E is for... Epic Fail

It's A to Z time. Read all about the exploits of others.... here.
For myself, this month is an attempt to go from concept to completion for a cover for Andrew Leon's Shadow Spinner novel. It's a chance to see at all the crap I have to throw up before I come up with something I can live with.
When we last left off, I lamented my failure to save files often enough and I lost a day's worth of work. Then, I got the idea to do a rendered fellow instead of a painted one. In all, I think I've decided...