This was the first character study I did for Willow. Way too cartoony.
Some rough gestures below for posing ideas. I finally decided on having her sit under a tree, contemplating recent events.
I liked the modeling study below, but it still looked too cartoony for what I wanted to accomplish for the cover art.
Here's where I finally began to get a bit more realistic in the character modeling, but I lost some of her cuteness which made her endearing.
I did the below sketch directly in Adobe Illustrator. I was finally beginning to achieve the right look of the character. You can see, by scrolling down, how this began to evolve into what would eventually become the final cover.
I decided on a hand-done font for the title, but I felt like there was still something missing from the final art when I realized it looked too much like a poster. I really wanted it to feel like a book cover, so ...
I created the book with different textures and Photoshop brushes. Finally done - I think.