5 days and counting… The Visitation & The Caves of Androzani

The countdown to 50 continues with my updates for the re-releases of The Visitation and The Caves of Androzani.

Click here to download the covers from Velvet Jacket, and read notes about their creation here.

While the Peter Davison era has essentially been complete for a while, I’ve known the Androzani cover has needed revising for a long while (see the link above for some reasons why it has taken so long), and with this year’s re-release of The Visitation we’re only now truly up to date (unless they re-visit any more). Again there’s just one cover I may look to tweak once all the DVDs are out, namely Earthshock, where I think the shot of the Doctor could be improved.

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6 days and counting… Vengeance on Varos

The countdown to 50 continues with my update for the re-release of Vengeance on Varos.

Click here to download the cover from Velvet Jacket, and read notes about its creation here.

I had thought my covers for the Colin Baker era complete, then they went and revisited this one. But as I wasn’t totally happy with the original I was glad to get the chance to rework it. I think this collection is now up to scratch, with only The Two Doctors worth a tweak one day as I’m sure I’ve seen higher quality versions of both Doctor images since I made it. Of course, if the BBC want to re-release it, that’d be the perfect excuse.

7 days and counting… The Happiness Patrol

Our countdown to the 50th Anniversary begins with my final Seventh Doctor cover: The Happiness Patrol.

Click here to download the cover from Velvet Jacket, and read notes about its creation here.

Covers for the McCoy era are now complete (pending any further re-releases). I’m very happy with this collection, with only The Curse of Fenric worth tinkering with were they ever to do a special edition, although not by much.

The Week of Evil!

Well, not literally, of course. (Especially given the startling prelude to The Day of the Doctor we got — yeah, I know there were rumours but I really didn’t believe they’d actually get McGann involved!) But I’ve been working on the covers for both The Mind of Evil and The Face of Evil over the last couple of days, the completion of which means I’ve now finished all the outstanding covers for first-time releases. There are now just a few re-releases to update the covers for — some of which will be more involved than others — and the site will finally be on the way to being up to date for the first time in yonks. I’m working flat out, I tells ya.

Check the site from Saturday for the first new cover post as we being the countdown to the big anniversary weekend.

Cheers
JC

Hartnell in colour

Just finished another cover (no prize for guessing which one) and am rather pleased with the colourisation. The image of the Doctor on this one is one of the most detailed colourisations I’ve attempted for a while, although at least in this case there were genuine colour photos I could use for reference (sadly not of high enough quality to use themselves). Click the image, or here, to see a larger version

I’ve been colourising black-and-white photos for my covers for a while now — I was always keen to have those for the Sixties stories in full colour rather than just colour washes — developing my techniques and skills along the way. I never feel they quite end up looking like genuine colour photos but I like to feel I’m getting better, in particular putting in a lot of effort to include variation so they don’t look like patches of flat colour.

I hope you agree the end result is worth the effort. You’ll be able to see this particular image in context on its cover soon.

Cheers
JC

It’s Anniversary month!

The month of Doctor Who’s 50th Anniversary is finally here, and to celebrate in my own little way I’m planning to bring Velvet Jacket up to date at last with a host of new covers.

Over the coming weeks I’m aiming to post covers for all outstanding new DVD releases and enough of the revisitations that I can offer at least one cover for each of the Classic Doctors (‘cept McGann, he’s all done) over the anniversary month.

So keep an eye on the blog for the latest updates to Velvet Jacket.

Cheers
JC

The Krotons

Crikey, I actually found/made time to finish a cover. Who’d have thought it? And I only started it seven months ago! Hopefully there’ll be more to follow in less time than that, but hey, this is life, no guarantees. I will finish the range, however. I will, I will…

Dragonfire …and Delta

As you’ll have guessed, I’m sure, my next cover is for Dragonfire. You have a choice of colours to download for this one, which is explained in the background notes. It’s to do with a revision to Delta and the Bannermen, which I hope you’ll prefer as I do, but don’t feel at all obliged to use if you’ve already printed the original.

I think that’s enough McCoy for now, even though there’s only one more to go. Let’s try a different direction point…

Cheers
JC

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy

Quite right, Sean. And here he is on The Greatest Show in the Galaxy. Download. Notes.

And more Sylv to come.

Cheers
JC

Death to the Daleks

The beacon is destroyed and power restored, so here is my cover for Death to the Daleks. Download the full-size cover from here, and read about how I blew up a Dalek here.

I feel I should do a McCoy next as he has the most outstanding. But which one..?

Cheers
JC