Book Cover Illustrations

A “just for fun” piece I did over the weekend; a good demo of concept art and/or a book cover illustration (and, yes, all rights are still available as I write this).

Since the cloaked figure is supposed to be traveling (through deep space) incognito, I placed the figure on the left, causing it to fight the tendency (as least for those who read alphabets from left to right) of the eye to travel toward the right of the picture. At least in theory, this should cause the viewer to “avoid eye contact” with the stranger in the cloak.

Hopefully that also evokes an uneasy emotion in the process.

I added an octopus-like creature (I think it has more than eight limbs so it may be a nine- or ten-a-pus) and a small green lizard for a splash of color; the lizard looked lonely so a spray of vines went into the mix. The exhaust-fan looking inserts were designed after the top of my lawn mower. Yes, spring is here and it’s time to think of yard work (in the real world).

I should also note that “BobbiStock” provided the reference photo for the cloaked figure.
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Duncan Long is a freelance illustrator for HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Ballistic Publishing, American Media, and many other presses and self-publishing authors. See more of his work including book cover illustrations at: DuncanLong.com
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A few more black and white drawings. These were produced for the second edition of Wrong Side In.

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Duncan Long is a freelance illustrator for HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Ballistic Publishing, American Media, and many other presses and self-publishing authors. See more of his work including book cover illustrations at: DuncanLong.com

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A few more black and white drawings. These were produced for the second edition of Wrong Side In.

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Duncan Long is a freelance illustrator for HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Ballistic Publishing, American Media, and many other presses and self-publishing authors. See more of his work including book cover illustrations at: DuncanLong.com

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Robert Frost wrote the beautiful “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening.” Back in the dark ages of my grade school learning, our sixth grade teacher had us memorize that poem. What a nice gift to give young learners. That poem has brought me joy through the years, and a tear or two as the years roll by.

The joy of the woods is carried in the mind when we are forced to leave the wilderness to live in the noise and crowded spaces of the city. Perhaps, one day before I die, I can return to the freedom and privacy of the country, to listen to the quiet shuffling of snow flakes falling through the trees on a snowy evening.

Perhaps.

In the meantime, I’ve created a black and white picture with a little negative-space play, first (for most people) displaying woods beside a cliff in the wilderness, and then transforming into the memory of trees carried in the mind when the cliff reverses to become a face.

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Duncan Long is a freelance book illustrator. His book cover artwork has appeared on titles from HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Paladin Press, and many other publishers and self-publishing authors. See more of his work at: http://DuncanLong.com/art.html

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The mind often tries to see faces where none are: The man in the moon being a prime example. I can remember as a child walking homeward on a crisp autumn evening and being asked by my mom if I could see a face in the rising full moon.

I sure could after that question. There he was, smiling, looking down on me with a silver glow.

Oddly, somewhere during the transition from youth to adult, the face on the moon vanished from my sight, leaving a dead satellite of mountains and dry seas. This loss brings no comfort in “knowing better.” In this case, it is the loss of a comforting friend. Such are the losses in becoming an adult with blindly correct vision.

At least one animated version of Alice in Wonderland sports a door latch that becomes a face (the knob being the nose, the two screws above the knob the eyes, and the key hole a pert little mouth). I recently heard of children spooked when they “saw” faces in the new wallpaper in their grandparents’ house.

Seeing things that aren’t there is arguably the normal state of affairs rather than a sign of insanity.

So surely a “clock face” should at least have an eye (hey, most already have hands, right? — groan, groan). Thus the inspiration of this picture. I know it’s not an original idea, but hopefully the execution is.

The numeral patterns came from an antique clock my parents gave me a few Christmases ago. Perhaps they’ve brought me full circle from the Man in the Moon to the eye in the clock.

I did the original picture in color, but after creating a B&W version as one of the illustrations for Richard Thieme’s Mind Games, I decided I liked the color-free look better.

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Duncan Long is a freelance book illustrator. His book cover artwork has appeared on titles from HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Paladin Press, and many other publishers and self-publishing authors. See more of his work at: http://DuncanLong.com/art.html

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Another variation on the “starscape” theme (promise, this will be the last with of these similar star fields), this time laid out in movie matte format with a starship superimposed over the background.

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See more of Duncan Long’s digital matte paintings for stage and movie productions at:
http://duncanlong.com/illustration/movie_mattes/movie_matte_artist.html
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This is the original background concept art for the final Tree Clan painting (mentioned previously in this blog).

Actually, this is several concept art paintings overlaid. The back layer is the “starscape” of major stars and stellar dust, another the trees and bridges, one of the small figures, another of the distant monolithic structures, and finally the smaller stars.

As with much concept art, the human figures not only add a bit more interest to the picture, they also help scale it, giving the viewer and idea of how large the structures in the picture would be. This of course assumes we’re not viewing some miniature manlike create or giants… When working on fantasy or science fiction, the rules of scale can be off the charts.

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Duncan Long is a freelance magazine and book cover artist. His magazine and book cover artwork has appeared on titles from HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Asimov Science Fiction Magazine, and many other publishers and self-publishing authors. See more of his artwork at: http://DuncanLong.com/art.html
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Two nice things about digital illustrations are that the artwork can be stored easily, and that it can also be reworked very easily. For someone who’s going through a decade-long “learning curve” (like — uh, ME!) this makes it possible to go back to concepts that were good, but not executed too well, and revise them into something that has some potential for bringing in money.

Hopefully this is one that will do the latter.

But even if the cash doesn’t flow, it was nice to be able to revive this “old friend” and once again share him proudly.

And “old friend” he is, that tempter who leads astray.

One doesn’t hear about “bad influences” often these days. I’m okay and you’re okay and it’s not politically correct to suggest there really are a few “bad eggs” out there.

Yet the warning should be shouted: There are people who’ll bring you to no good end if you listen to their suggestions.

I’ve had the misfortune to see this happen, time and again. And every time words of caution fall on deaf ears, and those being lead down the primrose path insist they won’t be hurt — right until that moment they are.

In theory we can learn from our mistakes. However mistakes with the poisons and hand grenades of life can be tough teachers. It is a far safer course to listen to those warnings offered by those who love you.

And to distance oneself from the Bad Influence.

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Duncan Long is a freelance book cover illustrator and concept artist. His book cover artwork has appeared on titles from HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Paladin Press, and many other publishers and self-publishing authors. See more of his work at: http://DuncanLong.com/art.html
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Occasionally I see a writer agonize over which of two proposed book cover illustrations to place on his book. His fear is that one picture might be much better than the other for their title. And since there’s no way to know (short of trying both), it is a decision that’s hard to make.

Or is it?

In fact, the problem is not quite as dire as a writer may think. That’s because bad designs create an instant reaction. Like the proverbial Supreme Court quote, you know a bad book cover illustration when you see it. You don’t have to think it over. It’s obviously bad.

So if you reach the point that you can’t decide between two illustrations for your book cover, that doesn’t mean that one is bad and one is good. Rather, when you get that point, both are good.

Either will serve you well.

There’s no real bad decision to make.

So if you get to the point that both book cover illustrations/designs look good and it’s hard to decide, relax. Either one will work quite well for you and will likely sell just as many copies as the other one would have.

If nothing else, just flip a coin. Heads you win, tails you win.

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Duncan Long is a freelance book cover illustrator for HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Fort Ross, and other publishers as well as self-publishing authors who have trouble making decisions. See his book cover illustrations at: http://DuncanLong.com/art.html

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“Rich Young Ruler” is another reworked “golden older” I did some years back. I know he doesn’t look young. But the intriguing thing about the story of the Rich Young Ruler (who rejected salvation to keep his riches) is that eventually, barring accident or other early demise, he grew old.

Did he die old and bitter, regretting his choice? I can’t imagine he did not. So (a la The Picture of Dorian Gray, I tried to create an image that conveyed age, regret, and sins too long a part of life.

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Duncan Long is a freelance book cover illustrator. His book cover artwork has appeared on titles from HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Paladin Press, and many other publishers and self-publishing authors. See more of his work at: http://DuncanLong.com/art.html

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