Another Demon in the Freezer
filed in Book Cover Illustrations and Artwork on Mar.22, 2012
I recently completed the cover artwork for Anthony DeCosmo’s action-adventure/techno-thriller The God Particle which is the first in his “Opposing Force” series.
The key requirement for the cover was that the environment look like a new lab with a biological containment door. After doing a little research on what a bio-containment door should look like (I had pictured it as a submarine door complete with wheel in the middle of the hatch — nope), I was soon on the right track. After designing several different locking access systems, we finally settled on the one shown above (which has elements from several actual access systems).
The one hiccup in the process came about because the door and walls needed to appear to be surgically clean (well, except for the blood from an “incident” that occurs early in the novel). I soon discovered that a pure white door and wall was not only a bit boring, it also proved less than ominous, and pretty fake looking as well.
The “fix” was adding a layer of dirt, stains, and random texture to the illustration along with three green light sources; these gave the picture a more menacing and realistic appearance.
Along the line the original locking system was replaced by a more robust one, along with larger and more warning decals; to keep the door looking “used” the decals were “scuffed” to make them look like they’d been there a while.
Basically the virtual wear and tear made for added realism.
Finally, I should mention that no human beings were injured in the making of this book illustration. Well, except for that unfortunate incident when one of our flying monkeys gained access to our studio’s assault rifle.
But that’s another story.
Anthony DeCosmo’s The God Particle is slated for release via Amazon.com as a Kindle book. And more in the techno-thriller series should be following after that.
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Duncan Long creates book illustrations and book artwork for large publishers, small presses, and self-publishing writers. Find more of his book illustrations and artwork at Duncan Long’s Book Artwork Portfolio
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March 26th, 2012 on 8:42 pm
It is as with Poe’s dissertation on Theory of Composition a delight to read another’s definitive explanation of how a certain “effect” evolved or is created. Contrary to critics by some of Poe and others like him, revealing this evolutionary process doesn’t diminish the effect one molecule, in fact it enhances it. Why else are out takes included with most movie DVDs as well as conversations with the Directors etc? (Even behind the scene footage of FX movies)
March 27th, 2012 on 9:40 am
@Chaz: Thanks. I suppose there’s always a worry in explaining technique that some of the magic will be taken away and/or some rivals may put your secrets in their bag of tricks. But generally (I hope) learning what is done and why it is done helps add a little appreciation to what goes into the creation of a book cover illustration.