Dr. Acula - Book Cover Design Concept

Notes on the design

Digital illustration in Procreate done with 6B pencil and finished in Derwent colored pencil.

This piece is a quick cover concept sketch for a new children's book idea (story below). I started playing around by sketching out a creepy, gothic-style logotype for the name 'Dr. Acula', a funny anagram of the famous vampire.

From there I decided to riff on classic Dracula lore and create a 'vampire doctor' character. (I'm sure this has already been done for as much as these bloodsuckers have permeated our popular culture but if so I'm unaware of it!)

I wanted the style to be rough and sketchy with a Sesame Street level of detail and a cartoon-y realism. Upon finishing, I think this version is probably a little too scary for little ones so may have to soften it up in the final version.

The story behind the piece

For Halloween this year my kids and I made foam gravestones for our front yard, the funnest part being coming up with names for the deceased and then painting them! We went through lots of G-rated classics... Seymour Worms, Izzy Gone, R.U. Next, etc.

I stumbled upon the name 'Dr. Acula' in a Google search, which sparked the question...

What if there was a really scary looking doctor that freaked out his kid patients with his appearance but was actually the nicest, kindest person around? He can't help the way he looks and sounds, and most often scares away his patients before he can help them!

I may also riff on this idea for my own Halloween costume, who knows!