Damsel Book Three - The Cover
The cover of a Damsel book has to capture the nature of the culture of the damsels
and maidens listed inside. The Helenas War is a dramatic change to the nature of the
Helenas as now independant City States engage in war and conquest against each other.
The cover was first stetched on a large sheet of sketch paper and scanned into a PC.
A dual layered approach is used for colouring. Each layer is based on a particular
part of the sketch and the second layer adds shadowing. Highlights are done on the
main layer.
The first dual layer to be coloured was the skin tones of the victorious maiden taking
a few hours to get the shadows and highlights correct and interesting.
The hair layering was done in the same manner and rather quickly. Like the Aryidannan
introduced in the first Damsel book, the Helenas are red heads. The hoplite is completed
with bronze body armour, a dark red cape signifying her as from the Popalae City State
and one of their elite maidens.
The last stages of the cover were to colour the captive maiden, the completing the
background and title lettering.
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