Illustration - Novel Cover Process Work

Here's some more process work for the client I mentioned before who wanted the novel cover illustration done. We've more or less settled on the final look though there were some bumps in the road along the way.

We agreed on this costume near the beginning, but upon closer inspection it could still easily be mistaken for Link. We want a unique character for the readers to remember, and we definitely don't want to infringe on Nintendo's copyright. Back to the drawing board!

The character is supposed to be a stylized version of the client, so the hair/skin color had to be redone to match his appearance. The client wanted a foggy, darkened sky above a white "ground" set against the protagonist. He also suggested a Native American warbonnet for the hat redesign, so it would really stand apart from Link. I also made 2 other design suggestions myself, just to explore some other options for a hat that isn't too close to Link's but still matches the overall look of the costume. More progress to come as we finalize the look of the cover. :D