1st Cover - 'The Hobbit' Final Cover layout and Detailed Colour Study

Okay, so I just got back on here and checked my last post and saw that Chuck and Christina had gone to the trouble of commenting and I didn't respond! I hadn't visited the site in awhile due to business. However, it seems that your concerns were my own, for now I am come to you with the changes you specified, only I left in the shield.

So, here you go :P Sorry I didn't get back to you guys. I forgot about my post. I've been so worried about the front cover image I spent days changing things (removing mostly :P) but to now avail. Christina, you should have said something on Facebook. I would have checked here sooner :P

Finished Smaug Drawing and a Recent Front Cover Update

Just finished the back cover drawing of Smaug for 'The Hobbit'. I am working on tightening and making any big changes to the front cover. Here is a recent version with the dwarves all finished. All the characters are famous illustratours that have influenced me in a big way. If any of you have Facebook, you can see who I've tagged there. Otherwise, I'm just going to make a list here.

The Brothers Hildebrandt are Fili and Kili, Pyle is Dwalin, Whelan is Balin, D.K. Sweet is Bombur (he was a big dude), Waterhouse is Thorin, Durer is Nori, Parrish is Dori, Michaelangelo is Ori, Alan Lee Oin, Howe Gloin, Pogany Bofur, and Elmore Bifur. You'll all have to wait to see who Gandalf and Bilbo are :) More to come, very soon. Will probably post the finished cover drawing later today.

After a Slight Delay...

Well, I had finished a monster project and started my cover portfolio, only to be dragged back into the former commission. Now I am done and back on track. Here's the final back cover sketch prior to reference, as well as the final rough layout of the front and back covers.

Thanks,

J.D.R.

P.S. I'm pretty psyched. The back cover image employs the 'Windmill Principle' James Gurney spoke of in his investigation of tonal relationships in 'Imaginative Realism'.

1st Cover - 'The Hobbit'

Hey, guys, here is the in-prog work for my first portfolio cover piece. I am doing 11 covers to various books. I have supplied the first sketch, sans reference (I still need to shoot pics for this whole thing), along with a colour study featuring where I would like the text to be placed. Any feedback would be much appreciated. The cover will be in oils, but I am doing most of my process work in the computer. Thanks, folks!

J.D.R.

P.S. As I worked with this image, I was very unsure of how to proceed. There are some images I don't mind filling the whole cover. Others just don't seem to fit the bill. I also kept thinking, 'Even if I liked this painting, I would not pick this book up off the shelf. I started thinking of all the books I like and what is aesthetically pleasing to me. This final cover layout will change, somewhat, but this is pretty much it. I'll likely do my own text, probably based off of the writing on the map inside the book. Or I may just do something based off of this type-face. I really enjoy it. As for the back cover, I knew I wanted something designy, but related to the front cover in some way. Smaug likely won't break the frame in the final, but this is what I was thinking, in a nut shell. Smaug curled around his pile of gold, his smoke and tail (or maybe just the smoke) curling around the border. Either way, the back image will be bound by the same border as the front. Also, not too keen on the black I used for the text and border around the front cover image. I'll probably choose something more subtle.