Author Journey: April 1, 2022 - And That's No Foolin'

 Welcome back! I have something exciting to share with you today. For the last few months, I've been trying to tackle cover art, knowing that was the last bit I needed to get The Tale of Outh'n Durr published. I knew it would also be a huge encouragement to me to get Surge completed. Well, this week was most productive. Read on to find out all about it.

Author Journey: Creating Cover Art

Creating the covers for my books was something I knew I'd really need to work hard on. Digital art and graphics are not really my forte, but it was necessary if I wanted the covers to look a certain way without being a huge source of grief to another human being. 

I really was starting almost from the bottom up. I'd created a beautiful title page/e-story cover. You may have seen this cover in a previous post...

I loved this design. The problems were manifold, though: no author, no space for it, and a font that wasn't really working for the story itself. The one thing I knew I wanted to keep was that fire wolf graphic. 

The Trouble with the Fire Wolf Graphic

I found this 'free to use, no attribution necessary' fire wolf graphic on a site that no longer exists. Most of the elements from that now-defunct site were transferred to Pixabay, another site I use to find open source elements and photos. This one was not. That wouldn't have been such a huge problem, except that when I went to look up the files I originally downloaded from the site, they were showing up as empty boxes. 

I panicked, gotta be honest. And then I talked to my husband. He's far more competent in working with digital graphics, since he's the photography buff at our house. He fixed my file for me. And it worked. On my old computer. 

When I tried running it on my new computer, more problems showed up, confusing problems. Now I could see the files. When I pulled them up in my photo gallery, they showed up like they were supposed to. But they remained invisible when I tried to use them in Gimp. You could say I was a little combination of frustrated, angry, and annoyed which translated into ARRGGHH!

When I get angry, I get creative apparently. I really was trying to find the easiest way to get what I wanted on this cover, but I shrugged and got down to work. I took the wolf from the above cover by erasing everything around it. That took probably a good hour of work to be sure the edge of the wolf was uniform enough that it looked decent once it was placed on the cover. I now have a wolf graphic that should remain on my drive. I want to rejoice over that, but I'm still fighting disgruntlement. 

The Trouble with Frames

I love the vintage look. I also know many fantasy books have these gorgeous baroque frames with lots of stuff going on. Somehow I needed to combine the two and give it a unique feel to fit my own work. My fantasy books are a bit different than what's out there. But then again, that is the challenge, right? To create something unique enough to keep people reading? 

The frames I'd downloaded while working on Ripples (which I never used for that cover) just didn't work for the cover of Outh'n's story. The Shinnoahn clan likes squares and mosaics and glass-work. They are as colorful, fiery, lively, and practical as I picture storybook gypsies to be. And combining all that into something that is conveyed through cover art is difficult. 

It took me three days to find a frame I thought might work. Once I found it, I searched through more and more frames to be certain it was The One. Once I was sure, I started making it my own. I used a base frame created by Annalise Batista (AnnaliseArt) which I found on Pixabay. I found a matching title frame which she'd also created. While searching, I discovered some beautiful frame corners by MR1313 at the same website which I thought might be fun to incorporate. 

Still, it wasn't enough. Outh'n is studying to become a master glashiin worker and I wanted to incorporate something that looked a little like stained glass. I ended up using two kaleidoscope graphics I'd created several years ago which included the color purple. Purple is the color of the Shinnoahn clan and while Outh'n isn't perfect and he's got a lot to learn, he has a deeply rooted loyalty to his heritage. 

I set to work creating the frames. I probably worked on it for about three hours, though I didn't really time myself. I'm happy with the results, though I almost wish the colors were brighter. Still, the deeper colors represent more of what's going on with Outh'n in the story. 

Pulling It All Together

This cover has been a headache from day one. I knew which background I wanted to use early on...a misty-looking, dark forest of old trees by DarkmoonArt which I found on Pixabay. Again, when I went looking for the background I'd saved, it wasn't showing up in my files. I spent a couple days dredging Pixabay and finally found it. Dorothe has some pretty epic work in their gallery. You should definitely check it out. 

Then I had to try to find an overlay image that would give it the color I was looking for. To say it didn't exactly happen the way I wanted it to would be most accurate. I couldn't find the original overlay I used on the cover I was starting to work on a couple months ago. But I did manage to find one by AStoko on Pixabay.

I knew I'd need a backdrop for my title. The font I wanted to use was a little thinner than the rather Gothic style preferred by most fantasy cover artists. It matches Outh'n so well, though, I didn't want to give on that. So I chose a background that looked like suede. Imagine my surprise when I added the title and wolf to the cover, changed the blend mode and ended up with something that looked like fire-embossed leatherwork. For the supernifty win! Thanks to binhob for the leather background image I found on Pixabay. 

For the font, one of my author friends created a beautiful graphic suggesting several different fonts I could use for my work. One she suggested was Cardinal and it was perfect for Outh'n, as I mentioned before. There are some sharp points at the edges, as well as rounded and curved flourishes. Yeah, that's Outh'n's personality for sure. 

The Final Result

I'm so happy to share the final result with you today. This means I'm that much closer to publishing Outh'n's story and you are that much closer to being able to read it. It's short and more of a backstory on this character who appears in Surge (Children of Y'Dahnndrya book 2). And so some might find it strange for a story, but I think it gives just enough info to make a reader hungry enough to keep reading to find out where Outh'n goes from the end of this story. He's not the main character in Surge, but he's a strong secondary character. 

I only need to add the series plate to the cover, but this baby is mostly done. What do you think?

Here's the book blurb so you don't have to squint...

    Outh'n Durr became a misfit the day sickness caused a crossed eye. For a few tsimikin, he tried everything he could think of to fit in. When that failed, he closed in on himself, only finding joy in his friendship with one of the village girls and his own small family. 

    When Outh'n witnesses the accidental death of that friend, then is falsely accused of murdering her and exiled from his home, it's no wonder he begins to doubt the Creator's love for him. 

    All hope is not lost, though. Even in exile, things start to happen, strange things which push him in a direction he never thought he'd go. 

    Join Outh'n on his journey and see what happens when the doggedly determined keep going no matter what. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I appreciate you taking the time to read and, if you have a couple extra minutes, to hear what you think about the book blurb and the cover. Just share in the comment section below. 

Until next time...