The Great Underground Empire

ColorCOPIC marker on Epson Ultra Premium Photo paper Matte print from Epson Surecolor P600 printer

ColorCOPIC marker on Epson Ultra Premium Photo paper Matte print from Epson Surecolor P600 printer

Pencil (HB) on HP Bright White Inkjet Paper

Pencil (HB) on HP Bright White Inkjet Paper

Mockup for the final book cover

Mockup for the final book cover

When the Chemi suggested what he would like to see for the next Endgame book cover he told me "Pirogoeth walking in a dark cave, with a Grue lurking in the darkness behind her". After i glowered at him as much as is possible over general text messaging i pointed out how difficult that would be given the nature of how i color things. Deep contrasts and shadows are something i've been struggling with getting better at rendering. Since i work from light to dark, it takes me a long time to build up darker shadows, so... well, this was a challenge, and i took it :) End result is actually not too bad. I think i struggled more with getting a good stalking pose for Pirogoeth than working with the dark. It is a goal of mine to get better with contrast and shadows, so this is just another path along the way.

21 February 2017
Pirogoeth from the Endgames MMORPG in MegaTokyo. Used for the cover of The Great Underground Empire -- book 5 of the MegaTokyo:Endgames novels by Thomas Knapp.