Here's the initial cover sketch for the new cat book. At the time, I was still planning on the book having more of a narrative, with the cat wandering around outside. Chronicle thought it'd be nice for the cover to sync with both the first book (by having the embossed line art) and postcard box (by having die-cut panels). The top of this image shows the cover, while the bottom is the full endsheets, which would be in color.
Here's some more sketching for the cover, trying to figure out how to have the endsheets tell a narrative, but also have the cover work on its own as well.
Here's pencils for the cover, working on a design where the cats only showed through in the color endsheet panels.
Eventually, Chronicle and I decided on the title Cats Are Weird. The book lost the narrative and ended up following the format of the first book. These are the pencils for the cover on the right, and for the right endsheet opposite.
And here's what the printed cover looks like. The book is half in gray like Cat Getting Out of A Bag, and half in color. It just showed up on page the Diamond Previews catalogue today, so you can now have your local comic shop pre-order it.
can't wait, can't wait, can't wait!
ReplyDeleteAmazing! Thanks for the look at your process.
ReplyDeleteOh man that looks super awesome. Beautiful.
ReplyDeletei'll be first to the bookstore the day it comes out. i mean, hey, i've bought four copies of "cat getting out of a bag" and i've never even owned a cat.
ReplyDeletewow awesome! i love seeing how the pros work
ReplyDeleteMmm, tactility. That is a nice cover! I wonder if I can emboss my own stuff just by pressing down *really* hard with a pen... I doubt very much that it would work..
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed your book! Noticed in your strip "Cat walks in slow motion" that something was off...did you know that cats walk in the fashion of camels? Left side front and back then right, and not alternating sides. Makes for an interesting gait
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