I know, I know, it's been a long time since I posted here ... and if I told you the story of 2018 it would be entitled "Hell Year." The year when I've spent most of the time trying to find a way to get back on my feet and stay out of the [insert your favorite expletive] hospital! But we're into mid-November now, and I'm still here. So ... here's a post to celebrate a book cover I just finished, and am very pleased with.
It's actually a digital painting, but it was based on a 3D model plus a drawing, and I designed this face from scratch, so ... 3D art? A cousin of 3D art at least. It's the cover for the new Mel Keegan novel, due out very soon -- a haunted house in the middle of a nasty winter, when you can't get out of the place. Very Gothic. (Very exciting, actually).
To give you an idea of how much painting is involved -- you'll have to see these at larger size to see the real work, but if you've an interest in this kind of thing, it might be well worth it:
Meanwhile, I'm still muddling along with the ooold DAZ Studio 3 I feel most comfortable with, and the old Michael 4 model, and Photoshop Elements 9, because, frankly, that's what I have. And they still work. I haven't even bothered upgrading my Serif X3 yet! And speaking of Serif, which I use for all typography projects --
Serif Page Plus has become "legacy" software. Meaning, it's been discontinued. Serif is selling licenses, and you can get online help via forums and whatnot, but the company is devoted to developing something new which is tipped to blow everything else out of the water. LOL, here I am, still using X3! Again, it's what I have ... and it works.
This painting is one of a handful of formal pieces I've done in 2018, but as usual I'm hoping that next year will be a better year, and not merely for myself. (I'm not the only one "doing it the hard way" right now.) I did the cover for the ENDGAME OMNIBUS about five months ago, then to my surprise I found myself painting the cover for a new omnibus, FUTURE IMPERFECT. I'll upload that next time...
But this one, here, is a beaut ... and I got to design a face. I'd forgotten how much I used to enjoy designing faces, and painting light effects. Must get back into this. Note to self: indulge in art for its own sake. It doesn't have to be work. In fact, if it's not work, it's actually more fun. The brain begins to revolve, imagining new projects ... anyway --
This here novel -- the haunted house on the moor, with the blizzard outside and all hell busting loose inside -- will be out fairly soon. Not quite sure of the date, but I can certainly keep you informed. You can also visit [2023 EDIT: the dot-com web address is defunct as of early this year. For some reason, the system utterly denied access to it, and it could not be renewed. Then some joker bought is as a zombie domain name, and MK would have to buy it back at significant cost. Not going to happen, but the web pages are all still there and still viable. Find MK online in the same place...] Mel Keegan Online and keep tabs on the author there. I spent several days working on a new mobile version of the site, so if you're viewing on a phone, you're in for a treat. Click that link, above, and see what happens! 😃
I'll leave you, today, with the whole, finished cover including typography: neat!
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| Interestingly, the book had a title change after this was done and uploaded. It's now FALCONSTONE... |
