Recently I was given the opportunity to illustrate a book cover for an upcoming historical novel about King Arthur. The book combines legends with historical facts and people to create a very interesting look at Arthur. For the cover, I tried to create a "real person": Older, strong, dresses in the appropriate clothing for the era. The border area represents a dream he has in the book. The dragon was particularly fun to design and draw. It's a naturalistic representation of a 5th century monster. I based it on the same animals storytellers of the period did: crocodiles, whales, bats and constrictor snakes. I did dozens of sketches until I arrived at a dragon that the author and I felt struck the right balance.
Final Color Image