The Iliad Revisited

I created a cover last year for the Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Classic series of The Iliad. Never completely satisfied with the results, I've begun working on a revision so when it's up for reprint they may exchange it out for a new, improved version. I felt the first edition lacked the "eye contact" that the other titles in the series so successfully employ. At the same time, I wanted to keep some elements from the first cover intact to continue with the established brand of the series.

First step: find a pair of eyes that could very well launch a 1000 ships. As it happens, my beautiful niece fits the bill perfectly. With a hint of Greek features and a Grecian style prom dress from her high school days, she made the perfect model–no tantrums or outrageous demands either (just kidding girl). The results above speak for themselves.

Step two will be pulling together additional images to create a number of rough compositions to submit to the editors for review. I plan to add them to this blog as I create them. Stay tuned.

First rough concept of the new cover