Hey all
So, things have been going incredibly well this first few days the book has been available, and as we're about to cross 30% funded, I just wanted to share some art assets that didn't make the final Unbound page for various reasons.
First up, here's a look at a cover art concept we had, but chose not to go with.
The primary reason we didn't go with this cover concept was that that it visually leant more silly than serious. One of the key things I want to achieve with this book, and get across in the cover design, is this idea that while butts as a topic are inherently a bit silly and funny, the book actually has interesting, informative, or thoughtful things to say. I want the book to be equal parts serious and silly, and while the words "Mario's Butt" pull a lot of the silly weight, we needed the cover design to get across the serious art book aspect. The latter design much better sells the serious and silly meeting angle, rather than just this as something laughable.
Beyond that, i'm also going to share some line art which hasn't been shared with non backers.
The basic art process for the book is that Zack and myself will pick a character to draw, I'll share with him my written text aboput the character and discuss the aspects I want emphasised. After this, Zack will do a rough sketch so we can agree on a design concept and framework, then Zack does a line art version, and once that's approved he gets to work on the full colour versions you've seen on the main Unbound page for this book. Generally things don't change much at all from the original approved Sketch to the full colour image, but this nice stage in the middle actually provides some of my favourite art, because often it gives a great chance to examine detail before we add shading. it's the clearest look in the design process at what we're going to focus on and how.
Thank you all for your support, and I'll be sure to share more production assets with backers over time.