Cover art

[jl_merrow]

I have recently been sent the cover art questionnaire for Rael's second story, the novella A Blast from the Past (due out August), and I'm finding it unexpectedly hard to complete.

This isn't the first cover art questionnaire I've done – but for Snared, and Pricks and Pragmatism (coming out in September – I can't wait!) I had a pretty good idea what I wanted, and the art departments did me proud, bless 'em (wish I could show you P&P, but not allowed yet). I had some input on the cover for Bedknobs and Beanstalks too, and again, I wasn't short of ideas. So I did my research on previous covers by each publisher concerned, put together a selection of "these I have loved", and ended up with something not just close to what I'd asked for, but also better than I could have envisioned, given my total lack of anything resembling art skills.

I think the problem with the latest one is that I know it's going to be on the same basic template as this:





*hopes Tis doesn't mind me appropriating her cover!*

I think Tis and the art department did a great job on her cover, but as you can see, the little shot glasses top and bottom kind of dictate the colour choices, unless you don't mind a clash – which I suppose if nothing else would be eye-catching!

And given that my usual colour choices can best be described with words such as "muted" and "subdued", or possibly "'ere! Who switched the lights off?" I'm having to make a few mental adjustments for this one!

*repeats to self: covers are SUPPOSED to be eye-catching* ;)

Comments

[tiggothy.livejournal.com]

"'ere! Who switched the lights off?" would possibly work well with the bright colours of the shot glasses...

[jl_merrow]

Alcohol: helps you see in the dark. *nods* ;)

[ali-wilde.livejournal.com]

I feel your pain. We have a 'Colour Box' coming out soon and the cover is very grey. Then it has a rainbow colour bar going down one side. Similar problem.

[jl_merrow]

Mmm, it's not easy to reconcile the two elements, is it?

[ali-wilde.livejournal.com]

Not at all. I guess the colours don't look too bad against the monochrome background but it sort of ruins the mood we were trying for.

[josephine-myles.livejournal.com]

I would have thought that you could put a sepia toned cover picture there without the shot glasses clashing too badly - so long as the image had a strong composition and enough contrast in it to compete and draw the eye.

Otherwise, I would go for something in greyscale, but tinted with one of the colours in the shot glasses.

I find overly loud colours on cover artwork to be quite offputting myself (I'm a cover snob - don't get me started on the torsos!)

[jl_merrow]

Actually, that sounds like a good idea. Kiernan Kelly's cover for Skywalker is done with a similar idea, only in blue.

The strong composition and contrast - oh, yes. The covers are actually quite small on the Torquere website, so anything too cluttered or with too much fine detail would be lost.

[josephine-myles.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think it's best to make the most of those colourful shot glasses rather than trying to pretend that they're not there!

[angelabenedetti.livejournal.com]

I remember doing my cover art form. [nod] I came to the part where it asked for a list of covers you'd really loved -- my problem was that I'd have had this huge list of, "Love this, but it's not what I want for my book," and "That one's great, but wouldn't work for my book," and cetera. [laugh/flail]

I ended up babbling at my cover artist, talked about a few scenes I'd have loved to have illustrated if we had a much larger budget and a lot more time, and then babbled some more. She came up with something very cool, which I'd never have thought of in a million years. :D That's why she's the artist and I'm not, of course....

About the little line-indicators, I think most people who are used to looking at covers for the different lines just look past them. I do, at least. And romance readers have been ignoring the surrounding art-framework on line books for decades. I wouldn't worry too much about it, seriously.

Angie