Werewolves 1 cover art process.

Original text description and art process for Phillip Simpson's gorgeous cover for Werewolves 1: Haven Rising.

The delightful sketch you see on the bottom right is my own, sent as an example of what I was seeing in my head.

Here is my art direction for the piece that was sent to Phillip along with my incredible MS Paint skills:

Setting: 

High up in a crumbling building overlooking the length of a long bridge curving to the right. The bridge leads to a series of (far away) buildings which are part of a military base, passing over a span of water along the way. (As these are a fair distance away they may be depicted very minimally, perhaps with a few lit windows and varied boxy dark shapes. The bridge is very long and could easily take half an hour to traverse on foot. Scale is important here.)  (For reference, the bridge is a 'post apocalypse-style' version of New Haven, Connecticut's 'Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge' as seen from the west side looking east. Strict attention to detail here isn't necessary as this is a bombed out future, but the reference might be useful in any case. Feel free to take lots of liberties here.)

The sun has set and twilight is fading fast. As the viewpoint is centered on the east, we shouldn't see a sinking sun, but a low dusky orange/yellow may still be seen along the skyline if it works for the composition.

The crumbling apex of a tall city building should frame the image on the left-hand side, its top having crumbled to its rebar base in several places. There is a more stable flat space along the bottom of the shot. (the building might have been destroyed in a more level fashion here, or it could be a roof that the left-hand spire rises above)

Character/s:

Our main focus should be on the player character (henceforth 'the PC') in werewolf form. Due to the fact that the game may be played by any sex, it would be best to make the sex of this character indeterminate. How this is done can be up to the artist (shadows due to the low levels of light, back turned a certain way, or even simply the hair and fluff of the wolf is bushy enough to hide obvious sex characteristics such as breasts.)  Depending on how it fits into the composition, the PC may be wearing loose-fitting dark-colored pants with tufts of fur poking out through various rips. Only do the pants if it's possible to do without making the picture look unintentionally funny. Otherwise werewolves are hairy, so it would cover up any sex characteristics anyway.

The PC is holding on to the crumbling spire on the left side, perhaps with a well-muscled furry hand holding tight to a jutting piece of rebar (adjust as needed). We can see them in profile and they should be fairly close to the 'camera', with enough detail to use the head or head/upper body as an icon for the app. No specific fur color is necessary, perhaps brown or black would fit best. This werewolf, regardless of sex, is young (17-18 years of age,) well-muscled with a coat of fur, a standard lupine muzzle and all the typical werewolf traits (canine ears, etc...) The legs are digitigrade (lots of references on google, but essentially an animal that walks on its toes). The PC is gazing out from their perch into the twilight (either toward the military base in the upper right at the end of the long, curving bridge or looking back toward the 'camera' just to get a good shot of their face for the icon (not directly at camera). The overall feeling could be a sense of tense anticipation for a covert operation if this is possible to convey.

Along the bottom of the frame we can see three other wolves, crouched down on the lower, flatter part of the building/roof. Their backs are turned to the camera as they gaze out to the military base and most of their bodies can be out of frame if necessary. Their gender is probably not evident in the context of this image, but their descriptions are as follows: Brown-furred female, short of stature, smaller build than the other werewolves, golden-furred male, the largest of the three. And a darker-brown furred female, medium build. 

Alternatives to this positioning could include the building framing on the right with things mirrored the other way, which could work better since the bridge is curved to the right, and it could allow for a better shot of the PC's face. A few rough sketches should see what works best.

Overall Feel:

The image's feel should be a bit dark and foreboding. It should not feel light-hearted or silly. The characters depicted are about to sneak in to a secret government facility and see something that will change their lives forever. The color palette doesn't need to be terribly colorful, though it should be more than grey-scale: earth-tones for the fur and decaying building, and the dying light of the sky in orange or orange-yellow. The water, if seen should be dark. Hints of blue.

I've included a (very) basic sketch to try to demonstrate the above description. A closer view of the main werewolf might be preferred though. Open to interpretation.