Kav's Tips for Comic Artists - Evolution of a Cover - Part 1
by A. "Kav" Kaviraj
Comic book artist, A. Kaviraj, continues his op/ed series of providing useful tutorials for comic book artists.
Okay, here's an evolution of a cover-Rapid City #1. The writer, Josh Dahl, was very finicky about this cover, and I ended up doing 26 different versions. I don't know if any other artist has ever done that many. Email me. Anyway, I am not going to bore you with all 26 but I will hit the highlights.
The first cover was based on a scene from Hamlet. Josh wanted an introspective Kinetic in a dark room.
Josh wanted the figure bigger so I drew the next one.
Josh didn't like that one-he wanted the figures to the left so there would be room for the logo.
Still not big enough. So i did another.
I did various versions of this cover, changing the poses of the characters, moving them around, adding a clock...on and on. Months later Josh said he didn't like the final cover and wanted more changes! I said Josh, instead of doing hundreds of revisions how about we start from scratch. Josh agreed and came up with another idea-Kinetic jumping from rooftops. So I came up with (See below).
Josh didn't like it. He said the pose looked like he was running and the energy bursts around his feet made him look like a speedster. So at this point I said Josh-I'll do two more covers then I will admit defeat and you'll have to find another artist. He agreed this was fair.
So I finally hit the jackpot! He liked the final cover and I had to agree it was all worth the trouble.
So don't get discouraged if your writer or publisher asks for revisions! What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!
A Kaviraj
http://www.championcitycomics.com/
For more of Kav's Tips at Comic Related: http://www.comicrelated.com/forums/index.php?showforum=602
A. KAVIRAJ: Kav is an artist, teacher, and biologist who lives in Sacramento, California. He is the artist forThe End of Paradise, Rapid City, and Dr Death vs The Zombie. He is the writer and artist for Dr. Death vs. The Vampire. E-mail: ddkaviraj@aol.com
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