WORK STAGES on EMPOWERED vol.12's cover illo, part 1! (Patreon)

Following up on a September Patreon-exclusive post first displaying the cover illo for March 2023's Empowered vol.12, here are the initial Work Stages for said image.

Before we proceed, lemme trot out the book's solicitation copy once more:

Costumed crimefighter Empowered discovers that she’s trapped in a surreal nightmare scenario as her superhero universe begins spontaneously rebooting itself over and over again, with each variation more twisted and bizarre than the last! Can our befuddled heroine somehow undo this inexplicable Neverending Reboot—while simultaneously steering her love life in a boldly polyamorous new direction with Thugboy and Ninjette, no less—or is this The End for Emp and her chaotically convulsing cosmos?

Here's my first stab at a concept for the cover:

...which I developed into this rough, before deciding I should try some other poses:

Here's the second draft of the poses, along with my brilliant concept of integrating the "MATURE AUDIENCES" rondel directly into the artwork, rather than having it applied to the book cover during the printing process as a separate sticker:

I didn't scan the cover illo's final pencils, alas, but here are the inks, which were extraordinarily time-consuming:

...and my usual detail-intensive color guides:

In fact, by my previous, far more exacting standards, these color guides are relatively loosey-goosey:

Later in the month, we'll move on to the coloring stage—which featured no less than seven g-d drafts—as carried out by my buddy Ryan Kinnaird.  Yay?

NEXT TIME ON THIS HERE PATREON: Dunno right now, TBH, but something should be going up in the next M/W/F slot, okay?