I started out with a mood board to capture some of my inspiration, and the statement that "art illuminates a path through the darkness." I was inspired in part by my new black cat, who is the model for my sketch. I liked the patterns with the blue background and originally considered making them relate to paw prints, but that didn't work as well as a more abstract shape.

The flowing lines relate to the waves of the boat that I liked a lot, and also I always picture flowing lines when I think of art nouveau so I had to work some in. Eventually I had the sketch below and created a couple of tone maps, one of which I also shared below.

Finally I moved to inking. During that phase I incorporated the column on the left to help frame things and visually add something, which was inspired by one of my mood board images as well. My text is based on that in the cats reference cover. The paw prints were a final addition, to relate back to a "path through the darkness."

Lastly I added the sandy color which felt right, although I was tempted to stay black and white. I forgot about the color until uploading, to be honest, so posting both versions for comparison. (And only now do I see related colors in most of my references!)

Open to constructive criticism or feedback.

B&W final:

Color final: