Posts Tagged ‘cover art’
creating a cover: identifying a motif
As I prepare to release my new Urban Mysteries Series, I still have some work to do. Because I both write and illustrate my books, I also do my own covers. Selecting a motif or theme for a cover takes some thought.
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Most of my books focus on a central theme. The fifth book in the Urban Mystery Series (currently titled ‘Dancing with Trees‘) is set in Fredericton and tells the story of an artist who is making an drawn record of the trees in the community. As she draws, she encounters a mysterious woman who appears and dances with some of the trees. The woman is associated with an urban legend of a man and woman who hid a treasure in a local tree and vowed to only retrieve it together.
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Creating a book cover is a little different from ordinary painting. A cover must:
- represent the themes and symbols in the book;
- entice a reader to know more about the story;
- present a strong focal point;
- leave room for the title, and sub-title and the author’s name;
- consider the style of other books in the series.
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When I chose a theme for the cover of my book, I already have about twenty drawings to illustrate parts of the story. I choose one of the drawings and modify it to represent the story as a whole. The painting can be embellished by including various symbols from the story. In the case of my Kaye Eliot Mystery ‘How Her Garden Grew,’ I include a Grinning Tun, a sea shell that appears in the story, over and over.
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In the Urban Mystery, ‘Dancing with Trees,’ trees and dancers are central motifs. So, for the cover, I chose to paint one of the drawings in the book.
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I work with acrylics and seek to use only a set number of colours in the cover painting. This is partly to allow the font and colour of the lettering to show well on the cover. It also reduces the busy-ness of the image for the reader.
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In a few days, I will be able to reveal the look of the final cover for ‘Dancing with Trees.’
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All my best,
Jane (a.k.a. Alexandra)
Meniscus: The Struggle … Creating the Cover
Sometimes choosing the theme for a book cover is difficult. Sometimes it is so easy.
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In my new book, Meniscus: The Struggle, Abra is trying to discover a way to overthrow the alien Dock-winders. As she wanders along the shore of the Vastness, she thinks she sees a Dock-winder from the corner of her eye.
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Startles as she sees a shadow.
Parody of Dock-winder physique—
purple, angular, thin,
long neck, single coil of hair.
Abra relaxes with a nervous laugh.
The shadow an anomaly, a teetering pile
of pebbles built
by some wandering child.
All the real Dock-winders
are gathered in arrogant bouquets
on the streets of Sintha, Enbricktow,
Prell and Bleth.
I liked this idea of the Dock-winders casting their shadows across the sands of Meniscus.
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The cover painting took less than a day to paint. The colours are mellow and there is lots of room for the cover text. All of the Meniscus books have included the two Meniscus moons: Cardoth roe and Cardoth grill’en.
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A lot of the work for the final book is done. The edit is complete, as are the drawings. I was without a scanner for a while but with our new printer, I can scan each drawing and place it in the text where it should be.
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Then I will order a proof and use it to make any final adjustments. Once my beta-reader has had a chance to react to the book, I will be ready to publish.
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June, sometime in June.
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All my best!
Alexandra, a.k.a. Jane
from a first drawing to a final cover
This month I completed publication of the third book in my science fiction series. I published my books with CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform and have loved the outcome. I also chose to use one of the CreateSpace templates for my covers, an efficient choice but one that let me easily download my own painting image for each cover.
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As a sort of retrospective, I think it is interesting to see the progression of the three covers, from drawing to painting to cover (all paintings are photography of J.D.R. Beaudoin):
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The next book in the series, Meniscus: The Village at Themble Hill, will come out in January 2018. Seems a ways away, but time to start working on the cover. This cover may change in overall design but will feature the moons in the background with poor Odymn tumbling through the trees. This is the black and white drawing I will work from.
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
cover art for book
In the past two months I have been working regularly on a science-fiction romance for eventual publication with Amazon. I have now completed the cover art for the book, based on my earlier black-and-white drawing. Below are the drawing, the possible layout for the book cover, and the painting. My photograph is terrible but this will give you an idea of the eventual look of the book.
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December 13, 2016 ‘parting the ferns’ Jane Tims (acrylic) 18″ x 24″
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Copyright Jane Tims 2016
‘within easy reach’ – a painting for the front cover
As the release date for my book of poetry ‘within easy reach’ draws near, I have been doing some painting.
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I began my project ‘growing and gathering’ and the poems for my book ‘within easy reach’ after my husband and I discovered blackberries on our new property at the lake. For this reason, blackberries seem a fitting subject for a cover painting.
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I think blackberries are fun to paint:
- a basic berry-shape of Payne’s Grey
- a highlighting of each seed in the drupe with Payne’s Grey mixed with Titanium White
- a spot of white to highlight berries on one side of the drupe
- a background of blues and purples to simulate the shadow in the thicket
- leaves and a stem
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This is my ‘practice painting’, in acrylics, 5″ by 10″.
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I’ll be showing you the final cover painting soon – 10″ by 10″, a perfect shape for the cover of my book.
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On a windy, wintery day, it is hard to be patient, waiting for blackberry season!!
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Copyright Jane Tims 2016
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