Book Cover Illustrations

Lion & Lamb Ministries has purchased limited rights to “The Serpent’s Curse” (above) for use on the cover of its Lamplighter magazine.

This is a rather quirky picture that attracts lots of attention, yet is pretty limited in its potential for being employed as an actual illustration (though I believe it has been used in some church PowerPoint presentations).

Now it has found a buyer, and hopefully will be seen in more publications in the future.
=====================
Duncan Long is a freelance illustrator who has created magazine illustrations for Sun, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Weekly World News, and Lamplighter. See his cover illustrations at: DuncanLong.com
=====================

As an illustrator, I love printed books and magazines. Nothing can match a crisp page with beautiful type inked onto its surface. Book illustrations are best in print without a doubt (though that might change in the future given a screen’s potential for higher dark/light contrast and greater color pallet).

But as a reader, I prefer ebooks to physical print.

Part of my preference may be due to my near-sightedness (the small screen isn’t a problem). However a lot of it has to do with ease of reading. Ever try to read a book while lying on your back? In a darkened bedroom? In the wind?

There are a lot of places where I find myself reading an ebook (in my case on a very basic $99 eBookwise reader) where I couldn’t easily read a print book or magazine.

I have discovered that book and magazine reading is an awkward business. After using the ebook reader for a while, the awkwardness of the printed page becomes painfully apparent: You have to be hold everything just so or the page glares in the light (or is hidden in the shadows), your neck and head have to be torqued just so to accommodate the page. Pages stick together, context can be lost traveling from one page to the next.

Print only seems convenient because we’re used to its torture. After reading ebooks for a time, the inconvenience of printed materials becomes more apparent.

Don’t get me wrong. I’d hate to see print become rare. The beauty of a printed page, the texture of the paper, the smell of paper and ink, the fine details of type and book illustrations… all sorts of subtle things that make printed materials magical will never be matched by any ebook reader.

But today, when I want to read a novel where only the story matters and book illustrations are of little concern, I reach for my eBookwise reader.

=====================
When not reading ebooks, Duncan Long is a freelance illustrator who has worked for HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Fort Ross, and many other publishers and self-publishing authors. See his cover illustrations at: DuncanLong.com
=====================

Issue five of Free Voices magazine came out with the illustration I did for it. The issue contains extensive excerpts of Edith Saposnik Kaplan’s book A Child’s Witness to Genocide (both the magazine and book are published by The Solomon Press).

The autobiographical story follows the harrowing experiences of Kaplan (then a small child) who was a member in a Jewish family in pre-Stalinist Russia, when Jews were being persecuted from all sides. Death and terror became almost commonplace with members of the family being betrayed and some dying violently. It is a cautionary tale, especially when one considers the anti-Jewish sentiments that seem to be growing once again around the planet.

Ray Solomon gave me a pretty free hand as I worked on this cover. I chose to do the illustration and most of the lettering in black and white, in part because due to the tendency of many to view that period that way due to old photos and newsreels. But also I chose these colors both because of the stark look they gave things as well as the moral implications of things being pretty much in black and white with no gray areas during that period in Russia.

The lack of color also helped make the key word stand out, with a dark red hinting at the bloodshed within the story. I struggled over whether or not to add the skull inside the “O” of genocide. Eventually I did but am still a little unsure whether it is needed.

For the face of the child, I chose to have the thousand-yard-stare that one often sees in people who have been involved in traumatic experiences. I also had her hands covering her mouth as if to say, “What has been seen is almost unspeakable.”

Hopefully these “hidden meanings” reach the viewer on a subconscious level even if they aren’t “read” directly upon viewing the illustration.

=====================
Duncan Long is a freelance book and magazine cover illustrator who has done work for The Solomon Press, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, The Sun, Asimov Science Fiction Magazine, and many other publishers and self-publishing authors. See his cover magazine and book cover illustrations at: DuncanLong.com
====================

Here’s a “sneak peek” at the cover I finished last week for Roger St. Germain’s science fiction novel Escape from Certain. The project started out pretty straightforward, but seemed to run into several unexpected problems along the way (and it is only due to the patience of the author that I eventually worked through them).

I had done tattoos in the past and had the technique worked out. The catch was that the tattoos in this case needed to cover most of the character’s body. When my “first draft” of the concept was finished, it looked like the character was wearing a gaudy blouse rather than having tattooed skin.

Eventually I settled on a way to make the tattoos look more realistic (show more skin between inked areas). Then getting the right pictures into place — each had to deal with plot elements — became a task.

An extra bit of fun: Got to create an “evil clown” face (on her right arm). I had always wanted to do a cover with an evil clown; this one gave me the chance (albeit, a face that is somewhat hidden from casual view).

Finally, the ghostly face on the left was a problem, mostly because it started on the right of the scene where a reader’s eyes tended to gravitate. It turned out this fix was simple; flipping the picture horizontally made all the difference.

This was a fun book cover to create, but turned out to be more of a challenge than I expected. I guess that’s what keeps the book cover illustration business interesting. Now I want to read the entire science fiction novel; the little I have read from it suggests it will be a terrific story.
=====================
Duncan Long is a freelance book cover illustrator for HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Fort Ross, and many other publishers and self-publishing authors. See his cover illustrations at: http://DuncanLong.com/art.html
=====================

Before you read further, a caveat and a few facts about me: I’ve worked for several decades in the publishing industry and worn all sorts of hats, from self-publishing/direct marketing, to advertising (mostly my own publications), to author (80 some books with large publishers like HarperCollins and Avon on down to small presses you’ve likely never heard of). I’ve ghost written for people you’ve likely seen on TV. Now I mostly create illustrations for books, magazines, and CDs. I know a lot of the ins and outs of the publishing industry.

All that said, I think we’re on edge of something very different, a major shift in how the industry works.

This change is happening on several fronts. Given the ever-expanding electronic market, instead of suggesting that self-published writers are outside the publishing industry (is that a realistic claim if they print books and sell them at a profit?), it might rather be that we’re on the edge of something new. That is to say, dismissing this trend as something less than publishing might be as wrong as scribes claiming in 1440 that “this new Gutenberg thing is not a part of real publishing.”

Other considerations… Is one percent of the publishing market really small potatoes, or only small in comparison to what the big publishing houses bring in? Yes, some self-publishers are only selling to mom, dad, and the other relatives. But others are clearly making a living at it. Are these folks not actually publishers by some definition of the meaning of the word?

And what about when a market like China opens up to self published books.

For decades (perhaps even a century or more), self publishers have been making good livings by marketing books outside common venues such as direct mail, magazine ads, and (now) Amazon.com and the Internet. If a person prints books and makes a living from the book sales, can we truly say they are outside the publishing industry? Or are they simply working outside the confines of the big publishing houses?

Likewise, is a University Imprint that produces quality literary titles yet see few sales and bringing out only a handful of titles in any given year all that much different from an author who hires an illustrator, editor, and designer to create his self-published title? Can we really argue that both have few sales yet one is a legitimate publisher and the other is not?

Now don’t get me wrong. The big money is with the big presses.

Yet why are the big presses staggering economically now while self-publishing is exploding? When one sees such shifting in an industry, would it be proper to ask if we’re seeing the start toward a very different economic model?

Those who have been working in the industry for a while know something is changing, and that it has the makings of a very radical change. Something is changing even though no one can quite put their finger on it.

I think it’s a mistake to dismiss self publishing as something that lacks any merit — just as it is wrong to dismiss the big presses as dinosaurs who are soon to depart this mortal coil. (That said, I see self-publishing as something quit different from the “Vanity Press” which is another whole ballpark and too often in the past indefensible in many — but perhaps not all — cases.)

There’s room for both types of publishing and I suspect that both will continue for some time, just as the direct marketing title publishers have operated outside mainstream publishing for many decades.

I would suggest that we might be in the middle of a sea change. If so, it would be a mistake to draw premature conclusions about what will sink and what will float until the boats right themselves and have a chance to head out to sea.

=====================
Duncan Long is a freelance illustrator for HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Fort Ross, Asimov’s Science Fiction, and many other publishers and self-publishing authors. See my cover illustrations at: http://DuncanLong.com/art.html

I occasionally create a book cover mock-up to “fill in the spaces” in my online portfolio and galleries. This is one such recent book cover design, based on an illustration I create about a year ago while experimenting with a technique for creating a rough, painterly effect using historic figures as a starting point.

===============
Duncan Long is a freelance illustrator who occasionally does the design/layout work on books covers. His illustrations have been employed on covers from HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Fort Ross, and many other publishers and self-publishing authors. See more of his cover illustrations and book cover designs at: DuncanLong.com
================

Book cover illustration and cover design/layout for Dr. David Gelber’s soon-to-be-released Joshua and Aaron (Book Two in the series).

In creating this cover, our first thrust was to offer a view of a human card player and only death’s hand and cards showing. Logically this made the most sense since readers tend to identify with human characters, not skeletal figures. But the result proved to be less dramatic than had been hoped for, so we literally turned the table on things and created the final cover design shown here.

Originally demons were to appear around the table watching the game, but the “closeup” didn’t allow this so demonic faces were sketched into the red flames in the background.

And, yes, the hand greatly resembles my own, when held a few feet ahead of my face as I frantically sketch with my right hand :o)

===============
Duncan Long is a freelance illustrator who occasionally does the design/layout work on books covers. His illustrations have been employed on covers from HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Fort Ross, and many other publishers and self-publishing authors. See more of his cover illustrations and book cover designs at: DuncanLong.com
================

It’s usually easy to visualize what a book cover illustration should look like. And going into a project it’s always good to have an idea of what the outcome should be. Otherwise, like someone lost in the wilderness, you go in circles without positive results.

However when followed too closely, a concept for an illustration can generate a very stilted picture that captures none of the excitement needed for a book cover.

Why?

As noted artist Robert Glenn recently wrote “From the evolved Impressionists to the greats of today, the most effective art-making processes follow the evolution of the works themselves. Process trumps plans” (“The Case for Visualization“).

In other words, a skilled artist will be constantly making adjustments to the concept of his painting, changing it as he proceeds so that the result will be considerably better than the initial concept. In other words, sticking to the “map” may get you to where you want to be, but that destination may be disappointing compared to where you’d be had the artist taken an unexpected detour.

The illustrator who adjusts to the conditions that lie in the creative road will generally find a new route to an even better place than where he was originally going.

Unfortunately when a client demands that an original cover concept be adhered to closely (or if an artist is too rigid inf following a client’s dictates), the resulting illustration will be stilted and contrived. Everything the original concept called for is there — but with less than glorious results.

My advice: If you want a book cover that is alive, dynamic, and attention-getting, let your illustrator have a free hand. Tell him what you want, what the overall mood of the book is, and then stand back and see what the illustrator will devise.

I can guarantee that the result will be much better than the original concept you — or the illustrator — had in mind going into the project.

=====================
Duncan Long tries not to adhere to cover concepts too religiously. He has created book cover illustrations for HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Fort Ross, and many other publishers and self-publishing authors. See his book cover illustrations at: http://DuncanLong.com/art.html
=====================

An artist can sometimes be an arrogant [insert noun here] to work with. Some artists seem to think that the client should have little or nothing to say in what is being done with a illustration project.

Of course it is true that an artist is hired for his skill and expertise (which the client doesn’t have). That means micromanaging a project into the ground can have the same results that a patient directing his doctor during brain surgery might expect.

I will admit it. Once in a while I cringe at suggested changes a client may make (and in fairness, some suggestions are right on the mark as well). I will try to explain why I think something might be a bad idea. I may even ask to have my name taken off any credits should the project really go south, at least in my eyes.

But in the end I do my best to give the client what they want. After all, it’s their money financing the project, the illustration will represent them in one way or another. They should have the final say. The client is the real boss.

As the old saying goes, “The boss may not be always right, but the boss is always boss.”

If an artist gets too magnificent to change his work to fit a client’s needs, then it is time for the artist to get out of the art business and start a new religion so folks can worship him properly.

=====================
Duncan Long is a freelance illustrator who has done — and often changed — illustrations for HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Fort Ross, Asimov’s Science Fiction, and many other publishers and self-publishing authors. See his illustrations at: http://DuncanLong.com/art.html
=====================

I just got word from John Chadwell that he has signed a book contract with Moonstone Books for a novelized version of the Werewolves of New Idria.

John Chadwell has written hundreds of articles for magazines and newspapers, become somewhat of successful script doctor, and penned over 20 theatrical scripts on speculation. He even works from time to time with Ron Shusett (who wrote Alien and Total Recall). And currently Diverse Talent Group is soliciting producers regarding Hunt of the Sea Wolves which Chadwell and Shusett co-wrote.

Now here’s where I come in: Chadwell has asked me to create several dozen brand new illustrations for his upcoming novel Werewolves of New Idria.

As those who’ve been following my work know, I’ve previously produced a number of illustrations for Chadwell’s online version of Werewolves of New Idria. But rather than recycle those, we’ve decided to go with brand new pictures so readers will have an added treat in store when they buy his book.

Working on a project with Moonstone is pretty amazing as well. They publish a huge number of titles (mostly in graphic novel format) including classics like The Phantom, Kolchak: The Nightstalker, Bucakaroo Banzai, and many other titles.

Am I excited? You bet.

Now to calm down and get to work.

==========================
When not climbing the walls in anticipation of doing illustrations for Chadwell’s Werewolves of New Idria, Long creates book illustrations for a number of publishers including HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Fort Ross, and many other publishers and self-publishing authors. See more of his book illustrations at: http://DuncanLong.com/art.html
==========================