Constructing The Hand, Part 1: Background

The Hand is a spectacular geological structure located on the southern shore of Lake Eprehem on the planet of Deucado. It is the center of much of the action in Rome's Evolution. I had a clear view of what it looked like in my mind but translating that dream into a physical image was a painstaking process with a lot of back and forth with my brother Bruce, illustrator extraordinaire.

In the book, The Hand was formed when a large, dense meteor hit Deucado and formed the crater which later became Lake Eprehem. A large chunk of the meteor, mostly made of iron, broke off and hit the land to the south of the main meteor. This cosmic bullet continued to burrow under the earth until it hit a pocket of magma. The magma followed its path back the surface and formed a thick tower which bent over as it cooled. Another, smaller hole, opened up and shot spurts of magma up into the air which landed at the top of the tower and formed the extensions that made it look like a hand.

You aren't supposed to show too much on a book cover. You are supposed to let the reader build images in their mind. However, with The Hand, I felt that there was no way that anybody could really visualize what it look liked, no matter how much description I supplied. So I decided to "build" The Hand and put it on the cover so a) people would find it intriguing and b) when they came across that section, they'd already know exactly what The Hand looked like. If they didn't remember, all they'd have to do is look at the cover.

The following few articles will show you how Bruce and I communicated graphically until we reached the shape, texture and look that is on the cover of Rome's Evolution. Here is the final, finished product, less titles, which is also the wallpaper for the Rome's Evolution web site. You can click on the image for the full-sized version.