The progress in stages for the Heretic front cover, taken from the archives way back from last year. I always work with oil on canvas; my medium of choice.
It was here I realized there was a problem. With Alma being so bright in contrast the background was making her look 2D; like looking at a cardboard cut out. At first I tinkered with the contrast of the background itself, trying to lighten it to reduce that 2d effect. It improved the image, but not enough.
And there we have it. A complete overhaul of the background to shades of black, darkening ‘cracking Alma’ to make her less stark in contrast. It had been my original intention to use black, but had been concerned the image would’ve been too dark. But in fact, things worked out quite well. All that was left then was to add the titles. And I really can’t stand freehanding letters.