Hey folks! Super stoked to say that we are making great progress on The Last Amazon! We have completed a few more backer illustrations and thought you all might enjoy seeing a step by step guide on how David Granjo our Illustrator extraordinaire does it!

01: Original Image

Jamison (author) and David (illustrator) plan out the shot in advance so it meshes with the story
Jamison takes a super high-resolution image of our subjects, in this case, our editor, Becca, as a stand-in for Raiyne (left) and a super backer (right)
Photographer has to make sure lighting angle is correct, arguably most important aspect of the shot.

02: Changes are focused on the characters

Blur the background to add motion to the picture
Change female model's outfit to match the visual of the character Raiyn
Add smoke and muzzle effect flashes to the guns
Add dirt texture to the face and the outfits to add more story

03: Changes are focused on the background

Addition of smoke elements in the background
Saturate the colors and bring the yellows and red's through the addition of fire the colors bring a sense of danger of danger

04: Changes focused on the foreground and final touches

Fire Particles and additional smoke are added to blend the characters with their new environment
Dark color overlay on the bottom and the top of the image to bring the attention in the center of the image, it also creates a panoramic and cinematic feeling
An orange light is added on the right side of the image (where the guns are) to balance the saturated colors of the characters/ background and the yellow & red colors of the firing guns

Before and After

And there you have it! The final draft of the image is done! This takes David several days to do, but the finished product is really fantastic! Then we blend that image into the overall story presentation -- which in this case, will be the dangers of a post-WWIII environment where those living in the badlands must train anyone old enough to hold a gun how to defend themselves in order to survive. In the story, you will see the harsh reality of such training, but I don't want to give any spoilers!

We hope this was a fun way to see how one of our illustrations is made! There is a ton of added detail, and back and forth and little tweaks between Jamison and David, which we don't have room to show, but wanted to give you all a taste of how we do our work!

We will do a few more of these step by step illustrations over next next few months. If you have any questions about the creation process, please feel free to ask in the comments!