This is the second version of a cover painting I did for a novel I wrote. I usually try to paint things that tell some kind of a story, but this was meant to be representational of some of the book content and hopefully somewhat intriguing to the casual viewer.
The novel was “The Dice of Fate,” a story about a young woman who was suddenly transported directly from her day job to a place that was like something from one of her roleplaying campaigns. Early in the story, a little white Kitsune with three tails comes and helps her, and the theme of dice features prominently in the story. Therefore, I chose to depict the kitsune, the ten sided die, and a hint of the long road she had to walk on foot to get to civilization.
I started (as usual) with the sky gradient. The better the sky gradient, the better the foundation of the work. Since this was acrylic, I could dispense any worry about the transparency of my layers. With the trees I worked from dark to light, always keeping in mind that most trees have gray bark, not brown. For highlighting, I used chalks and pencils in the final steps.
I was fairly pleased with the work. If anyone wants to see it on the cover, feel free to click through to the link – and if anyone wants to buy it, it’s free for Kindle subscribers. Just search the title “The Dice of Fate.”
Mindflight 