Book Cover Illustrations

Perhaps I’ve just become an old crank (please, no affirmative comments are needed). But I’m tired of all sorts of people now proclaiming themselves to be “artists” even when their career paths are anything but artistic.

The overuse of the word is understandable. Traditionally we have “the arts” which include music, dance, painting, sculpting, and so forth. Yet within this group, when you said “artist” (in the not too distant past) you would generally be understood to mean a painter, lithographer, or sculptor — someone in the visual arts community.

And you certainly did not mean someone putting frosting on cakes, trimming trees, or any of the other jobs that mysteriously have become “artist” in nature.

The first to interlopers were musicians, especially those in the field of pop music (perhaps ever yearning for the status enjoyed by those who perform classical music). And so vain pop stars, many of whom couldn’t even read the notes printed on a musical score, become “artists.”

For some time we’ve had “makeup artists.” Now these ranks are being joined by “scene capture artists” (photographers), “culinary artists” (chefs), and you-name-it artists that could be about any profession or trade. As with “visionary,” “awesome,” and “unique,” today the term “artist” means almost anything and nothing at all. As Alice in Wonderland‘s Humpty Dumpty put it, “”When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean.”

That’s pretty much how “artist” is used. It means whatever the user wants it to mean, a nebulous title applied to anyone, from a mechanic to beautician to traffic cop.

My intent is not to belittle anyone or any profession. Rather I simply note that it’s a sad day when words lose their meanings due to poor usage. And like Humpty Dumpty, once broken these words can never be put back together again.

Those of us who really are artists in the traditional sense of painting and sculpting now have trouble defining ourselves if our talents include several different areas of expertise within this arena of creativity.

No longer could Michelangelo define himself as “artist” without some folks thinking he would be singing in the Sistine Chapel rather than painting its walls. And were Leonardo da Vinci to call himself an “artist” today, some might assume he would be applying makeup to Mona Lisa’s face rather than painting her portrait.

Likewise “art” now means almost anything, defined by its position rather than its composition. For example, in 2001 the Eyesto’rm gallery in London had to rescue and “reassemble” one of its pieces of art when a custodian threw it out with the trash, having mistaken the pile of cans and plastic glasses that comprised the “artistic creation” as litter left behind by the staff. (To prevent such a disaster from happening again, the gallery staff added a “Do Not Touch” sign to the “art.”)

I would suggest that when “art” can be a random pile of trash, an unmade bed, or bits of animals packed in bottles of preservative (such exhibitions may be viewed in art museums around the world), the word “art” has lost most of its meaning.

So perhaps it is no surprise that the term “artist” no longer denotes what it is that someone does for a living anymore than the term “worker” delineates what one does to earn a living.

So instead of “artist” how about “paint pusher,” “electron arranger,” “marble basher,” or “tin can arranger” depending on the type of artist you might happen to be?

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When not being an “old crank artist,” Duncan Long works as 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 his book cover illustrations at: http://DuncanLong.com/art.html
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I’ve had the pleasure of creating the cover illustrations for the first two Stonewiser books (and am currently working on the third cover illustration). Written by Dora Machado, these books are technically fantasy novels, but have a bit more depth to them than is often seen with this genre.

Machado’s extra work in crafting her characters and plot have paid off.

Yesterday Bryan T. Marshall, head honcho at Mermaid Publishing, LLC wrote, “Stonewiser: The Call of the Stone was awarded the gold medal for the 2010 IPPY Award! That means every book in the series is an award winning book!! Let’s see what the concluding book will do! Thanks again for all you help in making it a success!”

Now obviously the book cover illustration wasn’t the deciding factor in this novel winning an IPPY. But it likely helped, because no one talks a book with a poor cover too seriously. That said, it’s nice to have played a small part in Machado’s success.

You can read more about Machado’s books at the Mermaid Publishing’s site.

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Duncan Long is a freelance book cover illustrator. In addition to Mermaid Publishing, Long’s illustrations have appeared on book covers from HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Fort Ross, and many other publishers and self-publishing authors. See more of his book cover illustrations at: http://DuncanLong.com/art.html
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From time to time I am contacted by people who have been touched by my artwork, often seeing things in my illustrations that I aimed to share — or hadn’t intended, at least on a conscious level. They share stories of joy and hope, and sometimes of sorrows and hurt.

It’s amazing how many of us live day in and day out carrying tragedy in our souls that remains invisible to others. And equally troubling how we manage to remain oblivious to the similar pains (or worse) that burden those around us.

I guess that’s the human condition, and one that art (be it music, literature, or painting), when doing its job, yields a glimpse of those things of which we usually remain oblivious. Once in a while we glimpse the pain in those broken, hidden hearts around us and perhaps are a little more understanding.

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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: DuncanLong.com
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A recent illustration (as of yet, without a home) created as a pseudo myth: The Great Father Paints the Sky and Stars. I painted the silhouette of a Native American medicine man as the Great Father and then created a starry sky (somewhat as what might be seen in deep space).

I think this conjunction of new and old creates a pleasing scene.

I need write no more.

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Duncan Long is a freelance magazine and book artist for HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Fort Ross, Asimov’s Science Fiction, and many other publishers and self-publishing authors. See his magazine and book cover artwork at: http://DuncanLong.com/art.html
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We live, the old Chinese curse supposedly goes, in “interesting times.” As is often the case in turbulent times, Christians tend to watch the skies wondering if perhaps, just perhaps, the End Times outlined in Revelation might be almost upon us.

Some of my illustrations over the last decade involve scenes from the Bible, and several of these feature New Jerusalem descending from the sky; this picture has proved popular with Christian groups and speakers who often ask to use the artwork in PowerPoint presentations, book covers, and so forth.

One early picture I did of New Jerusalem descending over today’s Jerusalem was mostly done in Bryce (back when Bryce was the rendering program to have) and the illustration is embarrassingly crude by today’s standards.

So…. Yesterday I updated the picture (shown above). It’s ready to be used by more Christian groups, and hopefully will be less embarrassing to the artist.

That said, I sometimes would prefer living in slightly less interesting times. Daily barrages of crooked politicians, terrorism, and world catastrophes are wearing on the soul to the point that, as of late, I find myself avoiding newspapers and new shows.

But whatever else one might say, things never get boring.

In the meantime… Watch the skies.

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When not contemplating artwork to illustrate the End of the Age, Duncan Long works as a freelance illustrator. His magazine and book cover illustrations have been used by HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Fort Ross, Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, and many other publishers and self-publishing authors. See his magazine and book cover illustrations at: DuncanLong.com.

Long’s also has an online gallery of Christian Artwork — including the old version of New Jerusalem.
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Back in the Dark Ages when I got into the publishing business as a writer/illustrator (here’s a list of the books I put into print), a writer with any talent could send in a manuscript plunked out on a manual typewriter, full of corrections, mistakes, and perhaps bread crumbs, and stand a good chance of getting it published. Back then, writers sent “manuscripts” to editors that were typed on scrolls of paper (so the author didn’t type past the end of the page), typed all caps, or even part pen/part typewritten.

Needless to say, nothing was very polished since re-writing meant just that: You started from scratch and often added as many errors to the manuscript as you corrected in the process. White out, correction paper, and even taped in sections and foldouts, often transformed a manuscript into somewhat of a visual puzzle that likely kept many an editor entertained for many extra hours.

Editors often worked with writers polishing a manuscript in the process of creating the galleys and typeset versions of the manuscript. Sometimes editors even did much of the re-writing and were involved in plot changes that went into the final book.

Today that’s changed.

With huge numbers of manuscripts being sent to editors, there’s no time for real editing beyond a few corrections. The days when the editor was often almost a co-author are long gone. Either the manuscript comes in polished and ready-to-go or it’s rejected.

Period.

(The only exceptions being for those few souls who have been best selling authors for a publisher.)

Today’s author must have a flawless manuscript if she wishes to get into print.

So how does an author achieve that?

The answer comes from a new industry of editors and ghost writers who basically go through your manuscript — or in the case of the ghost writer just listen to your idea and/or tapes you’ve dictated — and make all sorts of changes and corrections, giving you back a manuscript that is as perfect as is humanly possible, ready to submit to the publisher.

Of course such a service can get expensive. And if too many changes are called for, the book can be transformed from something that was in your words into a piece that’s in the voice of the editor. That’s why a smart writer will hone and polish his work before hiring someone to edit and proof it for him. This process of editing a carefully re-written and proofed manuscript is called a “light edit.”

A light edit doesn’t cost much. It greatly improves your chances of getting into print. It’s almost always worth every cent you spend on it.

Before I went into illustration work more or less full time, I worked for a short while with Book Editing Associatess (run by Linda Lotman). Lotman requires that anyone wanting to work as an editor pass a written test — which is one humdinger of an exam. If you don’t pass it, you don’t edit with her company. (And, for those English teacher I had in the past, I want to note that I did pass with flying colors.)

Lotman’s stable of editors includes talented people who can handle everything from technical writing to fiction, including various genres, and a few who will even ghost write a title from a basic idea you hand off to them. They can handle everything from a light edit to major manuscript surgery.

When you contact Book Editing Associatess, your request is submitted to a small group of editors who could handle the task, and each editor bids on the work. Thus you’ll get a group of editors to choose from (and can even ask them to do sample edits so you can see their work).

Whether you go with Book Editing Associatess or anther operation, it’s wise to have someone go through your manuscript to help you polish it. Otherwise your chance of getting into print will be greatly reduced.

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Although a writer and editor in his previous life, Duncan Long now works almost exclusively as a book illustrator. You can see his book cover illustrations at http://duncanlong.com/art.html.
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Most illustrators creating genre book covers know Frank Frazetta and his beautiful artwork. More than a few book cover artists have been influenced to at least some extent by his work.

Born in Brooklyn in 1928, Frazetta started his art career at the ripe old age of 16, illustrating comic books, eventually working for a number of comic book publishers over the next few years including DC, New Heroic Comics, EC and others.

For many of us it is his work that started appearing on the covers of paperback books and movie posters in the mid-1960s through the 1980s that exerted the most influence as he brought to life everyone from John Carter of Mars (and the lovely maidens who fought alongside the hero), to Tarzan, to Conan, to the horrifying characters depicted on the covers of Creepy and Vampirella.

If you noticed an amazing cover on a science fiction, horror, or fantasy paperback or magazine during those years, chances were good that Frazetta had done the work — or caused some artist to ham his style (something that more than a few illustrators have done — and still do to this day).

On May 10th I received word that Frazetta had passed away after he had suffered a stroke, dying at age 82 in a hospital near his studio in Boca Grande, FL.

Frazetta brought the characters of untold stories to life for many readers, and inspired several generations of illustrators — including me.

He will be sorely missed.

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Duncan Long is a fan of Frazetta. Today Long works as a freelance illustrator and has created book covers 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
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I recently had a student artist ask about the basic information needed to create a book cover illustration. The answer isn’t quite as simple as it might appear to be on the surface. There’s a lot that can go wrong in the process of creating a cover.

The basics I need to know: cover size, size of the area needed for the title, whether the picture will be “boxed” or bleed over the edges of the cover, and the dots per inch the press needs to work with.

The tricky part is properly reflecting the mood of the book, giving visual clues to what genre it falls into (action, horror, or what have you) and capturing the “vision” the publisher has for the book. Most importantly, the cover illustration must capture any potential reader’s attention so he’ll pick up the book and take a look at it (and hopefully buy it).

Usually the art director and/or author will have a scene in mind for the cover and I then bring it to life in the most artistic and interesting way possible.

The process of the publisher getting across what they have in mind for the cover usually starts with a “word picture.” I will often make suggestions and once we’ve settled on an idea for the cover, I then ask for the basics of character(s} appearance, buildings, skies, and so forth so they’ll be true to this word picture.

Once I have this information I create sketches of the various elements for the illustration and when these each meet with the client’s approval, I assemble the parts into the final whole for the completed picture. Hopefully synergy will propel the completed picture into something that looks natural, attractive, and attention-grabbing — no small trick in many cases.

That’s the basic process. The magic is the transformation of an idea into a cover that will help sell the title and bring additional enjoyment to the reader by setting the mood for the title.

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Duncan Long is a Freelance illustrator who has created cover 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 book cover illustrations at: http://DuncanLong.com/art.html
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Over my years working in the publishing industry (wearing writer, editor, or artist hat depending on the job), I’ve discovered that problems which seem insurmountable can often be corrected with what I jokingly refer to as the no-problem-is-too-big-to-run-away-from fix.

I just toss out the problem.

For example, have you ever started a sentence that sort of runs out of things to say at the end? Maybe you just can’t think of the right word or phrase to complete it. Often such a sentence can be fixed by cutting out the last few words or last phrase. If that doesn’t work, discard the whole sentence.

Have a book with a picture that doesn’t seem to fit into the mood of the book? Don’t agonize over the problem, just toss the picture. It’s the writing that’s important; don’t waste your time worrying about the illustration.

Have a story that starts with a wordy paragraph or two? Cut the paragraphs out. Chances are the story or article will be better for it. (In fact there are editors who make it a practice to drop the first paragraph or two of everything that’s submitted to them.)

Ditto for the ending of an article where a new idea is introduced or the writing rambles on a little too much. Toss the last paragraph or two and see if it doesn’t work better.

Of course this fix won’t work all the time. But often it does. So next time you face a problem that seems impossible to fix, try simply running away from it.

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When not working as a writer or editor, Duncan Long is a freelance illustrator. His artwork has appeared in publications by HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Fort Ross, Asimov’s Science Fiction, and many other publishers and self-publishing authors. See his book illustrations at: DuncanLong.com.
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Over the last 24 hours I’ve been contacted several times by illustrators just starting in the illustration business asking me for tips for beginners.

So here’s another blog with a few tips for intrepid book cover illustrators, with the caveat that my guidance is akin to the blind leading the blind:

1) Keep on keeping on; hone your illustration skills and keep contacting potential clients. In the publishing industry success often goes to the most persistent. Talent may take you a long way, but persistence pays the bills.

2) Create a web presence all your own. There are free sites that allow artists to display their work; the catch is that fellow artists basically are your competitors if an art director visits such a site looking for an artist. Use such sites to learn tricks and perhaps pick up leads from discussion boards, but don’t limit your online presence to these because if you do, you’re basically up against a whole lot of stiff competition. Start your own web page and have the site in your name so it will be easy to find once someone knows your name.

3) Find online discussion groups where you can learn about new jobs and meet potential clients. Again, groups with only artists are good for picking up tips, but poor for meeting potential clients — look for groups with art directors, authors, and so forth as well as fellow artists. (I find LinkedIn ideal for this.)

4) Get good at a few styles rather than being mediocre at everything. Often clients come looking for a specific style of illustrating that you do well. The more you concentrate on producing the very best within your skill set, the more apt a potential client is to ask you to do that type of work. (And if you’re good at a style of artwork you don’t really enjoy doing, don’t put it in your portfolio or online pages.)

5) You probably don’t need an agent – which is good because they’re hard to get. Art reps are great at getting work so you can concentrate on your artwork. But in today’s market there’s only so much a rep can do, and they generally connect only with the big buyers. Today the publishing industry is shifting toward self-publishers and small presses. If you have a web presence these clients will contact you (but often they won’t contact an art rep). For this reason time spent developing your online presence and bypassing an agent is something to at least consider. (And don’t get me wrong, art reps are great and if you feel like you’d doing better with one, and can convince one to promote you, by all means do so. There’s something to be said for being able to just create without the bother of paperwork, contacts, and bookkeeping.)

6) “In God we trust,” all others should pay at least one half up front on a project before you start working on it. You can find suitable model contracts online; be sure your contract spells out what rights are being sold. You should charge for additional rights when a customer asks for more than the ones they originally expressed interest in buying. Have a “kill fee” included in your contract. Contracts protect the client more than they do the artist, but the plus is that a contract can prevent confusion over who bought what down the road.

There. Everything I know about succeeding in the book cover illustration business, all in just a few paragraphs.

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Duncan Long is a freelance illustrator who has been in the publishing industry for so long his joints creak when he draws. His illustrations have appeared in publications from HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Fort Ross, Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, and many other publishers and self-publishing authors. See his book cover illustrations at DuncanLong.com.
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