There are many talented funny record book illustrator out there , but very few do “ sublimely gorgeous ” quite like artistDavid Mack .
Mack — who you may know from such cartoon strip as Kabuki , Daredevil , and Alias — late give way io9 an undivided term of enlistment of his sketch pad . He ’s illustrate the covering for Dark Horse Comics ’ upcoming Willow miniseries , which interpret Buffy The Vampire Slayer ’s resident enchantress attempt to rectify her lose conjuration . Here ’s Mack ’s ethereal art and his commentary about the intention process . Some spoilers ahead .
I began each of the Willow cover with about a dozen sketch that I did on piffling notepad newspaper like these . This helps me turn over a variety of different root ground on the theme of the book . In this suit , [ Dark Horse Comics ] editor in chief Scott Allie gave me notes about the idea of Willow interfacing with different proportion of reality and magic .

This is an early point of the first colouring applied to the picture , and you’re able to see the pencil drawings and billet that evolved from the smaller layouts .
Here some background colors are contribute to carve out the lighting of the figure . I had a booster model for the main character and I set up lighting to get the dramatic shadow on the face and figure . This helps me form the unaccented direct contrast that I ’ll apply in the painting .
Here I ’ve tot more acrylic blusher in the background . As well as some alloy factor and some textbook from a handwritten missive on of age newspaper publisher .

Here is the aim for the second willow tree concealment mapped out in pencil .
The first steps of painting the nerve . Here I set out with the darker shade off — to add the color after .
Here is the beginnings of the watercolor added . I had quite a chip of reference of the actress that the editors sent me , and I tried to finesse it to still capture her alikeness but also give the image its own unequalled spirit .

Scott Allie had give me some notes on some fauna imagination for this issue , including a serpent woman . I try out to desegregate that imagery in the design here to add a sensation of the story context to the image .
Here is the design taking human body . I added other segment of color and some metal mete . I do this all by hand without any digital . I added a layer of colour over her face , and used an exact know to call off off some high spot . Then I added some acrylic on the hair and face to make some heightened ignition effect .
For cover # 3 of Willow . I was given line by the editor to have Willow interacting with the serpent womanhood . So for this cover , I attempt to have the tail of the serpent cleaning woman gird Willow but leaving the rest of her off of the gore to keep some secret about her .

I was sent some address of other continuity of Willow interacting with the serpent charwoman so I seek to keep this image in tone with that . Here I ’m map out the figures in brushing chance event of colour . But I require to habituate the negative blank space to serious effect and also add some textures from other media .
Here I ’ve added more watercolor to the Willow figure . I had a friend model for the Willow figure to get the light that I desire to act upon from . For the serpent woman , I ’ve summate texture of actual Hydra tegument . It is from a heavy snake I sputter when I was a child . I take up the snake in the grass hide and made a transparency of it . And then I thin the transparency of the scales with an exacto tongue to fit it inside the precis of the tail that I had drawn . Its all handmade with no digital effects .
Here I ’ve add a band of handwritten text on aged paper to draft the figure and make her contrast from the background . The letter of the alphabet was written to me from Miss Fumiko of the First Zen Institute of America . I made a transparence of it and then cut it with an xacto knife around the shape of the figure . Then I added bits of foliage shaped metal . And the book spine texture that I cut into the shape of wings . I liked the idea of the aged book and aged paper to give a good sense of ancient wisdom and magic .

This is a item from the fourth Willow cover . I wanted to show her a bit more jubilant here with a feeling of magical transcendental atmosphere around her .
For this image , I take out out the figure in pencil . I had my same friend model for it to get the kindling right on . I put a layer of paint color on charge card over the image , and then I etched off the color to reveal the highlights below . And then I added acrylic paint on top of that . It ’s still unfinished here . I also added more collage of text edition elements and more rouge .
Willow # 1 is in stores November 7 , 2012 .

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