There's nothing like seeing it.

Nateskate · Dec 6, 2007

Today I got together with a professional illustrator to create an image for the website. Wow. It took about a half hour to bang out an image of one of the creatures from my story. It's staring down a fifteen year old boy.

Picture a creature on the scale of the Balrog facing off against Gandalf, except the perspective would be facing the Balrog from behind Gandalf's back.

They will continue to work on it, but I was so impressed with just the sketches, my jaw dropped. That is such a great feeling to actually see something come alive, especially when it was so close to the picture in my head!

I imagine that's the feeling people get when they see their covers for the first time?

jannawrites · Dec 6, 2007

Wow, how awesome! When can we see it? Hmm?

AceTachyon · Dec 6, 2007

Nateskate said:
Picture a creature on the scale of the Balrog facing off against Gandalf, except the perspective would be facing the Balrog from behind Gandalf's back.

Kinda brings to mind the Frazetta painting, "Chained," from the old Conan collection Conan the Usurper.

HourglassMemory · Dec 6, 2007

I envy you for being able to see your story in actual images!!!!

Hummingbird · Dec 6, 2007

I would like to see that!

Did it turn out how you imagined it?

Doodlebug · Dec 7, 2007

Congratulations, that is so cool. :Sun:

I've been lucky enough to have a couple of my stories illustrated when they were published. It is so much fun to see what the artists come up with.

Nateskate · Dec 7, 2007

jannawrites said:
Wow, how awesome! When can we see it? Hmm?

I'm hoping very soon. I have some prototypes, but I don't want to post them lest people get the wrong image of what the creatures look like.

Nateskate · Dec 7, 2007

AceTachyon said:
Kinda brings to mind the Frazetta painting, "Chained," from the old Conan collection Conan the Usurper.

I love fantasy art. And there are so many creative images out there, I can't even know if this will not approximate something already out there. The special effects artist Steve Wang is one of my Myspace friends. What I love about great illustrators/special effects...etc, is that their gift allows them to bring to life immages that add dimension to the creatures we create.

Nateskate · Dec 7, 2007

Hummingbird said:
I would like to see that! Did it turn out how you imagined it?

Did it turn out exactly like I wanted??? This is going to sound weird, but not yet. The Publisher's illustrator is going to come up with their own images. But I'm looking at it like this, I'm hoping to see multiple interpretations of my creatures.

I'm friends with Barbara Remington who illustrated the first U.S authorized paperbacks of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Later, she created her own depictions of Gandalf, Shelob, and the creatures from the series. They differ from the other popular illustrations we're more familiar with. But that's one thing I think is awesome, to see your creatures through someone else's eyes.

Nateskate · Dec 7, 2007

Doodlebug said:
Congratulations, that is so cool.

I've been lucky enough to have a couple of my stories illustrated when they were published. It is so much fun to see what the artists come up with.

That must have been pretty awesome.

This is new to me. What was unique was that it became like one of those police sketchers taking notes.... "No, I want the wings wider here, and arched down... No...more of a cross between a bat and a Dragon's wings, but I want it to flex here...

wayndom · Dec 7, 2007

Nateskate said:
I imagine that's the feeling people get when they see their covers for the first time?

Depends on the cover. The first cover for Thor was awful, and I got on the horn to my agent as soon as I saw it. I gave her a detailed list of reasons why the cover art sucked, and since they were valid points, the publisher agreed, and came up with a new cover that was acceptable.

Unfortunately, I mistakenly believed that publishers wouldn't want to be bothered with buttinsky authors, so I didn't send them my own idea for the cover, which I still believe would've sold better. Only after it was published did I learn that (once they decide to publish it), publishers appreciate any good ideas from the author on how to sell it.

By the way, when the book was finally pub'ed and I got a copy, I was even more appalled by the cover blurb, which essentially gave away the entire plot (and was amateurishly written in other ways, e.g., there was a single sentence that used the phrase, "in fact" twice)!

WordlyVision · Dec 7, 2007

Awesome to hear that. Hope the end results turn out well.

Wayndom said:
Unfortunately, I mistakenly believed that publishers wouldn't want to be bothered with buttinsky authors, so I didn't send them my own idea for the cover, which I still believe would've sold better. Only after it was published did I learn that (once they decide to publish it), publishers appreciate any good ideas from the author on how to sell it.

You learn something new every day, as I just did.

Nateskate · Dec 8, 2007

wayndom said:
Depends on the cover. The first cover for Thor was awful, and I got on the horn to my agent as soon as I saw it. I gave her a detailed list of reasons why the cover art sucked, and since they were valid points, the publisher agreed, and came up with a new cover that was acceptable.

By the way, when the book was finally pub'ed and I got a copy, I was even more appalled by the cover blurb, which essentially gave away the entire plot (and was amateurishly written in other ways, e.g., there was a single sentence that used the phrase, "in fact" twice)!

Wow, that is really such a nightmare. In my eyes, the cover is so important, and you wound up having to deal with this.

My publisher has really been wonderful in communicating with me, and has expressed interest in seeing and using my ideas, because I've done some illustrations they saw and liked. However, I told them I'm not a pro and can't come near to recreating the images I see in my head. This image is being created for my upcoming website and other promotional purposes, but it stands up very well to some of the best coverwork I've seen. The Image dimensions will need to be croped if they decided to use it for cover purposes.

There's nothing like seeing it.

Nateskate

jannawrites

no, really

AceTachyon

Odd person

HourglassMemory

Hummingbird

Pen, Paper, Prepared. ...Write!

Doodlebug

Nateskate

Nateskate

Nateskate

Nateskate

wayndom

WordlyVision

The Ideas keep coming...

Nateskate