the essence of a character

1 Thumbnail ideas

I want to develop a foreshortened composition that captures Jinx’s energy. My four ideas are: Jinx lying in a bath full of bullets; Jinx recoiling from a rocket blast; Jinx hanging from an air balloon; and Jinx riding a rocket into the sky. We decide that the final option best reflects her fun-loving nature, while also showing off her personal armoury.

2 Paint colour comps

Before rendering the chosen cover concept, I produce colour comps to find the best colour palette. I play with warm and cools, and saturation versus desaturation. My first comp is the one that’s chosen: a cool blue/green moonlit night sky, with warm under-lighting for contrast. Jinx’s skin tone is a cool lavender, with warm fill/rim light.

3 Lay down the line art

I used to be a comic book artist (I’ve drawn art for Street Fighter and Deadpool, among others), so I’m used to seeing form and structure in lines. As such, I often draw out my splash art using only line art. It helps later on in the painting process because you don’t have to worry about anatomy and perspective: these core elements are already in place.