Illustrating a Book Cover

Last year Text Publishing got in touch with me about illustrating a book cover for an upcoming chapter book. It was a really lovely project so I thought I would share a behind-the-scenes peak with you guys.

They had a fairly clear idea of what they wanted from the cover so I went straight in with the sketch. The feedback was that the plant life needed to be more varied and more wild looking. After my second sketch got the go-ahead I started on the artwork. I painted the mirror and the girls separately and then layered them on photoshop so they could be edited and moved. 

I painted the botanical wallpaper straight onto green paper which looked really lovely and definitely set the tone for the piece, but it was difficult to edit in photoshop. Ultimately I started the background again, painting individual plants on a white background which could then be removed in photoshop. The individual plant motifs could then be arranged on a green background which meant the design was much more flexible. The plant motifs were also use to create a gorgeous decorative title page. I also painted some little botanical flourishes to be used for the chapter headings.