Evolution of a Cover

My first rough idea for the cover to my new book 'The 12 Days of Christmas in Washington' was to show Pike Place Market. I drew the two main characters looking out over the market. I drew more characters on the back cover. I dummied in the fonts.

But then I changed my mind. I decided to show an entirely different scene. This was a houseboat with Mt. Rainier in the distance and a Puget Sound scene on the back. Artists can be fickle... and we easily change our restless minds.

Yet again artistic indecision struck. The houseboat was quaint, but it wasn't Broadway, and covers need to appear on Broadway. I decided to show a skiing scene at Mt. Rainier instead. I also changed my mind about the back cover. I decided to show all the characters together on the back. Here is the rough drawing.

And finally, after all that indecision, we see the finish covers... front and back.

I used a new bright deep color scheme done in photoshop with a proprietary method of combining line and color... which I'm very happy with. Even though I didn't use these sketches for the cover, I did use most of the drawing on an interior scene. I often recycle drawings like this... sometimes even using sketches out of dummy books I've never had published.