Art I Made For The Cover Of my Book
- Thread starter TrutherP
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Rovan_Eryk
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I like it. Then again, I can see the marks where it's hand-drawn (or the digital equivalent) which is something I've never been good at, and I respect people who can do things that I cannot.
I also like the monochrome+red scheme. Very dramatic. I can't decide whether I consider the hair to be 'bride of Frankenstein['s monster]' or 'Dragon Ball power-up,' but it's definitely got some personality going on. But it's the red of the eyes that draws the attention. All in all, I think it's good.
That said, it would probably not induce me to actually read the book, in all honesty. Keep in mind this is just me and my own personal reaction, but while I like it as a piece of art, it does not appeal to me as a narrative descriptor or cause me to be interested in the story itself all by itself. A description might change that, provide context and motivation. But while I might not mind having that art on a poster on my wall... on the cover of a book, with only the cover of the book to go on, I'd probably take one look and say 'pass...'
To me, and I could be dead wrong here so take anything I say with a grain of salt, a cover needs to do three things: It needs to catch the eye (the red eyes do this), it needs to convey something about the story (struggles here, beyond 'this is a character'), and more importantly it needs to convey something about how the story is unique (at which it fails).
So what does this cover say? Well, given the title I assume this is April. She (I assume, meaning no offense one never knows these days) has red eyes and her hair looks like she might have just been electrocuted. Well, we know she's not a normal person because of the red eyes. From the title, we can presume that she does, in fact, exist. There's a hand-pencil-and-charcoal drawing feel to the art which may reflect some factor of the story or may be mere art style. I'm really not sure.
These are the elements we have. What story can we spin of them? Given I'm working from merely an image and don't have a synopsis... maybe the hand-drawing is important? maybe the story has an art theme running through it? Maybe... who knows, maybe she's even some kind of character who was a drawing that was brought to life? That's actually an interesting premise. Who knows? But it isn't an obvious one.
But a potential reader isn't going to spend five minutes pondering what your cover art means- they're going to spend perhaps a second, maybe two if you're lucky.
What might help this along is some kind of background, maybe you could use the white space at either side of the bottom to fill in details that could add contest?
That said, artistically speaking, there is something to be said for the minimalist approach, and adding any details might well compromise that. You might add more details and context, only to make the image less eye-catching.
The joys of designing your own cover art, eh?
I took an entirely different and more deliberate approach. But in all honestly, I cannot in any tangible way demonstrate that my approach was any better or more successful. I merely offer my opinion. It's your own vision and you should not let anything that any single person say override your vision for your own story and how it's represented against your better judgement unless you actually agree with them.
I also like the monochrome+red scheme. Very dramatic. I can't decide whether I consider the hair to be 'bride of Frankenstein['s monster]' or 'Dragon Ball power-up,' but it's definitely got some personality going on. But it's the red of the eyes that draws the attention. All in all, I think it's good.
That said, it would probably not induce me to actually read the book, in all honesty. Keep in mind this is just me and my own personal reaction, but while I like it as a piece of art, it does not appeal to me as a narrative descriptor or cause me to be interested in the story itself all by itself. A description might change that, provide context and motivation. But while I might not mind having that art on a poster on my wall... on the cover of a book, with only the cover of the book to go on, I'd probably take one look and say 'pass...'
To me, and I could be dead wrong here so take anything I say with a grain of salt, a cover needs to do three things: It needs to catch the eye (the red eyes do this), it needs to convey something about the story (struggles here, beyond 'this is a character'), and more importantly it needs to convey something about how the story is unique (at which it fails).
So what does this cover say? Well, given the title I assume this is April. She (I assume, meaning no offense one never knows these days) has red eyes and her hair looks like she might have just been electrocuted. Well, we know she's not a normal person because of the red eyes. From the title, we can presume that she does, in fact, exist. There's a hand-pencil-and-charcoal drawing feel to the art which may reflect some factor of the story or may be mere art style. I'm really not sure.
These are the elements we have. What story can we spin of them? Given I'm working from merely an image and don't have a synopsis... maybe the hand-drawing is important? maybe the story has an art theme running through it? Maybe... who knows, maybe she's even some kind of character who was a drawing that was brought to life? That's actually an interesting premise. Who knows? But it isn't an obvious one.
But a potential reader isn't going to spend five minutes pondering what your cover art means- they're going to spend perhaps a second, maybe two if you're lucky.
What might help this along is some kind of background, maybe you could use the white space at either side of the bottom to fill in details that could add contest?
That said, artistically speaking, there is something to be said for the minimalist approach, and adding any details might well compromise that. You might add more details and context, only to make the image less eye-catching.
The joys of designing your own cover art, eh?
I took an entirely different and more deliberate approach. But in all honestly, I cannot in any tangible way demonstrate that my approach was any better or more successful. I merely offer my opinion. It's your own vision and you should not let anything that any single person say override your vision for your own story and how it's represented against your better judgement unless you actually agree with them.
worldismyne
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Simply wonderful!
Always good to see real art for a cover.
Designing covers for something that's going to be a thumbnail is so tricky. I had to make a new cover for the webnovel version because there were too many details in my og design. Your cover will look great in your signature too!
Always good to see real art for a cover.
Designing covers for something that's going to be a thumbnail is so tricky. I had to make a new cover for the webnovel version because there were too many details in my og design. Your cover will look great in your signature too!
