Man, I am out of practice...

I spent all day working on a cover for The Alice '65 and went through a rollercoaster of emotions while doing it, from uncertainty to confusion to anger to sadness to despair to depression to certainty I was never much of an artist to finally accepting I needed help.

Here's what I started with -- Adam holding the book, Casey behind him, Gertrude on the other side. But I didn't like something about it so changed it to...

Same setup, but with Adam's suit coat half off and his shirt torn. But then I decided I didn't like his wary, almost fearful expression. It didn't make the book seem like fun, at all.

So I worked out this -- where he's smiling and Casey's happier and Gertrude is also happy...but that was bland and not really that interesting.

Then came this, working in color pencil, combining Adam and Casey from #3 with Gertrude from #2...and it's awful. I like the setup, but the colors and the detail ink are crap. Adam's fingers look dirty, Casey's hair is lazy, and don't get me started on their eyes; OMG, they're zombies. And now I'm beat to hell and calling to my artist friends on DeviantArt for help.

I may start over in the morning, see what happens if I just do it in outlines and lay in the color in photoshop. Or work it in just graphite. I dunno.

I'm probably pushing too hard and being impatient. Thing is, I used to be really good with color pencils. But it's been so long since I've done anything of note, it's going to take me a while to get back into the groove...and I don't have the time.

I really should practice more.