Sunday 10 February 2013

Making books 11: cover mockup


I really love linework, and was a bit at odds with what to do with this cover as i'd originally wanted a landscape book rather than portrait, but portrait is a little more affordable than landscape in the end.
[But landscape has more scope for arty looking pieces. A4 portrait is a butt ache.]

I didn't really have an original idea for what I wanted at all, but doing an original character with no basis in my comics is hard as I feel I can't give them enough of a living feeling.
when I first came up with the concept of the collected sketchbook- I'd wanted to include colour pages, which with the printer I'd chosen ended up being not possible. This situation evolved to the current point where the printer I've chosen CAN do colour, but I've decided I'd work in making a specialized colour artwork book at a later date, and as a sister book to the one I'm currently making. It also meant I could do two versions of covers- one whose theme was linework like the contents, and one which was in full colour.

So this is the linework version.

I'd gone through a few themes in my head for this, running through lists of things I'd really love to draw. I always have problems putting backgrounds. I can draw them, with a bit of a prod generally, but I hate putting them in because I don't feel I get the right amount of starkness or impact I want. I'll need to work on that and practice just drawing in backgrounds until I work out the right balance. >_<

In this case, I decided I'd draw in a reef to go crazy with sea creatures and stuff. And then I ended up choosing humbug fish for their lovely rotund black and white shapes.

... and then i hit a point when i was happy with it even though I hadn't drawn what I'd intended... Which makes my skin crawllll with failed intent. I shouldn't really as I still got what I wanted [A cover] but i think i'll end up rolling my sleeves up later this year and having a bash at the failed intended drawing.

still, I like the resulting pic. [I didn't get an isbn in the end because I hate the barcode regs and stuff you need to put on the covers. Making a book that is technically a not-book offically means I can do whatever I like on the covers :p [Including not putting the title on it. ]

There are good points to getting officially published [circulation] and there are good points to messing about making your own books. :)


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