Using words and art

Although this blog has been neglected, I am doing a lot of art right now although it's all digital either through using photographs or my digital painting. Descriptions of the process can be seen at my blog on the topic of writing but which lately has been more about cover art than words.

Rain Trueax 

Using my art this way, bringing to life characters that were fictional (well still are) but now have a physical reality, it's been a thrill-- even if at times a pain.

From now on, when I am writing a story, I will have the hero and heroine's photos (found through stock images) in front of me to keep me grounded in their physical reality. In the past it was all a kind of dream image. Now it's got flesh as I think of these books and feel very lucky I can see my fantasy creations come to life.

Sometimes music helped me write the words, now it can help me choose the right images as I work to put them together much as a professional graphic artist would do. My work might not be as smooth as theirs as I didn't buy special equipment to do this. But my work is mine and that energy will be in the choices I have made for these characters and their stories.

For this image, I thought of the right music-- Beauty and the Beast-- as well as Dill and Katy. I had written that he looked tough but never really had the right face.  It was more of a kind of dream image in my head. When I found it on Can Stock, I saw the story come to life.

There is no painting on this cover. I used a black background, then found two appropriate faces for the characters. Beauty and the Beast (the Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson version that ends the Disney film) could be their theme song. 

This book is not out yet but will be on Kindle sometime next week.