Finding the Right Eagle

If I hit a writing wall, I've found that creating some sort of art or something related to that world helps unblock me.  Like a literary laxative.  (See Visual Inspiration, Mapping Kobol or Mapping the City of the Gods.)

Also, when you're making a book, it helps to have a cover image.  I knew early on that I wanted some variation on the "eagle" seen frequently in the seals and symbols of the Colonies on BSG.

Like this one.

I tried to find a "clean" one so I could do with it what I willed.  Not easy.  Also, and this is about as anal retentive as it gets, it was important to me that there were twelve "wings" or "feathers" or whatever on the symbol.  Most of the ones you see only have ten.  I wanted twelve for obvious symbolism.

So, after much searching, I came across the PROPWORX website, which has a wealth of photos of props, costumes and more.  It was there that I found these decals:

Boom.  Right-click and 'save as.'  The fact that it's a picture of the decal gives it a texture and detail that I'm too unskilled to try and do in Photoshop.  Also, thankfully, the watermark didn't cover the whole thing.

Once I cleaned it up and got it isolated, I started changing the colors to match the themes I wanted to establish for each book.

This is for Book One - Apotheosis.  The yellow (or gold) represents the pinnacle of civilization that the gods had on Kobol.  The beginning of the book is the end of that time and the golden age will tarnish soon.

This is for Book Two - Descent (available for download in early September).  The red represents blood and boy-howdy do you get it in spades.  I can't wait for you guys to see the badassery.

This is for Book Three - The Final Exodus (due in early October).  It's gray to represent ash; after all, humanity can't escape a "Blaze" without stuff getting burned, right?

This one is blue.  Hmm.  What's this for?  Curious ...

(PS: If you're wondering why this eagle shape became a symbol of Kobol (and the Colonies thereafter), I'll give you a hint: "Aetos."  If you've read Book One, you'll recognize that.  Stronger hints will come in Book Two.)