#Book Cover Design

[norapotwora]

Last year I was approached by Wydawnictwo Nowa Baśń to create covers for the Warrior Cats series by Erin Hunter.

This is the cover for "The Apprentice's Quest", the first book in "A Vision of Shadows". 🐱

It was quite a funny coincidence, because a few years ago I stumbled upon someone’s cover for the series and thought it would be amazing to create a cover for these books one day. Time passed, my style evolved - I found myself drawn more toward stylized semi-realism rather than pure realism - and since Warrior Cats covers had always leaned more realistic, I completely forgot about that concept and never attempted to reach out to the publisher.

Then, out of the blue last year, an editor contacted me asking if I’d be interested in collaborating, because they wanted to take a fresh approach to the series. As you can see I said yes and here’s the result!

[thefugitivesaint]

Edward Gorey (1925-2000), ''The Wolves of Willoughby Chase'' by Joan Aiken, 1964

[theablokhus]

I’m still really proud of this hunger games cover design I did for practice.

[danka-in-art]

Now the back of TFC inpired dust jacket for @thefoxholefund

[drawulan]

I can finally show my big work, which I made as a gift, since the person has already received it!

I drew the cover and 11 internal illustrations for the personal print of Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know + all sorts of other design, like chibis, a star map (depicting equator sky!) for the endpaper

Chibi

Irl photos of books and merch

What do you guys think?

[nathsketch]

All done with the first book! Now three to go :)

It’s been a while since I read them and watched the movies, but it’s finally time to go back to Forks 🖤🥹🩸

Happy Thursday! 🌙

[sizeofyoursoul]

Fanmade TVC Book Covers: Inspired by The Vampire Armand

When I was making my other set of Vampire Chronicles ebook covers, I had another idea for a set inspired by my favorite of the original hardback covers: The Vampire Armand. The Vampire Armand cover isn't just well designed, it's also a specific painting referenced within the book, so I wanted to see if I could make covers with a similar design that also met that criteria for the other books!

As before, my disclaimer is that I am not a graphic designer, I am a nerd with a hobby! I don't own the rights to any of these books, images, or paintings (and I believe they are all out of copyright). I hope you like them!

See below for what each painting is, and a few notes about why I chose it and where it appears in the book:

Interview with the Vampire

Painting: Witches Sabbath by Francisco de Goya

Source: Directly Described, Artist Name Provided in The Vampire Lestat

Quote: "I kept looking at Claudia, the way she lay against the books, the way she sat amongst the objects of the desk, the polished white skull, the candle-holder, the open parchment book whose hand-painted script gleamed in the light; and then above her there emerged into focus the lacquered and shimmering painting of a medieval devil, horned and hoofed, his bestial figure looming over a coven of worshipping witches."

Notes: In The Vampire Lestat, Lestat specifically references that Armand's cell contains copies of paintings by de Goya. There are two different de Goya paintings of a horned devil, I believe this one is the one described here.

The Vampire Lestat

Painting: Amor Vincit Omnia by Caravaggio.

Source: Subject Referenced with Artist Name

Quote: "He moved into the glow of the candles on the side altar. His clothes were black velvet, once beautiful, and now eaten away by time, and crusted with dirt. But his face was shining white, and perfect, the countenance of a god it seemed, a Cupid out of Caravaggio, seductive yet ethereal, with auburn hair and dark brown eyes."

Notes: Armand is repeatedly compared to Cupid as painted by Caravaggio in The Vampire Lestat, and this painting is of that figure. Lestat also references Gabrielle having copies of Caravaggio paintings in her rooms at his childhood home. This painting actually has scattered sheet music and a violin lying in the corner, which was another section I considered using to represent this book.

The Queen of the Damned

Painting: The Dionysian Friezes of The Villa of the Mysteries

Source: Directly Described

Quote: "Then the realization had come to Daniel as they stood together in the ruined dining room with its famous murals of ritual flagellation barely visible in the dark: He isn’t going to kill me after all. He isn’t going to do it. Of course he won’t make me what he is, but he isn’t going to kill me. The dance will not end like that."

The Tale of the Body Thief

Painting: Syndics of the Drapers' Guild by Rembrandt

Source: Directly Described, Including Artist Name, Discussed by Characters

Quote: "Finally, a week after my arrival, I found David in the empty Rijksmuseum, just after sunset, sitting on the bench before the great Rembrandt portrait of the Members of the Drapers' Guild"

Memnoch the Devil

Painting: Garden of Earthly Delights by Bosch

Source: Directly Discussed by Characters by Name

Quote: "Exactly, like Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights, that kind of luscious sensuous paradise! Of course, I hadn't seen Bosch's painting yet in the Prado. But it was here in miniature in these books. Little figures frolicking beneath the abundant trees. Old Captain said, 'Garden of Eden imagery,' that it was very common. But two books full of it? No. This was different. I had to crack these books, get an absolutely clear translation of every word."

Pandora

Statue: Roman Depiction of Isis, Hadrian’s Villa, 117-138 AD Est

Source: Described

Quote: "My Isis had been Greco-Roman. Even her statue in the Roman Sanctuary had been clothed in a gorgeously draped Greek dress and her hair had been done softly in the old Greek style, with waves around her face. She had held her sistrum and an urn. She had been a Romanized goddess.

The Vampire Armand

Painting: Primavera by Botticelli

Source: Directly Referenced by Name

Quote: "Come on, somebody, tell me I make you think of Mercury chasing away the clouds in Botticelli's Primavera"

Note: This is, of course, the original hardback cover of The Vampire Armand, and the inspiration for the rest of this set. This is a remake to match the aspect ratio of the other images.

Vittorio, the Vampire

Painting: Annunciation with Two Kneeling Donors by Filippo Lippi

Source: Directly Named

Quote: "My father took me to see two more of his works, which were both paintings of the Annunciation… I had particularly enjoyed paintings of the Annunciation. Well, this last one I saw before I left Florence, done by Filippo sometime in the 1440s, was beyond anything I had beheld before. The angel was truly unearthly yet physically perfect. Its wings were made of peacock feathers."

Merrick

Painting: Madame Monet Embroidering (Camille au Metier) 1875 by Claude Monet

Source: Described, Artist Named

Quote: "I looked at a painting by Monet—one I'd come to neglect of late due to familiarity—a painting full of sunshine and greenery, of a woman at work on her needlepoint by a window under the limbs of delicate indoor trees. Like so many Impressionist paintings it was both highly intellectual, with its obvious brush strokes, and flagrantly domestic."

Note: This is a painting in the house on Rue Royale, which is one of Louis's Monet's, as he's referenced owning one or more of them frequently throughout the series.

Blood and Gold

Painting: Events of the life of Moses by Botticelli

Source: Directly Described, Artist Named.

Quote: "It didn't matter finally what these paintings meant. They filled me utterly. And in one, there were two maidens rendered so sensitively and yet so sensuously that I was amazed."

Note: Marius describes all three pieces by Botticelli in the Sistine Chapel over several pages, but the specific reference he makes that is quoted above is this painting, which is he compares to Pandora. Later he frequently compares Bianca to Botticelli's work, and I like the interpretation of this cover representing Bianca and Pandora.

Blackwood Farm

Painting: Salvador Mundi by Dürer

Source: Directly Discussed by Characters by Name

Quote: "'I'd save Dürer,' he said. 'Salvador Mundi--you know, the face of Christ with the hair parted in the middle.’"

Note: Many paintings get referenced throughout Blackwood Farm, though many of the artists are ones discussed in other books. Quinn's answer to the question he and Tommy are discussing (which one painting would you save) is a Madonna by either Fra Filippo Lippi or Botticelli, artists represented elsewhere in this set.

Blood Canticle

Painting: One of the "Unpainted pictures" by Emil Nolde

Source: Artist Referenced

Quote: "What the hallway needed was Emile Nolde. How could I get my hands on the German Expressionists?"

Note: Later in the book the other characters reference recently purchased paintings, and paintings with sailboats in them, though this specific painting is not mentioned. Other paintings in Rue Royale are described as "impressionist paintings" showing the sky, which are implied to be Louis's, and Lestat mentions them not being his personal preference.

Prince Lestat

Painting: Still Life with flowers by Rachel Ruysch

Source: Painting Described, See Notes

Quote: "What a pretty room, painted a cobalt blue and with bright white enameled moldings, and on the wall a brilliant painting of roses, wild, exploding roses against a backdrop of a darker blue."

Notes: This is a painting from Rose's bedroom, and Rose is described as having fond memories of visiting the Rijksmuseum. This specific painting is not referenced but matches the subject matter and description and is by a Dutch artist, contemporary of Rembrandt, who has similar works in the Rijksmuseum.

Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis

Painting: Marie-Thérèse Durand-Ruel Sewing by Pierre Auguste Renoir

Source: Painting Described, See Notes

Quote: "A Chinese vase filled with fragrant leafy eucalyptus, and a small undoubtedly genuine French Impressionist painting on the wall of a woman in profile, a woman with long russet hair."

Notes: The description given of the painting above is not very specific, but Renoir frequently painted women with red hair, several of them in profile, and this painting is one of them.

Blood Communion:

Painting: Sunset (1872) by Camille Pissarro

Source: Painting Referenced, See Notes

Quote: "Well, Louis and I have been reunited a number of times, and this time around, at the Court in France, our reunion is enduring. He left that Impressionist painting behind at my request in our old flat in the Rue Royale, and now these miserable miscreants had senselessly destroyed it."

Notes: All I had to work with here was that it was an impressionist painting that was special to Louis, so I wanted to find something that fit the tone of Blood Communion and was of a sunrise or a sunset, which feels in character for Louis. This painting is also currently in a private collection.

[ekbelsher]

Here's my dust jacket design (front cover only) for The Bookish Box for The Veiled Kingdom by Holly Renee. I was given very specific instructions, and the colour scheme is way out of my comfort zone but I like how her cloak turned out :)

[dropinart]

Tried my hand at a cover design for “The Hobbit” ☺️🌷 hehe

[jingleslefae]

"Get Lost", mock book cover, digital illustration.

J. Le Fae, 2024

[norapotwora]

The book cover I had the pleasure to create for Wydawnictwo Nowa Baśń for the Warrior Cats series by Erin Hunter.

This one is for "Thunder and Shadow", the second book in "A Vision of Shadows" 🐱

[thefugitivesaint]

Emanuel Schongut (1936-2022), ''The Ghost Flowers'' by Margaret Summerton, 1973 Source

[renstrapp]

I have it! All the way from Canada. I illustrated the cover for this saucy chapbook for @aphyray Thank you!!!! It turned out so lovely!

[danka-in-art]

Back of the TKM inspired dust jacket for @thefoxholefund ✨️✨️

[p-e-a-c]

Portada Libro Más de Una Mujer, Juan Francisco González Ramírez (Huelén) 1930.

IG Y.

[nathsketch]

I have a little something in the works for you guys and with today’s eclipse, it felt like the perfect moment to give you a little peek into it :) 🩸🍎🌙

Guess who… 🤫