Took all day, but...

Getting the right position and feel for Adam to be used on the dust jacket of A65 took all day. Literally. I think I reworked it two dozen times, just to get it right -- shifting his legs a bit and then his feet and then how the suit coat flows and his face and which hand to have grasping the vine and on and on. I'm still not completely happy with the coat's empty arm and may play with that more, but this is pretty much what it is.

I re-roughed the full layout, coming up with a good set-up for Casey's positioning -- her being a bit in front of him -- and Gertrude stays where she is and works even better there. But it's just in rough pencil. I did this in ink because I'll be using it to set the colors on the artwork. I'm not going to outline in black, like a graphic novel. I want it more raw than that.

I think I'll also rotate him a little bit counter-clockwise. Give him more of a Tarzan swinging in the vines feel. I thought for a bit about having the vine run between his legs, but I tried it and that was just too much. Giving a hint of being pigeon-toed was enough.

Off to Houston, tomorrow, so won't get more art done till I'm back on Thursday...after NYC and Boston. The life of a travellin' man.

And now, after looking at this sketch while I type, I can see where the right panel of the suit coat should flow a bit differently...give it more the feel of a cape...so diminish the left coat arm...

Jeez, I wonder how many times I'll redo the color art before I'm satisfied?