Like A Twister I Was Born To Walk Alone

"Going down the only rooooaaddd I've ever known!"
Yes I used the think the line in that Whitesnake song was "Like a twister I was born to walk alone" only later to realize that it was "drifter". "Like a DRIFTER I was born to walk alone". Well dammit that makes much more sense.

Well.. anyway, here I go again.

So I have been working on the cover to my Second Wind graphic novel and have been having a hell of a time with it. I think it's because it is the culmination of 3 years of work all coming down to this final piece.

And the cover needs to be just right.

I am learning that "just right" does not mean what I originally thought. I imagined that drawing my best piece of art would do just fine, but I am learning that it just doesn't quite cut it. The first cover I drew is probably one of my favorite images I have every made, but it is WAY to busy for a cover. I found this out while trying to color it and failing.
The original image is as follows (you may have seen it in a previous post):

So I have redrawn the cover. It is essentially the same shot but head on instead of a three point perspective. It is a more boring piece of work on its own.
But this is the point of the piece. It has all of the same elements, but it should be able to stand out from the corner of someones eye.
Add too much detail and it just blends in with everything else. As my partner always tells me, keep it simple (stupid).
So here is the inked image. I am going to color it and see how I feel in the end. I am not 100% set on this image quite yet but I think it may work much better. The space to the right is left open for post text that will be added later on.

As always you can see all of my work, old and new, at https://www.vestebancomics.com/

Cheers!