Accepted cover concept: Wings of Fate

Wow! It looks pretty rough, but I'm so pleased to finally have an acceptable cover concept for the first book in my trilogy, Wings of Fate. I've had this sketch sitting in one of my notebooks for months now, and tonight I finally got my scanner up and running again.

For the last year and a half, I've been working on revising Wings of Fate. Tonight, I am down to the final ten pages of the manuscript, and I'm so excited to be closing in on the end of it! I have had twelve years to improve my skills as a writer (and an artist!) and completing the new draft of this book will be a monumental step in my work. To date, I have added nearly twenty percent again of the original book's volume to the manuscript, making it a full fifth larger than the first version.

The second and third books in the trilogy will eventually follow suit, but at this point I'm unsure of how soon that will happen. I know it's been driving me crazy for years, as there were inconsistencies between the first draft of the trilogy and other books that were published later in the series. I've had a lot of time to think things through and work out details in the world of Gaia. It doesn't even seem like it's been that long, really.

I will also be running the prequel to the trilogy through a revision, once I have completed Wings of Fate. The prequel had some problems of it's own, but I'll save that for another post.

Angel sketch

Random sketch as I attempt to improve my quality of human faces. The paper got rained on as I was walking out of work, so it's all wrinkly.

Went to pull out my scanner a week ago, and oh yes, the software wasn't working right on my laptop. Okay, I'll just reinstall it, right?

Nope.

My install disc now has a lovely curve to it. I'm not putting it anywhere near my reader until it's perfectly flat, if it ever does flatten out. Fortunately, my dad pointed out that I could download the necessary drivers on Canon's site. Yay! So once again, my scanner is working.

Swift Peilos

This is a supporting character who appears in Wings of Fate. She plays a fairly minor role in the story, and I've never drawn her before now.

A little background on her character for you: Swift is a member of a family of lesser nobility. Like many of her relatives, she is skilled at cartography and navigation. She was originally exposed to work at the Fortress of Roses by her elder sister, Arathinja, who is also employed there. Her mask is blue steel, a detail not mentioned in the book.

I'd like to say that I'm super pleased with this picture, but ........ not really. My hands wouldn't stop shaking while trying to ink, so the line art is a travesty. The smooth quality of coloring that I was seeking after is also lacking. As an excuse, I claim the side effects from coming off of my meds and my nasty cold.

Started in Krita, then switched to Gimp for shading. Gimp reminded me why I don't use it much anymore -_____-