Up front

I decided to create a frontispiece for the book. Although, traditionally it's used on the title page this will sit on the dedication page. It's more meaningful to me there. So to hell with convention!

 

I was glad to find a use for the drawing that I had developed as a very early cover concept, which was actually an idea for my 30^th Birthday invitation! (Oh, how these things get re-appropriated) Once I realised that Sem should be part of the drawing all of the pieces really clicked into place.

The drawing was conceived as Gemmy sitting on a window sill reading. And I thought the Mucha inspiration was fitting for the frontispiece which, classically, is very decorative and florid. I just thought it would be cool to set Sem and Gemmy in a kind of yin and yang formation. I think it adds to the dreamy aspect of the illustration. But, by placing Sem upside down it gives her an ethereal quality, almost as if she is watching over Gemmy while she hangs out in the sky reading. I didn’t plan it that way, but it’s particularly poignant for me given the dedication.

This will also be the only official colour plate in the book (for users with KindleFire). 

Enjoy!
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Final chapter header design

Formatting for the kindle is a pain. But, now that I've gotten the hang of it I'm steaming ahead with adding in finishing touches like graphic chapter headers to get the glyphs in. It's a lot of repetitive work but so far totally worth it!

  

So far so good. The headers are in and the formatting has held so I can forge ahead with the rest of setting the images. I'm thinking of giving all the character drawing a classy border that will compliment the style of the headers.

What do  you think?

Enjoy!
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Bully for you!

One of Bansho Island Prep's number one sparrein players and endless tormentor of Gemmy, Schugh Penbeck.

  

We first meet Penbeck - The Chug - when Gemmy and Sem get to school.

"Sem looked about wildly to find their assailant. As expected, she spied Schugh Penbeck huddled in a gaggle of boys guffawing under one of the large pery trees. He was facing away from her and Gemmy, but she knew it was him from his hulking shoulders, pointy ears and close cropped hair. That and he was the only one who persisted in calling Gemmy ‘mop-top’ and had a predilection for hurling apples instead of oranges."

He's not the bonniest but doesn't have to be as he's the school's premier defender on the Sparrein field. Secretly he has a massive crush on his teammate, Sem, and is constantly seeking her company to discuss 'tactics'. Needless to say, she's not really interested.

This is another character where I asked my mates for suggestions. I didn't find any I liked and actually ended up creating a mish-mash of two of my friends' names to create something intimidatingly off-putting  (Sorry guys!). But rest assured, I did no borrow any of his features from them.

Enjoy!
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Baddies: Wurmstab and Grubskirm

Well, not really bad guys. But the two characters you'll love to hate. I won't go into too much detail but the first is Ixtilton Wurmstab, the director of Morgengarde research facility. There's a sinister edge behind the dashing looks.

  

This next guy I've already blogged about. This is Gemmy's scientics teacher, Mr Grubskirm. He's a real nasty piece of work who enjoys making Gemmy's life a living hell at school.

  

Enjoy!
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Rock 'em sock 'em robots

Half the fun of drawing the sentinels was getting to draw sketches of cool weapons and figure out how their mechanical skeletons could potentially work. I remember spending hours when I was younger filling sketchbooks full of cool gadget ideas. I desperately wanted to be an engineer (then I realised I hated maths).

All I have to say is: Retractable arm canon. Rotating arsenal of three different weapons - Plasma bolts, stun cable and incapacitating foam. (I realise they probably wouldn't need a laser sight as their robots and could probably target better than a human).

The sentinels are described in the book as:

"The sentinels were eerie looking bots. Each the height of Maester Arms and equally broad. Their onyxian frames were humanec but entirely devoid of features; just sleek metal bodies with eyeless orbs atop their shoulders. Their only defining feature was a golden symbol at the centre of their chest. Gemmy recognised it instantly as the ‘all knowing eye’ of Black Star Labs."

Anywho, here's how the sentinels measure up against humans:

Enjoy!
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Mamma Mia

Have done a final drawing of Nereth. She looks like the kind of ma who'd bake you cookies, but might also tell you off for getting crumbs on her floor. This is as she appears when we first meet her, first thing in the morning in her pink fuzzy robe rushing Gemmy off to school. Next to her husband, Gravander, you'd have to wonder what the attraction (on her part) is.

I know I'm done when I want to colour an image in to see what they'd really look like. :)

Little features that were happy accidents:

• Her ears are not shaped the same - there's something beautiful about irregularity. We're all asymmetrical.
• She's a lefty - her ponytail is pulled slightly to the left so it's clear her left hand is dominant.

This is why I like being able to draw as well as write. You come up with little details that may or may not play a part in the text later on. But, ultimately, the more depth you have in your mind of a character the greater the depth you put on the page.

Enjoy!
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Gemmy's Ma - saeFraefaelun Nereth Oariadne 

Nereth - in living colour

Introducing Semjanine Grimm

So, I've decided that all the final drawings will be portrait style. I want there to be consistency when flipping through the book.

I've done a new drawing of Sem. I really like this one. She's a rough and tumble girl. She's supposed to be as able as any man on a playing field so she's not meant to be dainty looking, and that's what I like most about her.

Sem - pencil on paper

Sem - digital render

Enjoy!
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Saturday setting

What did you do with your Saturday?

I spent mine typesetting. I've been working on the glyphs and chapter headings so I thought the best way to see how they looked was to actually set a page.

I know in a modern printed book they would never use a ragged edged. But, I find doing all the kerning and line space adjustment to fit it all together like a puzzle to be relaxing.

I'm not convinced of using the streaky ink look. But, I think the motif works quite well for a start. I used 'Bodoni' to set the text.

Here are the other glyphs.

What do you think?

Enjoy!
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unCOVERED

First thing I had to do was work out the font for the titles - a series needs a style. I wanted a bold glyphic font as the various glyphs from the world feature in the book (and the 'O' in 'Project' is the glyph for the project). The font I found, AmazDooM, is quite strong and imposing which conveys the ominous nature of the project. I added a touch of perspective to give it the epic feeling.

I rendered a direct translation of my first concept.

 

I didn't feel like the star was totally necessary and the drama as the background was being lost so I tried the cover without the star.

I wasn't enthralled by this concept once I did some full colour mock-ups though. It's nice and works really well as a poster but not really as a book cover. It's a bit muddy and is missing an aspect of the dramatic - much sharper, high simple colour contrast that you can spot amongst a sea of other brightly coloured books. I did some more sketches but kept coming back to my original concept of just the star and a lightning bolt. But, I realised what I was missing from it was colour. 

So, I applied the concept of the reversed-out star combined with my original concept and came up with something that I really like. 

I'm not 100% sold but I feel this is closer to something that would stand out on a shelf compared to the others. It's more 'comic booky' than I'd prefer, but I suppose, it's what I'd be attracted to if I saw it on a Waterstone's shelf.

What do you think?

Enjoy!
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