Tears of the Dragon

Hey everybody!  This TOTD hiatus has gone a little longer than anticipated unfortunately.  There has actually been quite a bit going on behind the scenes, but that hasn’t translated into updates for you guys. (Sorry!)

Koko is back hard at work on pages, and I’m planning on stockpiling a nice batch of pages before we go live again, to ensure consistent updates on schedule.  One thing I’ve asked him to do is to create a new cover image/pin-up for Tears.  Here’s some back and forth between Koko and I, taking you behind the scenes of the creation of the book.

My Initial Concept…

Hey, Koko, here is my idea for the cover:

What I’d like to see for this cover is to have a nice big shot of Princess Yordania at age 9 or so….still a little girl.  However, she’s wearing a soldier’s battle armor that’s way too big for her.  She’s got a very tough, fierce look on her face like “I’m the toughest little girl you’ve ever seen” and she is holding a sword that is way too big for her.  There might also be some knives or other weapons hanging from the armor she’s wearing.  A little girl that looks like she’s ready to go off to war…but it’s clear she’s wearing armor and clothes that’s way too big for her and she’s not ready.

She’s also looking right at the reader, in sort of a “I dare you to mess with me” kind of look.

If in the background, we could tie in some sort of image of a dragon, and leave enough room at the top for the Tears of the Dragon logo, that would definitely do the trick.

Anyway, this is my idea.  If you have any other ideas for images that you think would make for cool covers/promo images, I’m open to hearing your ideas.  I’d love to see some potential layouts/quick sketches before committing to doing one of them.

A few weeks later, here’s what Koko came up with…

A good start, but I had a few notes for him…

- I think we should get rid of the helmet on her, and show her long hair.  Otherwise, we can’t really tell that she’s a little girl.
- May won’t to soften her features just a bit…she looks angry and evil.  We don’t want her to look evil.  She should looks serious, but still cute.
- When drawn on the comic art board paper, make sure you leave enough dead/unimportant space at the top for the Tears of the Dragon LOGO.  It will be bad if the Dragon head gets cut off by the logo.
- I might try to exhaggerate the size of the armor she’s wearing even more.  Make it clear that belt is too big for her as well, and make those boots she’s wearing a little bigger too.

Koko came back the next day with a new approach to Yordania…

Much better.  I had a few more notes for him, based on this new approach…

Yeah, I like that better, especially around the face.

I think the Sword should be bigger, she’s just a little girl here, the Sword she’s holding should be too big for her, and she should be having trouble lifting it.

I think in the final drawing you should try to make sure to get her whole body in the image, including her feet.  I like how your have her knees bent to show that she’s weighed down by the heavy sword and armor…I might even bend them a little more, and spread the feet out a bit more.

Good progress!

Yesterday, Koko came back was this revamped sketch!

And the finished product…

This just gives you a little glimpse into the process of creating TOTD.  Obviously, you can see why I enjoy working with Koko.