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on BOOK 1
Nuts and Bolts, Process, Order of Operations. I LOVE getting under the hood of an illustration to see the thought that goes into a finished piece. One of my favorite parts of a graphic novel (when included) is the “sketchbook” section. That said, I thought it might be fun to discuss my covers for The Monkey King’s Daughter.
I often work in Colerase blue pencil for initial thumbnails. Blue pencil is extremely forgiving – one can scribble and scratch freely in one space until the image appears. You get a few shots before things become an indecipherable blue mess requiring a new sheet of paper.
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The piece is then tightened up in pencil and scanned into the computer or, as in this case, penciled entirely in Photoshop on a Wacom Cintiq.
I'll often send the sketch to a trusted friend or two for critique. I'm lucky to have a network of honest peers who are passionate about picture making and always available to lend a fresh eye. Jason Cheeseman-Meyer offered some great ideas. Laurie Joy Haas had terrific finishing suggestions as well. Of course, after showing said finished cover to another trusted friend and true master of several martial arts, I was shown proper "monkey staff technique" in addition to a great source of research for subsequent covers (thanks, B).
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The final painting was done in Photoshop on one layer (as if painting on canvas) using one altered chalk brush and a whole bunch of hour. Happy accidents and alterations often occur right up to the final stroke and here we have no exception.
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The protagonist Meilin is inspired by a real life My-Linh, the daughter of author Todd DeBonis.
on BOOK 2
We had a great time working on the initial concept and were very pleased with the return of our star model - the fabulous real-life My-Linh! Special thanks once again to our trusted friend and master of much, B - the guy who actually knows what he's doing with all the weapons and moves.
The final piece was executed in Photoshop on a Mac and Wacom Cintq much like the first - here are the results from concept to finish . . . thumbnails (our initial thoughts and rough sketches), pencils with tone and the finished cover.
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The Monkey King's Daughter® is a registered trademark. ©2009 T.A.DeBonis Cover Illustrations © John Forcucci
John Forcucci on the Art of the Covers
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