Charlotte Gnoll is a book which is soon to be self-published by p.s.w. gear. I created the cover loosely inspired by some book designs which p.s.w. gear liked from the 70's. The goal was to keep the funkyness of 70's fantasy while appealing to a modern audience... oh, and hair, lots of red hair.
But, to start, I had to come up with a rough idea of a cover layout for a book about a girl who travels "through a wormhole to a land filled with petulant gods, the evil witch who stole her father, and animals 3 times her size who don't realize just how scary their smiles are."
So, I took to the sketchbook...
... and arrived at hair.
The very first thing I made on the computer—I knew the hair would be central and wanted to get it right.
Originally, I thought the disembodied head was in keeping with the 70's inspiration. Ultimately, we opted to put her in a black turtleneck and to give her a face. (For which I am sure she was grateful.)
At one point there were squirrels.
