Dragon Cover Art

I just received an assignment from Miles Kelly Publishing to paint a dragon for the cover of an upcoming book, 'Scary Monster Stories." The image will wrap around the entire cover and over the spine with a frame around the edges. The dragon's hand on the left will be resting against the frame (hence the strange placement).

I'm waiting for feedback from the art directors, so there may very well be changes made to address any concerns they may have. I'll will be posting more images as the process continues.

It isn't common practice for a client to allow project images to be posted before a book is published. However, the gang at Miles Kelly are a magnanimous lot and they've given me wholehearted permission to post images as the cover is developed.

Update on Thursday, September 15, 2011 at 2:21PM by Gerald Kelley

Like all good projects, there are changes to be made along the way.

Here's the second iteration of the dragon cover design.

Update on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 at 1:28PM by Gerald Kelley

It's been decided a more aggressive solution is in order. Waiting for feedback.

Update on Thursday, September 22, 2011 at 3:00PM by Gerald Kelley

Initial color pass and detail work.

Dragon scales are hard to draw...

Update on Monday, September 26, 2011 at 2:15PM by Gerald Kelley

OK! Here's the final color on the dragon cover!

Since they are wanting the dragon to look like it's busting through the cover, the client supplied the background cover image to make it easier to composite everything together. Given the heavy detail, I worked at 125% of final size, reduced it and then dropped it into the supplied background file.

I'm gonna get a glass of wine now.

Update on Monday, October 17, 2011 at 1:17PM by Gerald Kelley

A few minor tweaks and we have a final dragon painting! Check out the detail below.