I'm in the process of formatting "The Storm-Wing" for CreateSpace. I'm taking it slow for two reasons: First, I want to give v.1 more time to become more widely read. Nobody is going to buy v.2 until they've read v.1. Second, I'm doing some last minute revision as I format, so that slows things down. Actually, there is a third reason - I'm spending way too much time blogging, commenting on other people's blogs, and emailing! But I'm enjoying that! I have also done a back cover, but it doesn't have any illustrations. It's just a plain excerpt from the text. The map is nearly done -- I may want to simplify it a little. When I'm satisfied, I'll post it on the Maps page.
I would love to have some opinions on this front cover. What do you think of the ripples in the river? Water is the hardest thing to do with this Word program. First I had it with no ripples, just the greenish swamp-water color, and it looked OK. Then I added the ripples and I think maybe it looks worse -- more unnatural. What do you think?
Obviously I modeled Hak'tuk the Storm-Wing on a pterosaur, with some additions and alterations. He's a protoavian, actually, or a sauroavian. He's quite a monster, meant to represent Hercules' Labor of the Stymphalian Birds. But in my interpretation he's much more than a monster, as you will find when you read the book.
That's Za'dut in the background and A'zhu'lo at the right front; both have been knocked out of the fray, while our hero Ki'shto'ba stands its ground. One way the Marsh Guardians fight is by shooting poisonous dung at their opponents -- you can see splotches of it on the ground, and direct hits are making both Za'dut and A'zhu'lo throw up. Besides that weapon, the creatures fling feathers that penetrate like iron darts.
The drawing will be trimmed at the black bleed line when published in print form. I think this is a pretty eye-catching cover (lots of action) and it ought to show up decently in the Kindle version.
By all means, I am not an artist, so my opinion may not count. Having said that, I think the ripple in the water looks fine. What threw me off a bit is that creature --was he flying over the water. I can't see his tail ... or was he coming out from the water ...
ReplyDeleteHe's flying, attacking Ki'shto'ba, the big Shi Warrior with the spear. That's his tail with the tuft of feathers at the end. His tail is tucked under so he can pluck out the feather-darts and fling them, as I explained in the text. See the feather he's holding in his beak? I'm a little puzzled as to why that isn't clear. Anybody else have a problem with that?
DeleteI consulted an acquaintance about the problem with this drawing and he said his first impression was that it was underwater in the lower half of the picture. I think I see the problem - it's kind of an optical illusion and a perspective problem. The broad river tends to stick out and create the impression of the top of a body of water. I'm going to try narrowing the river, removing the ripples, and lowering the line of distant hills so that the flying Marsh Guardian is displayed more against the sky. Stay tuned!
DeleteYes. That was it! At beginning I thought he was flying but then he looked like he was coming out from the river. Thank you for stopping by to let me know ... I meant to stop by back but got too distracted with many things and I forgot.
DeleteI love the cover art.
ReplyDeletehttp://joycelansky.blogspot.com
Thank you, Joyce! I take it then that the optical illusion that the whole thing is taking place underwater didn't affect you. I am working on a revision, which I'll post within a couple of days.
Delete