The Baroness: Suit, Text, and Background

It's time to tackle the suit, I think. Using the gradients I added in Illustrator as a guide, I created a palette of grays off to the side.

And again, I used those gradients as a guide to what I'd built as a light source. I still do like the subtle texture of the original one above but it just doesn't have the spark I need for this concept. This happens to me with details on every project: I get an unexpectedly good-looking result that makes me question if I should go with the original plan. But, as always, I decided to give it a shot.

Well, it's okay. Some of it looks really good and some just doesn't work. The bright reflections work on her hip but not on her chest. Clearly, as a paperback featuring an attractive woman, I need to draw the eye but bright white lights on her breasts cheapens the effect. 

Because I'm getting to my February deadline, I'm going into Push Mode where I force myself to stop worrying over every single thing and get some of the other elements started. Once the major components are created an put into play, I can go back and stress out over things if I have time.

Checking the next item on my list, I get a possible solution for the suit problem.

Boom.

I was going to create an entirely new Cobra symbol based on the original anyway so I got this image into Illustrator, created a vector, and warped the hell out of it.

Already sexier.

Placing this vector image as a smart object allowed me to go make trips back and forth beween Photoshop and Illustrator, constantly warping and re-warping until I got something that worked.

The Cobra layer also has a linear burn on it to let the highlights and shadows come through, effectively recoloring it for me. I like it a lot but will probably need to work on the suit more before I'm done.

So that'll be the background next, then. I started with this really great blue that I'd seen on the box art for a board game I had as a kid.

There's a hell of a lot of things to like about this.

I painted in some cloudy dark blues and it looked great. Then I accidentally selected a negative photo filter and ended up with this:

And it's way better. I'm a little concerned that it looks like more like a a modern-day comic book cover than a 70s paperback but we're going to Push On and make corrections later. Next, I'm putting in a publisher's block and text. Oh, and I changed the name.

Making it look exactly like a comic book. God dammit.

Things are going to need to change to make this look right. For the next article, I'll be making some 70s-appropriate design changes to include adding new elements such as technology, a building, and, possibly, a giant face in the background, a popular design choice for the era.

And now, here's your Baroness cover for the article.

Maybe I need to add gladiators...