Cover concept art -- opinions please

[HareBrain]

Now do a third scene

Are you never satisfied? Like what? Any ideas?

Sounds really cool, HB! I'll be there if it will available for e-readers! CC

Thanks! That's the idea.

The diver and snakes one is far more striking than the road and bones cover.

Thanks for the input. Just to check: you mean the second road/bones one rather than just the first?

 

[Darkchild130]

I mean all of them. The diver and snakes is the best one out of your designs by a long shot.

The composition catches the eye and makes me wonder what it's all about. The others... Not so much.

 

[The Judge]

Are you never satisfied? Like what? Any ideas?

Tashi fighting the Goddess came to mind, but it morphed into one of those 1950s pulp SF covers as I imagined it, so perhaps not. Mrs Fusilli's death is probably too gory. Anything with the ships is probably not fantasy enough. I'll have a think.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

The mother hare scene?

 

[alchemist]

Goddess v the ships? But that's also pulpy.

Tashi berserking?

 

[HareBrain]

Thanks for the continued suggestions. I'd rather not get too hung up on what happens in the story. I think using elements and characters to suggest the story, or stand for its themes, or whatever, might be better than illustrating a particular scene -- that's what I tried to do with both the cover designs so far. I think it's rare for UK covers to illustrate a particular event, and with good reason.

I'd be quite keen to try one with Nightfire, if I could think of a way of including a fantasy element in the picture. I thought, for example, of having it viewed from astern and to one side with the island in the background.

 

[Mouse]

As someone who's probably gonna end up with a front cover with a springer spaniel on come December, and as an animal lover... I really don't like animals on book covers. I think they make books look too cutesy.

 

[The Judge]

Had a thought. Instead of a scene, what about just a relatively simple image eg the Mandala, or Seraph and Chthonis entwined around each other? You could have it that on the thumbnail the background looks plain black but on the full-sized version there are ghostly images eg of Nightfire, eg Tashi in armour, swirling around.

 

[HareBrain]

I really don't like animals on book covers. I think they make books look too cutesy.

I'm going to assume (unless you tell me otherwise) that this doesn't apply to giant underwater snakes.

OK, I think the "road" one is out, though I like the image. Here's my third and probably last concept. In case it's not clear (which wouldn't surprise me) the face at the bottom (meant to resemble the one in the diving pic, with suggested snakes etc) is in sunlit shallow water in the foreground, ie not directly below the ship, and distorted by surface movement, as though coming up from the depths. The contrast between it and the deep blue sea around would be much more marked than I've managed to do it.

Better/worse than the diving one?

 

[Cat's Cradle]

One vote for the diving/snakes picture. This new one isn't bad, but the diving one pulls me in...I feel instant affinity with the person in that picture‐‐I mentioned earlier that you almost hold your breath with the diver in that silent, perilous, underwater world.

This new one seems a bit impersonal to me‐‐too far removed from the characters of the story.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Any way you could put a diver in the new one? I like that it has the steamships and what not and shows some of what's so unique about your world; the mix of steampunky and fantasy.

 

[Mouse]

I can handle big snakes.

 

[alchemist]

I like the new one, but prefer the diver. The ship doesn't look fearsome enough; in thumbnail it looks more like a passenger ship. To work, it needs to ... bristle ... more.




(note how I avoided Mouse's comment. See who's got her mojo back...)

 

[HareBrain]

AARGH! Why is this so hard?

Had a thought. Instead of a scene, what about just a relatively simple image eg the Mandala, or Seraph and Chthonis entwined around each other?

Missed this earlier because our posts crossed. I've had similar thoughts, but I think it would be abstract and unrelatable, and might seem too similar to the Wheel of Time UK covers.

Any way you could put a diver in the new one? I like that it has the steamships and what not and shows some of what's so unique about your world; the mix of steampunky and fantasy.

Yes, this is the advantage of the ship one: it sets up the world. It also has a designed-in space for the title in the centre and in a larger font. But I really can't see how I can get a diver in there.

The ship doesn't look fearsome enough; in thumbnail it looks more like a passenger ship. To work, it needs to ... bristle ... more.

And if I could make it do that, somehow, would that change your mind? (Trouble is, I've already exaggerated the size of the guns. What if it was painted in that zig-zag camouflage scheme?)




I'd be happy to go with the diving one, I think. (CC, thanks for your enthusiasm!) The only little niggle I have about it (sorry if I've said the same up-thread) is that a reader who got halfway through chapter one might say "Ah! This is what the cover's a picture of" -- and that might suggest they've already read the most exciting bit. Is that a genuine potential problem, or am I massively overthinking it?

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Oh dear, I am probably posting too many thoughts here, BUT...RE:your new question about whether it might be a problem that the picture references something that happens in the first chapter‐‐‐well, perhaps it might help to bond the reader to the character. There might be a sense of familiarity "Oh, there's the character from the cover, I know them! I can't wait to see what happens to them next!"

The only thing that ever disappointed me about book‐cover illustrations was when it was clear that the artist had never read the work*...so, when the cover art was something kind of approximating what happened in the book, but really it was completely different from what happened in the book. And since you wrote this, that's not likely to happen!

That said though, I do find it wise to go with springs in these sorts of issues...she's really smart! Good luck! CC

* well, also when the monster/dinosaur/alien/flying saucer was really underwhelming, and not nearly as cool as you imagined it!

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Ah, no, don't go with me on these things. (But ty.) all I'll say is I totally sympathise, HB, it's darn, darn hard.

I don't think the link to the first chapter is an issue.

 

[HareBrain]

Made an attempt to combine the ship and the diver. It has problems, especially as a thumbnail, but as a rough concept, does it show any promise?

 

[Abernovo]

As a concept, I really like this one, HB. With a bit more (ethereal) life in the snakes, perhaps, it could really attract my attention. Seeing the person's face clearly too, making it apparent he's a free-diver, would be good. Obviously, you can't do that in a concept drawing but even like this it'a drawing me in. Best of luck.

 

[HareBrain]

Thanks, Aber -- that's good to know.

The main difficulty I foresee with this one is that it's two pictures, and I'm not sure what to do with the join: as the most obvious example, where would the shaft of light begin? In the rough version, the lettering sort-of conceals the join, but I doubt that would work in finished art. A solid band behind the lettering, maybe, rather than trying to make it subtle?

(Edit, thinking "aloud": or it could be a single picture, like one of those photos where the lens is half in and half out of the water. In which case the shaft of light would have to due to a hole in the cloud or something, and I'd have to shadow the foreground sea except where the light hits it.)

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Ooooh, CC was right - I am clever cos I like that one a lot. (You were designing it just for me, right? )