Book Cover Illustrations

I just got word that Joan C. Wrenn’s Unsung Lord of Siyah Chan: A Novel of the Ancient Maya is now in print (from Outskirts Press). This is the fourth book in Wrenn’s series about ancient Maya culture.

Like the previous novel that I painted the cover illustration for, this offered a unique challenge in that the author wanted a picture to reflect the Mayan viewpoint of the world, and to also mimic the “flat” look of Mayan artwork. So the challenge was to capture both the look of ancient Mayan art while giving it some depth and realism so it would still work for a modern reader.

The author supplied pictures of Mayan glyphs which included figures similar to those in her story. Mayan artwork is somewhat stylized, and gives “cues” as to whether fabric is fur or cloth, metal, etc. Colors haven’t survived in most Mayan artwork, so educated guesses had to be made. The results worked well and the addition of a jungle, background glyphs, and some torchlight helped pull everything together.

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Duncan Long is a freelance illustrator whose work has appeared on book covers from HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Outskirts Press, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Fort Ross, and many other presses — and self-publishing authors. See his book cover illustrations at: http://DuncanLong.com/art.html
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Magical Contact - digital painting by Duncan Long

There was a time when I drew my black and white artwork with pen and ink, working over pencil sketches that then were erased after the ink had dried. It was intensive, back-breaking work that often took all day just to produce two or three drawings.

And in my youth I played with oil paints and later acrylics.

But today I seldom draw and never paint except in the virtual digital sense, using digital tablet and computer. The main reason is that the process is just much faster and cleaner. Those pen-and-ink drawings that used to take half a day to complete not only look better when done digitally, they also can be done in a fraction of the time. Ditto with paintings.

The digital media allow for experimenting and then “undoing” if something doesn’t work. With paint, one could undo with a palette knife or another layer of paint, but there was no going back to what had been lost in the process of experimentation. There was no way to go back to what was working up to the point it quit working. Oil paints don’t come with an undo button.

And when it comes time to ship the picture to the publisher, it is a WHOLE lot easier. No packaging, no worry about weeks’ of work lost in the post, or falling victim to a drop, jab, or other disaster.

Of course as with all such things there are downsides. There is a joy in working directly with a physical medium that is lost, and I often miss this and regret that my time is so limited (in that ongoing scramble to make cash), that I have little time to experiment with those grand projects that might be created just for the self (and which can yield the unexpected and exotic).

But I suppose even those first cave painters likely complained about having to spend all their time out hunting mastodon when they could be back home painting by torchlight. Some things never change.

In the meantime, I will continue to create digitally. Like email that delivers messages much faster than the telegraph, painting digitally cuts down on time and expense, for me as well as my clients. With all due apologies to Marshall McLuhan, sometimes it’s the message, not the medium that counts.

Dragonfly - a digital drawing by Duncan Long

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When he’s not musing over the medium and the message, Duncan Long can generally be found at his digital tablet creating book illustrations and artwork that look as if drawn and painted with pen and brush, but which are actually digital from beginning to end. See more of his illustrations and artwork at Duncan’s Art Portfolio
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Some time ago my author friend Karen S. Elliott had some questions that led to some answers that might be of help to other writers needing a book cover.

She asked, “What could writers do to make your job easier? Better description of what they want? Do they even know what they want? What’s the worst problem you ever had with a writer?”

I’ll answer these questions as if the illustrator you’re working with is a guy. This is not to say guys are better artists or that you don’t want to hire a gal to do a book cover for you. It’s just easier for me to write with one or the other, and so I’ll use “him” and “he” with that caveat to the reader.

That said, I think the main thing for writers to understand is that the illustration’s job is basically just to get someone interested in the book so they pick it up (or read a catalog entry) and get interested in buying that title. The cover has to be simple so it can convey its “read me” message with just a glance. That means maybe a character or two can be there with the proper color, lighting, and lettering to set the stage of mood and genre the book falls into.

So the cover needs to stay pretty simple.

Consider: A book is like a movie; it can have a cast of thousands; it can span centuries. The book cover is like one frame of that movie. It is just a tiny part, a brief flicker. It can’t tell the whole story of the book, and trying to make it do so is a study in frustration..

That seems obvious, yet too often writers want all the story elements in the book on the cover, and it quickly becomes a hodgepodge. And nothing causes folks to pass on a book instead of picking it up, than a confusing cover that can’t be understood at a glance. The cover can hint at what’s in the book; it can’t tell the viewer that the character is going to do for the first 100 pages.

I know that sounds simple. But sadly writers often miss this obvious thing (and part of my job is to try to educate them about this — often I don’t do this as well as I should).

When an art director, publisher, or writer approaches the illustrator about doing a cover, it’s generally best to have a scene in mind. Don’t say, “Well, you’re the artist. Read my book and just do your thing.” Unfortunately illustrators are on tight deadlines and don’t have time to read an entire book. But worse, invariably the artist’s key scene will be at odds with the publisher’s. So almost always (at least in my experience) this seems to waste a lot of time and get us all back at the starting line when the dust clears.

Consequently, it’s best to have an idea of what sort of mood you need to establish, what the main “scenery” of the story might be, and what your character looks like. Usually (especially with smaller ebook covers these days) you just will want one or two characters at the most on a cover, and ideally a “close shot” that shows their faces and upper torso rather than their whole bodies. Otherwise you lose a lot of details and don’t really get a good feel for the characters.

You might tell your illustrator, “The main character needs to look like he lives in the European Middle Ages, he should be wearing rusty armor, and his hair is long and stringy. He’s tired and sitting down looking depressed. And maybe there’s a dragon flying off in the distance.” That would give you illustrator something to go on and from there he’ll ask you questions to learn what he needs to know to get started on the first sketches he’ll present to you.

Also be sure you tell the artist how old the character is, ethnic type, hair color and length, and any other key details. Your artist is not going to be happy if he’s spent hours on a painting of a blond Nordic warrior only to discover your hero is from Morocco with short black hair and an eye patch, and just happens to be hanging out with Vikings. The sooner your artist can zero in on things, the happier he’ll be and the sooner you’ll have your cover you need.

Sometimes writers have a “picture” of who the character is in their mind. If you’ve been writing and picturing a well-know actor as playing the part (in your mind’s eye), tell your artist that it would be nice if the character looked a little like that person. He can’t give you a perfect portrait of the actor (due to copyright considerations), but it will get the artwork into the right neighborhood.

On the flip side of that, remember that when the artist creates their version of the picture, it isn’t going to jive perfectly with how you’ve pictured it in your mind. But unless it really goes against the storyline, try not to dictate unnecessary changes. If you don’t write in the book that the guy’s eyes are blue, don’t be upset if they’re green. Or if he has more or fewer muscles than in your mind. Or his armor is bluish steel instead of silver. Or the distant dragon has horns when you didn’t picture it that way.

If something in the picture is different from how you pictured it, but it doesn’t make a difference to the story, then go with the flow. You and everyone will be a lot happier in the end.

In the digital age it’s possible to change all sorts of things: Colors, layout, you name it. But that doesn’t mean changing things will always be for the better. Remember that your illustrator has given a lot of thought to the layout before you even see they first sketch. He’s working to make the picture the best he can and also working to make it show off his best skills and minimize the things he’s not so good at painting.

That means you should never ask for changes unless you’re really sure they might improve things. Sometimes client’s make great suggestions for changes, so if you feel strongly, the artist will appreciate it if speak up. But also be prepared to listen to your artist if he says, “I don’t think that would work, because…” You’re paying him big bucks to do the work; you need to do your best to let him do his best. Micromanaging artwork is a quick way to drain the life from it.

Just as (hopefully) you don’t tell your plumber how best to tighten a pipe or fix a leak, you also need to stand back and let your artist do his thing in the most efficient way he knows how. He’s spent a lot of years honing his skills; let him give you his best. You’re paying big bucks to your illustrator; let him be free to deliver his best.

There’s a point where you need to delegate the work and let your illustrator do it with as little intervention as possible. I know that’s easier said than done, and you do need to give some direction and be sure the picture is turning out the way you want. But try not to micromanage.

Sometimes near the end of a project there will be choices to make: Is this typeface or that lettering better? Would the picture be better if it was flipped horizontally? Should the character be a little closer or a little more distant?

When you get to this point — there’s really no bad choice. You’re choosing between good choices because you’ve reached a point where all the possibilities are going to work. In other words, you can’t make a wrong choice. Just to go with what looks best or let your artist decide. Just be careful you don’t get caught in that endless loop of endless adjustments and changes that do little to improve things but can waste a lot of time all the way around.

I’d say that it’s always a good idea to have an illustrator do the work for you with a contract that has spelled out the amount of pay, whether there will be royalties (generally illustrators get a flat fee and no royalties, by the way), and what rights you’re getting. If there’s no contract, US courts generally assume that the rights the buyer gets are minimal.

If an artist offers you a contract, take it because it will likely be protecting you more than it does him. And have a lawyer look the contract over if you have even a tiny doubt about things; contracts aren’t written in stone and almost always the details can be hashed out to leave everyone happy with things. (One caveat with lawyers: Occasionally one will try to tip everything into their client’s favor, leaving the artist with no safety net if things go wrong. An artist will resent such a one-sided contract and will likely assume you’re going to be a pain to work with. So if you don’t want to loose him as a partner in producing your book, but sure your lawyer doesn’t try to steamroller him with unreasonable clauses within the contract.)

Finally, remember that under the copyright laws in most nations, the artist owns the artwork. You only buy certain rights to use that artwork from him. You don’t own the picture. You likely will only own the right to use the picture on one book cover. But if you want mouse pad rights, t-shirts, or even the right to use the picture on a series of books rather than just one, then be sure that’s all spelled out in your contract. Otherwise there can be some expensive confusion and hurt feelings all the way around due to misunderstandings.

I’ve probably made this process of creating a cover sound a lot harder than it is or maybe even terrifying. Fortunately most illustrators have had lots of experience in these things and will be happy to answer your questions and shepherd you through the process. And once you get started, you’ll find it’s a whole lot of fun seeing your cover come alive, and later a real joy to see the book sitting there on a bookshelf or in a catalog.

That’s when it will definitely seem more than worth the little trouble you went through in getting it just the way it needed to be to help sell your book.

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Duncan Long designs book covers and also creates book cover artwork. You can see more of his illustrations at his Portfolio
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“The Dream” – a book illustration from Witches and Fish by Duncan Long

I recently had a request from a friend to post one of my illustrations that I did for a children’s book Witches and Fish: A Parable of Dreams. The book was basically written for the child in me, with no real plans to ever market it in a serious way, in large part because while a child is the central character, the stories are aimed at adults rather than children.

The book illustration above is one of the early pictures in the book where the boy dreams of flying. And as the title suggests, the whole book has a more or less dream/surreal/modern-day fairy tale feel to it.

Here are three more illustrations from the book:

“The Elephant and the Crane” – a book illustration from Witches and Fish by Duncan Long

“The Fish Kite” – a book illustration from Witches and Fish

“Lost, Under the Sea” – a book illustration from Witches and Fish by Duncan Long

Print and Kindle versions of Witches and Fish: A Parable of Dreams are now available.

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When not writing and illustrating children’s books no one will buy, Duncan Long loves his work as an illustrator for magazine and book covers. See more of his artwork at Duncan Long’s Art Portfolio
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The Dream - Book illustration by Duncan Long

Creative people often feel highs of joy and lows of sorrow that others may never experience, and perhaps could not even handle if they did. Little wonder many outside the creative world mistake (or dismiss) eccentric responses of the spirit as weakness or mental illness.

But in the end, these dismissive souls will never know what it is to be moved to tears by the beauty of rose or brought to joy by sunlight filtering through the leaves of spring or autumn.

The creative walk in glades invisible to those outside their realms.

If you’re creative (or live with someone who is), here are three links that may be of interest:

The Unleashed Mind: Why Creative People Are Eccentric by Dr. Shelley Carson

And an except from the musical Sunday In The Park With George in which the main character sings about the compulsion to complete work rather than have a life: Finishing the Hat

Finally, the guest post I did for Dr. Shelly Carson’s Blog (with some interesting comments by Carson and others).

"The Narrator" an illustration by artist Duncan Long

I want to make it clear that I don’t feel creative people are necessarily superior to those around them. Only that they’re different. Sometimes this difference is a plus. Often it’s a handicap.

The creative brain operates in ways very similar to synesthesia, a neurological condition in which one sensory pathway bleeds over into another so that a person may see a color when reading a certain number, or smell music, etc. The difference is that many creative people have emotional areas of the brain tied into visual or other parts that are not normally connected, so that a beautiful flower, sunset, or whatever may also trigger an emotional response. Thus while a non-creative person might be somewhat moved by, say, a bird singing, a highly creative person with the interwoven brain pathways may experience a rush of very complex emotions sparked by a bird song.

The extra circuitry within the creative brain also makes it easier to “see” relationships between ideas, objects, and so forth (perhaps relationships that indeed aren’t really there). These new-found associations can then act as a springboard to new ideas.

Also worth noting, like those suffering from synethesia, creative children are often hounded into hiding the feelings, ideas, and emotions sparked by their brain activity due to teachers (and peers) who tag creatives as “emotional,” “overly sensitive,” “tenderhearted,” and the like. The bravest creatives soldier on to become writers, artists, and musicians; the weaker or most abused likely fall to the way side, beaten into submission by the bean counters of the world.

At least that’s my very, very biased view and likely less than scientific take on the situation.

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When not pondering creativity, Duncan Long works as a book cover artist creating illustrations like those show above. Over 1,000 of his illustrations have appeared on book covers or in books from HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, ILEX, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Moonstone Books, and many other presses and self-publishing authors. See more of Long’s book illustrations at: Duncan’s Book Illustration Portfolio
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I got word that Holly LaMora’s Finding Badger is now available in paperback and Kindle format at: Amazon.com.

Billed as a “Metaphorical Journey of Transformation” the book is a very entertaining read. And you can find sample chapters at Amazon.com’s page. The only caveat is that once you start reading, you’ll likely be hooked and will need to buy the book. You can also find more about the book here at the author’s web page.

I also had the pleasure of doing not only the cover illustration for the book, but also the layout for the print version. This possibly is the first yellow-tinted background I’ve ever done on a book cover layout (and perhaps the first yellow background for an illustration as well). It was a departure that turned out well and likely will make its appearance in future book layout and artwork I do.

If you like science fiction, head on over to Amazon.com and check out Finding Badger.
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Duncan Long loves creating book covers and illustrating books and magazines. His work appears on book cover designs from HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Moonstone Books, and Enslow Publishers as well as three covers of Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine and The Sun tabloid. You can see more of his artwork at Duncan Long’s Portfolio
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The Bad Influence - artwork by Duncan Long

One of the pictures (which I posted for Halloween in the previous blog entry) caught the eye of designer David Grasekamp who asked to use it as “Mephisto” in newsletter advertising an upcoming lecture/exhibition about form in art — and which would include a showing of the 1926 German movie “Faust – Eine deutsche Volkssage.” (Faust – A German Folk Tale). I was glad to see the artwork so used and quickly sent him a high resolution version of the illustration..

But like all good stories, there was a twist. It turned out that the picture is rather powerful, and also quite unlike anything that appeared in the film. So there was fear within the committee in charge of producing the material advertising the lecture/movie showing that those coming to the presentation might be a bit put out that what appeared to be promised with my illustration didn’t show up in the presentation or movie.

Grasekamp devised a rather elegant (albeit surprising) solution shown below, by cropping the face from the picture. Here’s the outcome:

Also: The web page advertising the event.

Surprise with how the illustration was modified?

You bet.

But I have to admit it was a very innovative use of an illustration. And that’s what keeps art interesting.

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When not busily painting terrifying illustrations for horror stories, Duncan Long works to create the book cover artwork for a variety of genres from science fiction, to mysteries, fantasy. And, yes, a few horror novels as well. See more of his book illustrations at Duncan’s Book Cover Artwork Portfolio
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Wrath of a Demon Scorned - an illustration by Duncan Long

A small collection of artwork from my horror gallery. Some newish, others early artwork. Hopefully entertaining for those wanting a few Halloween scares and perhaps a laugh or two along the lines of those great Charles Addams’ cartoons or Stephen King in his less dark moments.

Place Prepared for Them - an illustration by Duncan Long

Innocent Blood - an illustration by Duncan Long

Evening Bike Ride - an illustration by Duncan Long

A Higher Form of Killing - an illustration by Duncan Long

The Tooth Fairy - an illustration by Duncan Long

The Bad Influence - artwork by Duncan Long

Danse Macbre - artwork by Duncan Long

Sometimes They Come Back - an illustration by Duncan Long

Spiritual Matters - an illustration by Duncan Long

Here’s wishing my clients, fans, and visitors a good and safe Halloween season, with the hope that those things going bump in your night are all imagination, or at worst little gremlins under the age of eight, armed only with plastic fangs and bags of candy.

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When not busily painting terrifying illustrations for horror stories, Duncan Long works to create the book cover artwork for a variety of genres from science fiction, to mysteries, fantasy. And, yes, a few horror novels as well. See more of his book illustrations at Duncan’s Book Cover Artwork Portfolio
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I got word from movie-maker Stephen Biro that his horror novel Hellucination (including the several versions with the book cover illustration I created, shown above) is now available in several formats.

Currently there are four versions of the book available:

1) The Mass Market Print Version using my cover illustration on the front of the book.

2) The Limited Edition version available from Amazon.

3) A Kindle Version (using my cover illustration).

and 4) A Nook Version (Your cover)

Regardless of the version, it delivers a terrifying story that’s perfect for the Halloween season.

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When not busily painting a book cover illustration for a terrifying tale of horror, Duncan Long works to create the book cover artwork for a variety of genres. More of his book illustrations can be viewed at Duncan’s Book Cover Artwork Portfolio
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One of the illustrations for The Raven

Over the last few years, I’ve created a small booklet to give away on Halloween, devising special illustrations for it (and in one case a typeface) and doing the layout. This year has been so busy — and that’s a good thing, especially in this economy — that it’s unlikely I’ll get a new book rounded up to give away.

But…

I still have three books from previous years which folks can download or read online.

1) Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death” can be downloaded or read online.

2) Poe’s “Eleonora”: Download or read online.

3) Poe’s “The Raven”: Download or read online.

Please feel free to share these links with your family and friends as they make nice “calling cards” for me and also bring a lot of enjoyment to those wanting a little Halloween reading that also offers a feast for the eyes.

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When not talking to ravens or things that go bump in the night, Duncan Long works as a magazine and book cover illustrator. You can see more of his illustrations at Duncan Long’s Magazine and Book Cover Portfolio
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