The creative process behind Lucas, how on earth do I explain this. My work is high-energy, raw. Sometimes ambiguous. When I started this book I put my focus on the narrative. My goal was to write something I felt could stand on its own and then adorn it in artwork that would only make it that much cooler. That much darker.

I owe a huge debt to Sukhbir Purewal, the cover artist, for really helping me establish the feel for this thing while it was still young.

There were a few hurdles early on in the process I'll cover, I think it's the best hope for any insight I might be able to provide.

The House
The challenge here was to create something that was inviting you in as much as it was telling you to run like hell. There were a few stabs at it between Sukhbir and myself early on.

I ended up doing a piece that was a blend of the second and third concepts.

Jeremy
This bastard gave me a hell of time. He's a killer that's been put out to pasture due to his obesity. A foul, jolly fat-man. I had a really clear idea of what he looked like in mind and just failed over and over to execute it. This was really a matter of trial and error.


Gah, these pieces are embarassing.
|

This is the final piece for Jeremy.

The Feel
Sukhbirs initial concept work has this great realism to it.

It's something I wanted to capture but as I started rendering my pieces they just kept coming off overly cartoonish to me and it weren't giving me the edge I was going for. So I started breaking them down.



Once past the initial hurdles it was fairly smooth sailing. In the end I was able to do achieve everything I'd hoped.

Thanks for taking a look at the process of Lucas. Be sure to check out my blog, http://www.davidmurdoch-art.blogspot.com/, and my Deviant Art page, http://www.dmurdoch.deviantart.com/.

Have a comment? Post it here.