Little Lety: The Cup Designer
When developing what eventually become the award winning comic strip Little Lety, I created several pin ups just to visualize how the main character would look like. On of the early ideas was a young teenage girl with a raven as a pet. This version of Lety was discarded, but the image become the basis for Julie Doppler's single "Different", which was transformd into a booklet with the song's lyrics.
As usual, every thing starts with a pencil sketch.
I like to start with the eyes, 'cause I feel that they reflects the character's soul.
Since the raven would be important in the image, but at the same time I didn't want him to steal attention from the girl's face, I decided to work on him even before finishing her so I could control the shadows, lights, and balance of the composition
They make a lovely couple, don't you think? Lety's dress has the same color as the raven's beak to equilibrate the image.
The papers on the table were the reason why this illustration was known as "The Cup Designer", and was exhibited with that name at the International Children's Book Fair
Details are what make this illustration interesting. Although looks a bit childish, has as many detail as any other of my illustrations.
Almost finished! Just need some volume and lights and shadows. Poe's cartoon on the cup was made by Lety Rayden, the scanned and inserted on the image.
For the final touch, the image is selectively desaturated, hence creating a B&W version. Only the yellow parts kept the original color. This is how the image was published in the booklet.