Here's the story with the cover. When I sent out the call for submissions, the text was so long that I had to break it up somehow. I settled for grabbing a random picture and slapping a title on it. It didn't take long for the rhino to grow on me, so I set out on a quest to find the artist of the picture and try to purchase the rights or commission her to draw a human head. I located the artist, but her blog was in Spanish. Luckily my wife was able to translate, but unfortunately, it doesn't look like I'm going to get a reply. Therefore I cannot use the rhino picture for the cover. Instead, I used the rhino as inspiration to draw my own cover. Here's how the process played out.
First I drafted this two-inch picture in pencil:
Next I blew the draft up to a full-page image:
I finished by using the draft as an outline as I drew the full-page image in pen:
The rest is simple Photoshop tweaks:
Barring a few tweaks, I'm leaning towards making this the official cover. Not only does it get the job done, but it's free!
In either case, I'd love to hear your thoughts/suggestions.
I really like the cover art. Fanatastic job! I am working on three stories to submit. I'm finishing up the editing job and will be sending them in 7 to 10 days. This is such an amazing idea.
ReplyDeleteSounds great, Rebecca! I'll get my reader goggles ready. Yes, they're goggles:) And thanks for the kind words!
ReplyDeleteYour image is very interesting. It took me a while to see the brain which looked more like the guy's hair at first. That's when my eye went to the pink bird. The bird is looking at the brain, not actually picking at it just yet. Maybe singing to it? That would fit nicely with your tagline: a better future.
ReplyDeleteIf you change your mind, I'm a professional illustrator and I'd be willing to give you a free commission in exchange for being credited. Send me an e-mail at melody.m.moore@gmail.com if you want to see some of my previous work or a sample sketch. Either way, good luck with the anthology!
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