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SHIMMER - A cover progression

  • Sep. 27th, 2007 at 10:54 AM

The cover for the John Joseph Adams guest-edited pirate issue of Shimmer Magazine, from concept sketch to finished art.

The initial sketch:



The pencil drawing:



The inked art (and my favorite part of the process):





The color guide (art directed by me, and then colored by my brother Jeremy):



And then from there, the final color art - managed without Jeremy and I pulling our hair out, or stabbing anyone (and which is actually brighter than this copy of the image):


Comments

( 30 comments — Leave a comment )
quennessa
Sep. 27th, 2007 06:07 pm (UTC)
oooOOOOOOoooooo!

Shiny!

Lovely. Just lovely.
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coppervale
Sep. 27th, 2007 06:15 pm (UTC)
Thanks! (And thank you for the book! VERY nice photography...)
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quennessa
Sep. 27th, 2007 06:19 pm (UTC)
Oh good, it got there! Yay! You're most welcome on both counts. It was the least I could do after all the support you've given me. :)
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kadymae
Sep. 27th, 2007 06:13 pm (UTC)
Wow -- it's beautiful!
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coppervale
Sep. 27th, 2007 06:16 pm (UTC)
It worked out pretty okay, I think, yeah.

;)
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maryrobinette
Sep. 27th, 2007 06:16 pm (UTC)
::swoons::
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coppervale
Sep. 27th, 2007 06:16 pm (UTC)
Good enough?
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maryrobinette
Sep. 27th, 2007 06:18 pm (UTC)
Arrr! That be a fine cover, me hearty.
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coppervale
Sep. 27th, 2007 06:19 pm (UTC)
Excellent.
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j_cheney
Sep. 27th, 2007 06:29 pm (UTC)
Very nice!
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coppervale
Sep. 27th, 2007 06:35 pm (UTC)
Thank you!
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jenniferrodgers
Sep. 27th, 2007 06:30 pm (UTC)
Lovely! Thanks for posting!

Coloring makes you want to stab someone? I love coloring, but I can kind of relate... :)
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coppervale
Sep. 27th, 2007 06:35 pm (UTC)
LOL - no. Discovering in the last week that the calibration of our two primary machines was wonky.

So coloring, good; calibration, stabbystabbystabby
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dangoldman
Sep. 27th, 2007 06:50 pm (UTC)
Love this process stuff; your scribble-to-color is a wild road (god, those inks!!).
I want to post some of my SHOOTING WAR chicken scratch once the book is out; it's ridiculous how you see the whole thing fully-formed in a handful of scribbles, isn't it?
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coppervale
Sep. 27th, 2007 07:01 pm (UTC)
Yeah. This one was definitely fun to ink.

A couple of the interior illos gave me a facial tic, though. Grass. Kids. Bubbles. Demon Lobsters...

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dangoldman
Sep. 27th, 2007 07:03 pm (UTC)
all delicious with melted butter.
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purdypiedad
Sep. 27th, 2007 06:50 pm (UTC)
Thanks so much for sharing! I loved looking at the sequence, and dang... the final is really beautiful.
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coppervale
Sep. 27th, 2007 07:02 pm (UTC)
You're welcome!
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lisamantchev
Sep. 27th, 2007 07:26 pm (UTC)
Made o' all things shiny.
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coppervale
Sep. 27th, 2007 07:36 pm (UTC)
And beignets.
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lisamantchev
Sep. 27th, 2007 07:38 pm (UTC)
Well, no. We don't wants no salt-waterlogged beignets!
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adeluca
Sep. 27th, 2007 07:38 pm (UTC)
Breathtaking. I'm getting two!
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coppervale
Sep. 27th, 2007 07:42 pm (UTC)
*Points at Alex*

*Waves to Mary and John*

:D
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scribblerworks
Sep. 27th, 2007 08:29 pm (UTC)
The coloring looks like it was tricksey business! Nicely done for the underwater look.

Hmmm. I don't think I've ever considered coloring any of my inked work. That always seems to be just black & white in my head, when I'm planning a drawing. If I want to work in color, I tend to turn to the unapologetic brightness of acrylics. How much do you think ahead in planning for the coloring on something like this?

I likesy! :D
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coppervale
Sep. 27th, 2007 08:50 pm (UTC)
From the start. I've got to have SOME idea, or else I flail around a lot later.
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scribblerworks
Sep. 27th, 2007 09:19 pm (UTC)
Heh. After I'd thought about my post for a few minutes, I had that "Duh!" reaction. Tsk. I have obviously not been thinking in "artist mode" for a little too long! Too much verbal, not enough visual.

Although there have been a few pieces along the way that eluded me. Probably because they were merely vague conceptions. Which is, of course, not the way to get anything done.

By way of compliment then, I can't see you doing "vague" much at all. Ever.

(Proofreading! I must learn better proofreading! ;) )
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(Anonymous)
Sep. 28th, 2007 12:57 am (UTC)
It's really lovely!

The progression is interesting, too - I don't often get a peek at how a piece comes together like that. Neat stuff.

-beth (from Shimmer)
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coppervale
Oct. 1st, 2007 12:46 am (UTC)
Glad you like it, Beth!
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grant_stone
Sep. 28th, 2007 08:14 am (UTC)
That is absolutely beautiful! And it's really interesting to see the picture evolve over the different sketches.
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coppervale
Oct. 1st, 2007 12:47 am (UTC)
That's the fun part (for me).

And what I love about watching other artists.
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( 30 comments — Leave a comment )