some more attention on the shapes and silhouettes of the buildings in the pic, while trying to get an idea of how they may look with some atmospheric perspective. Ah. I toned down those overgrown round things overtaking the skyline too. Hee hee, like I told the client, I thought I had something going on with them, buuuuuuuuuut then I thought they were a bit much. But they're still in there. Promise! You just gotta look hard enough ;).

Sci-fi Anthology City 1

This will definitely be a work of progress! Doing a sci-fi cityscape has never been my cup of tea, but like I said, I'm always up for a challenge. ^_^ This illustration will be utilized in that sci-fi anthology book cover I'm working on. Hope you enjoy watching the work in progress!