Here are some examples of process for a book cover job I illustrated and designed recently for a client in Eastern Europe. The book is titled Legacy and is rendered in gouache with digital highlights. For this particular job I was asked to depict Peter and Death. The architectural rendering in the background is of St Peters Basilica in Rome based off drawings I did while there and it represents Peter and the skulls at the bottom of the cover represent Death. The skull drawings at the bottom were based off photos I took of the wall lined skulls found in the catacombs of Paris, France while traveling there in '05.
I've been to Rome a few times and took a summer semester class there during my graduate studies in '05 and much of the research for this particular project comes from this time.