Version 7

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And here is the processed, publishable image. Any size, folks. Any size.

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Okay, all, this is the finished design. The final product will be smoother, simpler, more graphic. And it's going to have to come tomorrow. I need to eat, shower, edit, and apologize to the missus.

Life provides little relief from itself, no?

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There we go. Give these a bit of an outline, set them in the proper color, and we're ready to start work in Illustrator. But first, some fucking food.

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And now to trace it, scan it, place it in the file for the cover, and then render it in Illustrator. Why not just use the typeface? Because the type wants to be part of the art, man. Don't argue with the type. So now it's masking tape, tracing vellum, and felt-tip pens.

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And here is the final color design in Photoshop. I suppose I should do the lettering before I take it into Illustrator for the final rendering. The process of converting a raster to a vector image feels like burning a print to me. I've done the preparatory work, I have a very clear final image in mind -- but the process imposes itself on the results in unexpected ways that complete the final work.

I need to do the lettering now. I suppose. I'll design the type in Photoshop over the image, print it up without the image, trace it by hand, scan it in, composite it with the image, and then it's time for the finishes in Illustrator. So. It's type time. Right.

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And here we go. Final composition and black-and-white. And chicken fangs.

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This was like the old recipe -- "First, you get a chicken." The rooster is a major character, and I needed to find the right model. Thankfully, my farm-boy dad was able to spot a likely specimen when we visited the Little Farm, and the rooster was as interested in me as I was in him, and as a result I got exactly the shot I was looking for.

When I walked to the building I wanted in the background, it was adorable, it looked exactly the way I wanted the house in the story to look -- and it was facing north, and there was no way I was going to get good light on it this time of year.

And then, across the street, catching the light just right, was the house where the rooster character makes his first appearance. You got to run with what you got, you know?

Next up? The black-and-white plate, and the start of the unified image.