Here's the first rough. The first thing I do is turn the monster 3/4 so he's more interesting. Now he comes from a different direction than Vampi and the Witch. The 3-part composition is fairly strong now, and I can afford to drop in a smaller element for fun, like the Owl. The bird adds to the Halloween-ieness (that's a word) of the spooky/fun environment, and really I just always try to shoehorn an animal into a job because I like to draw animals.
I'm doing this rough at exact print size. Somehow Vampirella has gotten relaxed again and looks like she's leading a girlscout walk in the woods. That will have to change.
Vampi gets more dynamic, making more of an S-shape. And now she's intereacting with her environment so it's not just a background. Almost any image is more interesting if the character is touching something or someone.
The tv. hostess has been repositioned more behind Vampi to do away with that clunky collection of legs at the bottom of the page. I'll crop Vampi above the knee because you don't want crops coming anywhere near joints. If you're going to show the knee you better show the whole leg, and I didn't want to do that here, I wanted a medium close shot.
Looking at where the logo would fall on my light table, I realize I better shrink my owl down and move him a bit so he can still get in the shot. Now I blow my rough up and trace the basics off to begin doing the final drawing.
My pencils usually aren't as tight as this, but it's a cover that needs to be more precise than usual. (For many inkers this wouldn't be nearly tight enough. But I've worked with me before.)
Tweaks to the image are everywhere, especially the one where Vampi is now facing forward. I decided she needed to anchor the piece a bit more, her gaze off panel was leading the eye in too many directions.
The important thing is, that owl has finally been figured out. Whew.
I use a couple of shots of my wife's hand to get that right Vampi hand more accurate...
