Of course there was no stock art back then where cover artists could skim through and grab the images that looked right for the story. They had to really on artists. Many of them really did look pretty much the same and it wasn’t great art. Still, that was when I fell in love with fiction and with love stories. And art is in my blood.
I realize my covers are off the beaten path. No cover stock hunks showing their well-toned bare chests or buxom girls looking provocative appear on EMK books. Well, at least no real ones.
I like art. I like books with gorgeous photography, but even more, I like books with art covers. Watercolor. Oil. Acrylic. Even colored pencil. Done by skilled hands, those will catch my eye fastest when I’m browsing a bookstore in person or online. Maybe because there are so few of them recently. Maybe because I’m so into art. Maybe because I have a bit of a problem with looking at a real person on a cover and thinking I’m intruding on their life by picking up that book, even though I know they’re only models posing for a part.
Okay, EMK books look different than most romances. I fully acknowledge that fact. Maybe that’s a mistake. But I think writers must be true to themselves or readers will feel it.
So, my covers are artwork. Acrylic on watercolor paper. I like them that way. Even if they aren’t any bit more great art than those classic pre-stock art romances. They fit the storylines. They fit the character descriptions in the books. They fit the author.
Good enough for me.
The above painting in progress is for my next to come, a novella this time, which should be out before the end of May. Yes, it will have a couple in a romantic position when it’s finished. After all, there’s nothing wrong with hunky heroes and buxom (to whatever extent) heroines!
It's All oKaye: On Romance, Arts, and Lights in the Dark
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Art … on Cover art. Imagine that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)