The Making of a Cover (Part 1)

I have a couple three ring binders that contain copies of my manuscript. They are what I used to edit and what I handed out for other people to critique. But I wanted to create a more accurate sense of reading a book, so I set about making a temporary cover.

Now, realistic artwork isn't my strong suit. I just don't have any experience with it. But I have done some cartoon work, and ended up playing to my strengths. And now I have a blog series for you, detailing the process, complete with pictures!

I started with a #2 pencil and a regular white sheet of letter paper and sketched out what I wanted.

Then I used my trusty uni-ball deluxe fine pen to trace the pencil marks.


I then erased the pencil marks and scanned it into my computer. I use Corel Photo-Paint for digital image editing, but Photoshop seems to be the industry standard. With Photo-paint I fixed some blemishes and added a little bit of texture and some lettering in the font, "Papyrus." I also shrank the main characters head because it made him look too young, and rearranged his arms. The hand sticking out was supposed to be him telling his sheep to stay back. But my feedback team told me it just made him look feminine. Anyway, this is what resulted; a black and white cover that actually covered the manuscript for awhile.
Tune in on Wednesday to see the finished product in full color.

UPDATE: CLICK HERE TO SEE PART TWO OF THE COVER MAKING PROCESS