Next to the poster of the movie, there was MY version of the cover of the book!

I just think that it’s awesome that the person writing the article decided to use the cover from my portfolio rather than an actual book cover. : )

With his eyes closed, he followed every noise in the house. He heard when his parents went to their room and when the cat meowed downstairs wanting to escape to the streets. Listening to the wind through his window, he hoped that a white carpet would cover everything outside the next morning. The clock in the hallway outside his room rang twelve times, and after the twelfth Timmy noticed that the ticking had stopped.

Then there was another noise. Timmy froze. He heard his window sliding open and felt a cold gust of wind. He was here. His heart was pounding strongly under his pajamas, and he prayed that the sound of his heartbeat wouldn’t betray him.

Yet he opened his eyes, just a sliver, just enough for him to take a peek.

But he didn’t see Saint Nicholas by the window. In his place was a small creature dressed in the colors of the forest. The small elf smiled with its numerous pointy teeth shining under the moonlight. It walked slowly, every step a silent one, trying not to wake the child. Timmy had seen that same expression on his cat once, right before it had caught the mouse that had evaded so well every mousetrap they had put in the kitchen.

Timmy closed his eyes briefly, hoping that the elf would go away. But when he opened them again not only was the creature still in his room; it was closer. Timmy held his breath and felt the warmth of his pee spread.

The elf hopped to the top of his bed, flexing its slender fingers in anticipation, and this time Timmy closed his eyes; maybe for the last time, he thought. But instead the cold wind caressed his face again and he heard quick steps followed by a muffled squeak. Timmy peeked once more.

There was a man covered in furs that once had been white in his room, holding in one of his hands the now-helpless creature. His hair was white as snow and his eyes were wild as a wolf’s. From his bed Timmy could see the growing crimson puddle on his carpet floor and the fresh red stains on the man’s garments. Then the Man in Red said a few words in a forgotten language that almost sounded like deep laughter.

Timmy closed his eyes hoping that the wild man would not notice him and did not open them until he heard the clock hands moving again. The man and the elf were gone, his window was closed and there was no blood on the carpet. He almost thought he had imagined everything; but there –just at the end of his bed– was a bicycle just like the one he had asked for in his letter to Saint Nicholas. Only the color was wrong, the one in his room was forest green.

Step 1: Sketch
First of all I decide the arrangement of the panels, and then on a different layer I sketch loosely the comic. Then I convert the layer to a 30% oppacity so when I draw on top of it (in a new layer) this seems like pencil work. Step 2: Line Art
Then I digitally ink the sketch I did on the previous step, adding details and refining the linework.
Step 3: Color
In a new layer set to Multiply, I use the magic wand to select the areas (and sometimes cleaning it up with the laso tool), expand by a couple of pixels so the colors go under the linework. I then color away!
Step 4: Line colors + Extra color detail
Making a selection of the linework, in a new top layer I color every line that is not one of the main characters, to help add a little depth to the comic. I also take this opportunity to add extra color details like an extra shadow on the hair and stuff like that.
Step 5: Paper Texture + Copyright info
And last but not least, I have a folder with a paper texture and the copytight information for the comic, that I just drag and drop… and voilá! The comic is finished!
 You can see the final comic by clicking here.

This was an opportunity I couldn’t let pass me by, and with the help of Adobe Illustrator, this is what I came up with! : )