Scallywag's Guide to Cooking Mermaid
And Other Things That Swim
And Other Things That Swim
What started out initially as a joke hasturned into a real project. Scallywag’s Guide to Cooking Mermaid is the firstin a series of books I am now writing and illustrating. The following imagesshowcase sketches from the development of this initial book cover illustration. I love incorporating fine art and hand-drawnillustrations into my graphic design projects; there is something aboutimperfect lines and sketches that help keep me grounded amidst the clean, sharpcontours of this tech-driven world.
This is the final cover. Below you will find sketches from the development process.
I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted to do from the onset of this project. Figuring out all the angles was a challenge.
I decided the mermaid's head should beraised off the shoulder to indicate that she was still very much alive. This coupledwith a "Wha?" type of expression to indicate her confusion at thesituation would add a more comedic touch. The Scallywag's foot placement wasalso tweaked in anticipation of the scroll work that would come into play next.
The initial scroll work was too small and indicated that the mermaid tail would need to be placed differently.
Color, additional shading values, andtexture are employed.
Detail showing the subtle displacement ofthe drawing and type on the texture.
Final composition.
