Cover Art

Nicole Clarkston's Pride & Prejudice Prequel, The Courtship of Edward Gardiner, will be released on the 21st of October, 2016. The painting on the front cover is so perfect that it almost seems it was painted just for this book. Almost everything about it fit the story. 


Everything on the back cover has some significance to the story!  The tag line even has a dual purpose, so clever of Ms. Clarkston! It had to be placed under the children to make its twofold meaning all the more evident! It was such a pleasure working with cover for this story and Nicole Clarkston. 




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Northern Rain by Nicole Clarkston is a North & South variation. As the title suggests rain plays a significant role in this novel. Both Ms. Clarkston and I had trouble finding pictures of a man and woman in the time frame needed for the 1850's, especially with an umbrella and in the rain. Since my son does 3-D renders, I approached him with the possibility of doing a picture for me. The main problem we had was finding realistic looking clothes for the figures.  The newer figures render much more like actual photos when they have newer clothing, but the clothes sets were for the older figures. That meant I had to do some major adjusting to the renders. (The men were built like superheroes! Of course, we think John Thornton is a hero of magnificent proportions, but not in the sense of the figures...think Hulk! :) 

With renders, the artist is able to pose the figures in any way he/she chooses. That makes them wonderful for creating the desired scene/setting. If clothes would just be created for the more detailed figures, this would be a wonderful way of having whatever one wanted on a cover. That said, my son and I went back and forth via email and sitting at a computer together working it out. We finally got a couple and background that was close to what I wanted for the cover picture, according to what had been discussed between me and Nicole. Add in the rain, and below is the final result.




This was a fun cover to do, especially since I was working with my son. He even took pretty well, my many emails asking for little details such as, lower the hat, raise the umbrella, can you bring Margaret's elbow in...etc. It was a first experience for both us and I appreciate Nicole Clarkston giving us the opportunity to work with renders for her book cover.

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The latest novel by Jan Hahn, A Peculiar Connection, was released in eBook format at Amazon on March 11 and the paperback is now available now. This cover ended up in a different direction, color wise, than what we first thought, but the natural progression seemed to fall into place and made it very enjoyable work. Each item on the  front cover is significant to the story. 

It will not take many pages into the story to recognize the significance of the picture on the back cover and the part it plays in the story. 




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Sally Smith O'Rourke's latest release, Days of Future Past, was much fun to do. She had a painting that she wanted on the front cover. I had to add to it to get it the size needed. There were also some color changes and things that needed removed from the painting to get to the finished design. 


Full Cover


Back cover in stages. The actual photograph is first; then the created photograph is next. It is made up of about thirteen parts of photos. All were taken by me so no worries about copyright issues or getting permission to use. The finished back cover is last.





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I did the artwork for the books, Men of Derbyshire, by J Dawn King. There are three books in this series but only one has been released to date. I did not do the cover design, only the artwork. The First in the series is A Father's Sins, which was first released with a different cover. Below is the new cover. To the right is the actual artwork. Click on any of the images to see a closeup.






















 Joy gave me permission to go ahead and show the artwork for the other two.

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The two covers below were designed for author, Cassandra Grafton. She posted chapters of her novel, Lizzy Bennet's Diary at Austen Variations. Cassandra's inspiration for the covers were the posters for Bridget Jones' Diary. (Hence, the title) Cassandra thought it would be fun to celebrate both the 1995 miniseries and the 2005 movie with a cover paying tribute to each. Darcy and Wickham are partially transparent to give the illusion of Lizzy thinking about them as she ponders her diary. The background for the 1995 scene is a photo taken at Luckington Court, which was used for Longbourn in the miniseries. I did not use any promotional pictures but took my own from the respective films. Once all the photographs were put together, I turned the new picture into a painting via software. I hope you enjoyed the postings of this novel as much as I did.


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Thank you, Suzan Lauder, for the wonderful suggestion of putting my cover art on a page of my blog. It is great to see all the books together on one page. I hope all of you will enjoy seeing them too. 
I also do freelance cover art so please contact me if interested.


The soon to be released book, The Secret Betrothal by Jan Hahn, is my latest cover. Jan is a family friend and requested my grandson for the front cover. He is Darcy and two of his friends are Lizzy and Wickham. For these I tried to make the drawings look like their models. It was much fun to age them and turn them into Regency characters for this setting.
               

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My second cover was for Suzan Lauder's book, Alias Thomas Bennet. My son and granddaughter were my models for the front. (although I did not attempt to make it look like them) As Suzan mentioned in one of her blog posts, I couldn't allow little Jane to be that close to the waves without adding the rope behind her. Even though she is holding her father's finger, I felt compelled to add that extra protection for her. Maybe I got a little too involved in the feelings invoked by that cover! The back is a drawing from a photo I took when visiting Luckington Court, or Longbourn in the 1995 miniseries of Pride & Prejudice.
               

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The Red Chrysanthemum by Linda Beutler was my first cover. For Linda's cover, the drawing for the front was actually done in full color and then changed to sepia with software. It gave the older look that she wanted. The same effect was used for the table and note on the back cover. The reds from the roses needed to dominate the back because of what they represent in the story. 



Prismacolor Soft Core Pencils are what I use for my drawings for these covers. The pencils allow for much detail and blending. For each book, both the front and the back cover depict scenes from the book that are significant to the story. 

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I have also done some covers using photographs and changing them into paintings. One is on the front of Tess Quinn's second volume of A Fitzwilliam Legacy: New Year's Resolutions. 



I am working on two front covers for Cassandra Grafton's new blog series and will add them to this page as soon as they are finished and on her blog. At a date as yet undecided Cassandra will be my guest and I will be hers where we will be discussing her WiP and my covers. Be sure to watch for both posts.

22 comments:

  1. Wow, Janet, you're outdone yourself! This is the first I've seen of Jan's cover, and it's so wonderful. The expressions on the characters' faces are perfect, and I agree with the choice of the young people cast as models for the roles. The background hints of the scene, too! But the back cover: breathtaking. Just as I've said about my book, Alias Thomas Bennet, I can't decide whether I love the front or the back cover better. Bravo!

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    1. Thank you so much, Suzan. I think this is the first appearance of Jan's cover. I'm thrilled that you like both the front and back. I enjoyed doing them as I have both yours and Linda's too.

      The young people were fun. They kept laughing when I was taking their pictures. Since I couldn't keep them long enough for a sitting, I had to use their photographs as my models. It took awhile to get them serious. I'm not sure who had the best time, me or them. :) Afterwards I cooked them a meal for their help.

      Jan will be my guest in a few days and we will be talking about her new book. Be sure and come back then.

      Thank you again for your kind words and for your suggestion of putting the covers on my blog.

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  2. Jan,
    Have I told you lately how much I love the TRC cover? At the signing last Sunday, there were several comments about the legs...I told them I FORCED you to look at a certain actor's legs for hours on end. You were a model of fortitude! Great to see that list of covers growing. I look forward to working with you again.

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    1. You have told me but maybe not lately. I love hearing it so go right ahead and tell me anytime you want! :)

      Yes, you did FORCE me to study intensely that certain actor's legs for hours and it was such a terrible task! Did you hear me complaining?..Didn't think so! lol I still really love the two color combination for your cover.

      Thank you for the ultimate compliment. I would love to work with you again too!

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  3. Oh how cool! I didn't know you were the artist for these books. Very nice!

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    1. Thank you, Brenda. It has been such a neat experience. If someone had told me three or four years ago that I would be doing this, I would have been shocked and disbelieving!

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  4. I love that you have a cover art page, Janet! I look forward to seeing what other masterpieces you create! :)

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    1. Jakki, thank you so much. Glad you like the new page. It was a suggestion from Suzan Lauder that she made on another post. I thought it sounded like a good idea. Then Jan Hahn seconded the idea on that same post so here it is.

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  5. Love your new page, Janet! I am such a cover-junky, I always spend time gazing at covers. Love when they have meaningful detail like yours do and people. Love the cover for Alias Thomas Bennet, definitely one of my faves! :) Thank you for sharing your wonderful gift with us!

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    1. Thank you, Meredith. I am so happy that you do. I love looking at covers too and would have never dreamed that I would be designing them someday. This has been such a fun new venture.

      The cover for Alias Thomas Bennet hints at much about the story. Suzan had mentioned a child holding her father's hand. My little granddaughter was the perfect age so thought I would have her hold my son's hand and see what she did. She grabbed his finger and then looked off to the side at something she heard. It made the perfect picture for my model. I couldn't have asked for a better pose than the one I got naturally. It was perfect.

      I'm proud that you stopped by Meredith.

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  6. Woo!! A pleasurable surprise was known that you are the artist did these precious covers. My favorite is Alias Thomas Bennet by the technique that you used to it.
    It is great that you describe as it did the covers. I Always have curiosity for that.

    Here and now, I learn that you are Author the calendar of Pride and Prejudice. Wonderful work!!.

    I will be following your jobs, Janet. Certainly, they are gorgeous :D
    My admiration for your talent. ;)

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    1. Each cover has a story behind it, Warmisunqu. The obvious story which is the book itself and then the story behind each drawing. As I already mentioned each cover depicts certain aspects or scenes from the book. Then there is the story of getting there, collaborating on ideas, additions and what we were trying to say with the cover. It always ends up being enjoyable when the final result is achieved.

      Glad you like the the Pride and Prejudice calendar too. If you haven't been to my website, be sure and pay a visit. The link is on the upper left hand side under my calling card, JT Originals.

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  7. The cover is perfect for the story. Great job !

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    1. Thanks, Lory. It is definitely story specific! (as are all of them)

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  8. Amazing covers, Janet!!! Absolutely stunning! Thanks for sharing the one for Jan's book, haven't seen it before!

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    1. Thanks, Joana. I'm glad you like them. Jan's cover had not been made public prior to this post so that is why you have not seen it before. She will be my guest in the next few days so be sure and pop in then.

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  9. You are truly talented. I did not know that you did all those covers. I look forward to reading your about your guests as well.

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    1. Last year was when I was first asked to do a cover. It has been exciting and fun to do them. Thank you. I do hope you will come and visit the guest posts. I will post dates soon.

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  10. The covers for the Diary look fantastic, Janet! Thank you so much for your help!

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    1. You are welcome. I loved working on them and am glad you like them. It is always fun for me to manipulate several photos to make a new one.

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  11. Love the covers for The Lizzy Bennet Diaries! Naturally, I'm partial to the Colin Firth cover, but I'm glad Cassandra asked you to include both films. Whether we choose Colin or Matthew, we all choose Mr. Darcy!

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    1. Thank you, Jan! I'm glad you like them. I certainly had fun doing them. I look forward to the chapter posts of Lizzy Bennet's Diary at Austen Variations. I know they will be good! (Hint: I've already read the first four chapters! YAY!) Yes, we do choose Mr. Darcy.

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