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The White Tower Cover Art Progression

Michael Wisehart

4 August 2016

The below images are the first two sketches my illustrator gave me when we first began our work on designing the White Tower. He started the process by creating six simple sketch ideas. He wanted to make sure that we were on the same page as to the overall design before he began work on a more detailed sketch.

(Click on the images for a larger view)

Of the six drawings he had given me, the one that best represented the White Tower’s overall design was his design of a simple cube rising up out of the mountainside. From there I gave him a detailed description of the White Tower fortress and how I had envisioned it looking and he got started on his second, more detailed sketch. It was better than I had hoped!

After receiving his final sketch, I went through and added a copious amount of notes and simple outlines for him to take a look at before beginning the final version of the White Tower. Below is his sketch with my hand drawn notes over top.

Along with my notes I wanted to try to give the top of the tower a slight alteration. My illustrator quickly sent me a couple variations to choose from before he got started. I liked his third idea with the dragon scales. I wanted to use that for the surrounding buildings, but I didn’t want the top of the Tower to have what looks like a typical roof. I in turn had him use the bottom half of the sketch for the top of the Tower. He gave me exactly what I asked for.

Below is the Final Render of The White Tower Fortress.

Once I had the final render complete I had the laborious job of finding a way to place it within the front cover and spine of my book. Below is the final version of my cover art.