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| Cover for Fated - The new book from Lisa Fender and Toni Burns |
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| Fable - Book 1 of the Lorn Prophecy |
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| Interior map for Fable |
I met yesterday with the authors to review progress for the cover of the first Novella of the series: 'FATED – Book 1 of the Djenrye Chronicles.'
We are very excited about the book, and
the series. We'll be at MileHiCon October 18 – 20; look for us on Authors' Row. Stop by for a sneek peak at the newest book, to check out
'Fable,' and talk with the authors and myself.
This is a dream come true for me.
Growing up, I envisioned myself illustrating the covers of Fantasy
novels, like my heroes Frank Frazetta and Michael Whelan. And now I'm
actually doing it! Not only that, the authors give me plenty of room
for my 'artistic vision.' I also get to have fun with typography,
which I always enjoy, especially on a project like this one.
(My thanks to fellow artist and
designer Phil Normand for showing me so much about typography, which
is becoming something of a lost art. He will forget more than I ever
know...)
This cover has presented me with some
fun challenges. I am exploring different methods of creating textures
in acrylic, with the help of Carrie, my agent and fellow artist, who
does exquisite textures in her realistic and abstract paintings. I
always enjoy breaking new ground and adding new tools to my kit, so
to speak.
I can't show you the cover yet, as we
are saving the surprise for the release. However, I can show you a
couple of closeups – one of the concept sketch, and one with some
of the fun textures and lighting in the final painting. I am
attempting to create the look of an old wall – plaster or stucco,
something along those lines.
For the cover, the authors requested an
image of a sabre-toothed tiger used as a sigil. Those of you familiar
with my work may recognize the look from my previous painting, 'Tiger
Eyes.' I find each animal's face interesting, and there is quite a
bit of variation in a single species. In fact, I could paint tigers
from the same vantage point and never run out of interesting new
insights and discoveries. I find the direct gaze of a giant predator
to be exciting to paint. However, I did not want to simply remake the
same image. Simply remaking previous pieces holds no interest for me
at all. Plus, this is not just a tiger; the sabre-tooth is a separate
animal, and I wanted to capture the 'essence' of this, in a more
graphical form. I researched large cats and archeological examples of
the sabre-tooth and combined them into a sigil. The final painting is
very exciting and I can't wait to share the end result.
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| Closeup - cover concept sketch |
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| Cover painting texture closeup |
The book is entering the final editing
stages and will be released soon. I'll keep you posted as we
progress, and soon there will be another in the series of completed
covers!
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