this is a vegas exclusive cover i did for a store thats flying the wonderland team out...cool huh? free vegas trip...u so wish u was me...heh

colors by [link]

from left to right mermaid, calie (alice's daughter) alice, red ridding hood, sela and belinda from grim...

zenescope covers always are discussed with my editor raven gregory...and we toss idea's back and forth... this one was a no brainer for him...he thought vegas themed cvr?? i know...strip poker..a lil too on the nose for me...but was like what ever...for a week or two, i was tossing layouts in my head trying to figure out how to make this work...i knew right off the bat that this wouldnt work..when i finally sat down and messed around with it...i ran into the prob i knew was there...the stupid table...im like, how am i suppose to make a poker table look interesting and how the hell do i make these girls fit AND look like u want to divorce ur wife and take one home?? not easy when u throw a poker table in there...

i didnt tell my editor two things...one, no poker table...and two...that i was going to have the girls drinking...not sure if i was able to put that on the cover...but i was gonna try like hell to get away with it...plus taking the table out meant i can have them outside and draw vegas in the background and not inside a hotel room

i thought by eliminating the table i could squeeze them closer together and have them bending over or kneeing which i like to do...makes for more movement on a potentially boring topic...so i went with my gut...no table...and i was gad i did...

i wanted to draw the mermaid on this cause i love how hot she is...but i was like damn...wouldnt she need to be in water?? ( no stupid this is comics) so it gave me the idea to have a pool there...and im like ca-ching!! now i can have the girl on the right bending over rather than laying down to show that ass...GO ASS!! so i thought, it was golden, cause who doesnt like to see hot chicks drinking, playing poker, half naked AND wet??? oh yeah...

if u zoom out u will notice that the girls are actually really small....they only take up the center part of the cover..the top and bottom are all background....again not easy to make look sexy with such a small space given....so i threw in the mermaid and tried like hell to put her as close to the foreground as possible...foreground elements make for good depth

drawing her tail was a pain in my ass...and i only like good feelings in my ass...oh wait...ahem...i threw one set of lines going diagonally and another set crossing them...then i gave it a simple light source and blacked in the bottom of the tiny triangle of the scales on her...it gives it a more realistic look..and then took my eraser and erased the peak of her thighs to give it a real shimmery look...texture is important..as in her shell bra...oh yeah....i apply pressure to the start and finish of my line to give the lines blunt ends...same with the edge of the pool...u need to make surfaces look believable...

to add more depth..i put one fountain over lapping the other one thats dropping the water fall water....trying to use less and less detail as u go further back....not easy for me to do some times..i actually resisted drawing the windows on the buildings in the back knowing that it would be too much and look all messy and cluttered

believe it or not, in my opinon... ridding hood came out the best of all of these...to me, she seems the most relaxed and comfortable... also seems less "possed" than the other girls..plus its an unflattering pose..i took the risk of drawing the folds in her belly caused by leaning over...not recommended...often times looks like scars...

the rest of the girls seem posed to me..as they should be, cause thats what normally sells the cover...

before any drawing is done, i try to come up with interesting poses of possible things someone would do when its not there turn to play...didnt have much to work with and i needed to get it done...

over all im happy with the amount of effort and detail...plus i got to draw my fav thing...ass...

GO ASS!!!

easter egg..i droppd a set of car keys in the pot...just for fun...not sure who bets car keys anymore?