Hey, Jan! thanks!
umm the stuff brief wise- its just little bits from the story on the characters and a little of what my client envisions.
its good to also ask for a mood/ inspiration board from them, if they can give it to you all the better.
I really like to follow a lot of fashion blogs on tumblr. Pinterest is wonderful if you know what kind of outfits or time period you are designing for e.g. 40s/50s casual and WW2 accouterments.
i'd say, ideally, as you are working up the thumbs make sure to gather your own reference, and build up some sort of mood board for your illustration. in order to have a jumping off point, something to show your client if they are a little lost to get them in your head space and what you are thinking.
a good way to test this stuff out for yourself is to take a passage from your favorite book and make your own cover illustration. give yourself a deadline of 3 weeks and take it from there :) hope that helps.
and heres a bit of a sketch painting dump
dunno if i ever showed you guys but....
this is where i do all traditional work the paintings... nothing fancy
on the easel: being painted in holbein water soluble oils on gessoed masonite.
i'm a strong believer in rocking with what ya have art material and space wise.
and if i dont have a pen no problem i'll draw with my coffee (it works trust me)
...
face from imagination
painting stuff in watercolor (thinking of dagger designs) and yes one is inspired by chocobos because why not.
a close up shot on the oil experiment painting
pen scribbles
more watercolor stuff
pencil stuff woooo