20,000 Leagues Under The Sea

Such and awesome book though I haven't read it since grade school. A future project in the week to come is a book cover illustration, and I have my heart set on this timeless classic. I have to admit I was surprised to discover the book, all copies of it, are checked out from the library at the moment.

I've been rather inspired of late by nautical things: jelly fish, chambered nautilus, kelp.....the last character concept I did had clothes based on organic denizens of the deep blue sea. So when asked if I would do a book cover as a possible portfolio piece by my instructor it seemed natural to do 20,000 Leagues.

A mix of steampunk has me daydreaming of giant nautilus shaped airships drifting about aimlessly among the clouds on my commute. Imagine if such things were real!

And Captain Ahab makes a come back in this tale, a man I picture as tall and haunted with a mechanical limb and a deep hatred for leviathans of the deep, after his plights with Moby Dick. Taking sailors captive undersea......a chilling way to scare people if they fear the dark, confined spaces, monsters, and drowning.

Ah....I can't wait to start production on this macabre image slinking through the dark recesses of my mind.