covers » The Captain And Lime

Ring of Intrigue: the concept sketch

Ring of Intrigue is the most complex book of the three, with two very separate, but merging, storylines going. The brothers each have the own individual “jobs,” all of which are tied together, but that would make way too complex a cover to even begin to approach. But theirs is not the only story in the arc. Dancer’s is equally important.

Besides, I had this character-sketch thing going and for the dance-loving me, there was only one real answer: I had to give Thyerri and Temorii their moment in the limelight. Read the rest of this entry »

PGLIBTL

I’ve got another version to toss at you. I think I’ve got the problems solved.

Or not. At the moment, I’m not sure I care. I’m for bed.

ROL: the cover

I’m dedicating this cover to sweet, wonderful, talented Kato-ji. More on that later.

I decided with this cover it was time to quit running scared of actually creating images on the computer and “paint” my boys. I was relieved (to say the least) that they came out as well as they did. (See previous posts.)

I also wanted to keep the designs for the series relatively simple, and concentrate on the characters. Read the rest of this entry »

ROL: Mikhyel

Is anybody there?

Just wondering. My hits are kinda falling off. These slide shows and the accompanying explanatory text are a bit time consuming, and if they’re boring people, I’d sure like to know. I wanted to give the bros their individual moments because the final portraits on the cover are so small. Plus, it lets me introduce them to those who haven’t met them yet. And the characters on Intrigue are even more fun in their evolution, so I’d like to share those … but only if you folks are interested.

Just let me know if you’d like me to continue the way I am or change direction: I exist to entertain!

Meanwhile, let’s give Khyel his moment. Mikhyel, the Lawyer. (Slideshow:) Read the rest of this entry »

ROL: Deymio

Slideshow:

Big Bro Deymio. Princeps of Rhomatum. Our…romantic lead in ROL. Earthy and down to earth. Nature-loving, athletic, and a dynamite horseman. A natural leader of men, when he can be persuaded to employ that talent. Read the rest of this entry »

ROL: Nikki

Back to covers and slideshows. Next up…Ring of Lightning.

Painting with the computer is increasingly fun…provided you remember which layer you’re working on. Right now, I spend an inordinate amount of time poking and prodding through layers, trying to remember which are visible and which aren’t (so I can get back the “current” image), searching for the teeny weeny line that’s bugging me. What you see on the slide show are just the layers that add to the final result.

I am not what you would call methodical in my approach. I tend to attack one thing, then another, so my layers can end up…shall we say mixed. But the following will give you an idea of how the image developed. Read the rest of this entry »

ARGH! The size dilemma continues

Thinking I was done, I blithely put together my composite of the three covers and…I didn’t love it. With the original version of the Harmonies cover, the three looked pretty good, but with the new, simplified Harmonies…I’m back to preferring the medium version. I still get that sense of Stevie’s feet escaping, because of the hard edge of the bubble/hole, but it looks much more in proportion with the other two. ACK!

Why did I know the Wesser wouldn’t leave quietly? Read the rest of this entry »

Another day, another slideshow

It’s so much fun having viewers who know more about these programs than I do! Thanks again, everyone, for the input. I think we’ve come up with a seriously cool alternative, that pretty much used everyone’s suggestions, in one form or another.

Who said too many cooks weren’t a good thing? As long as only one adds the spices… (slideshow:) Read the rest of this entry »

HotN cover: part two…

Harmonies is all about Stephen slowly being sucked into NSpace, both mentally and physically, with Wesley as his rather reluctant savior, so I thought a symbolic black hole would be appropriate. I started with the same computer/space background as the other two, but added some “warping” effects with the good old warp brush in PSP. This and its companion the warp mesh is my new best computer friend. You can just nudge pieces around in a given direction, or you can grab a section of the image and “twirl” it around a central point. It makes it easy to turn something static into something in motion. That’s what I did to the background, especially in the middle, where I wanted to create a pseudo “black hole” behind the boys’ image.

Turns out you don’t see much of it, but I know it’s there. (slideshow:) Read the rest of this entry »

HotN cover part one: The Wesser

This cover had the most actual “painting” involved of those I’d done thus far. (The Ring covers are all digital) The others, being primarily composites, I could have done without the wacom board, though it would have been much harder. This one…nuh-uh. Without the Wacom, it wouldn’t have happened. (slideshow:) Read the rest of this entry »

Ring of Intrigue: the concept sketch

PGLIBTL

ROL: the cover

ROL: Mikhyel

ROL: Deymio

ROL: Nikki

ARGH! The size dilemma continues

Another day, another slideshow

HotN cover: part two…

HotN cover part one: The Wesser

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