Just sharing one of our recent projects – the coveart for Leo Champion‘s upcoming novel ‘Desert Strike’ which is due for release in a month or so via Henchman Press. We will share the links once the novel is published so watch this space!
We haven’t read the novel but the blurb sounds awesome, we cannot wait to get our hands on a copy so we can enjoy the story and imagine the machines we drew flying over the desert for real!
Not having had many chances to illustrate for science fiction novels, when we got this job, we were absolutely stoked! It took us a little over a month to plan and draw, and we enjoyed every moment of it. Leo gave us detailed descriptions of the elements for the cover which helped a lot in determining how we wanted to present it. The most difficult part was deciding the best perspective for the scene. We tried several ways and found the jets coming into the camera with the explosion in the background to be the best and most dramatic way.
Isaia’s awesome on machines. The design of the two main jets didn’t take long to execute, although the giant carrier below them was a bit of a challenge to design. We did find the best look eventually and illustrating it digitally and the flying pieces from it was the most fun part of the project.
Here’s the process for those who are interested!
1. Isaia drew the first jet. As requested, it was based on F-22 aircraft models. |
2. Then he did the second jet from a slightly more upward angle. |
3. We put the two jets in position. |
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4. I drew the desert. |
5. Adding details. |
6. And more details on the ground. |
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7. Meanwhile Isaia drew the giant carrier below the ship. Notice the machine at the back, he didn’t save the wips, but the details were uncanny! We used the same process to draw the blown away pieces that came with the explosion later. |
8. Testing the elements together in the scene. Looking good! |
9. Then we both drew these little pieces that would fly about the explosion. This was how Isaia did the machine at the back of the carrier too, starting with random patterns then putting them together like Lego. So much fun! |
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10. I added the explosions. I didn’t actually draw all the fire, it was a combination of Hitfilm fire effect and my own brush strokes. |
11. Putting all together. Yay, almost there! |
12. Adding a bit of sunlight and voila! The cover is ready. |
We are still drawing the back cover now, once it’s done we will share with you all.
Hope you enjoyed reading the process. Thanks for watching, all! Have a great day.