Sketch Progress for New Book Project

Back in September (that was a long time ago!) I started on a new book project, now titled Dimplemeyer's Design, that was put aside for awhile during the holidays so I could finish some other projects with more strict deadlines. Fortunately for me, the author of this book was gracious enough to allow me to take a break. Now I'm back on the project working on the final sketches before I start painting. Here's the evolution of one of the sketches from thumbnail to (almost) final sketch. I will be posting a few more in the next few weeks.

Thumbnail sketch just to get the gist of the narrative and idea.

Slightly more developed sketch with atmosphere and detail in the character. The stereotypical gesture of the character isn't doing it for me. But sometimes you just need to get it out of your system. That's what sketches are for.

Setting the composition. Still not satisfied with the character's actions...

Tight, detailed sketch fixing a lot of problems with proportion, composition, narrative, etc. Now the character is holding a dying flower which recalls an earlier event and also holds some symbolism in the story. (Hurray for symbolism!)

That's as far as I've gotten so far on this sketch. Next is to add value/lighting, and color before I can move on to the final painting. I'll need to finish all the sketches before I can do any painting, so that wont be for awhile. Plus I will be taking a month off to backpack through Europe with my husband (WOOHOO!) so that will put a hold on things even more. This book WILL be finished this fall (I'm determined!) and hopefully published shortly after. But we'll see how things play out. More to come!