When it comes to the cover image for Path of the Stray (Quantum Encryption Book 1), I’m one happy author. We landed Aaron Briggs as illustrator for this series, a 3D animator who has worked on films such as Australia (the bomb scene) Daybreakers (the bat-vamps) and Sea Monsters (plesiosaurs and imnotsureosaurs). More recently he filmed, directed, edited and animated Parkway Drive’s Sleepwalker. Normally he’s hard to get a hold of, let alone commission, but I had an in. He’s my son. The journey’s been amazing. I’ve had a lot more ‘look-ins’ at the progress, from rough to finish, but mostly I let Aaron, Stephanie and the HarperCollins art department do their magic. Aaron knows the story, inside and out. He’s my alpha reader for this series!
(click here for high-res edition on Kim’s website)
Aaron’s comments on Path of the Stray cover illustration:
I used a combination of hand painting, photo manipulation and 3D modelling to rough out the general composition. Once HC was happy with that, the real painting started to take shape by painting over the top of the rough to get a unified look. There were some last minute changes including additional Australian flora. At one point I flipped the image to check the balance and realised the eye followed the path better that way so it stuck. I’m please with the results and surprised how much I’ve enjoyed doing book covers. It was my first venture into 2D. Right now I’m starting on the rough for Kim’s next book, Road to the Soul.
Kim Falconer is the author of the Quantum Enchantment trilogy: The Spell of Rosette, Arrows of Time, Strange Attractors. You can meet her during August at the Byron Bay Writers Festival. See the news and events page for details and watch this space for more posts from Kim!
Filed under: Kim Falconer Tagged: | arrows of time, Kim Falconer, Quantum Enchantment, Strange Attractors, The Spell of Rosette
Cooooool.
My illustrator’s not related to me, but she is a good buddy of mine. I put in a request and showed Voyager some samples of her work, and she got given the job! The most amazing part is that she’s my age – in other words, 24, and she was fresh out of university at the time. Just like me. Weirdly appropriate, hey?
Totally in alignment! And I love your covers too. They are strong and beautifully drawn. It makes you want to learn more about those Griffins! Beautiful creatures!
Did you get to see more of the artist’s progress while the book was in the making? More roughs etc along the way? I did my best not to hassle Aaron or peer over his shoulder while he worked. It took a lot of self control!
I did! She sent me the early sketches and so on, and kept me in the loop. And I kept pestering her for updates, because I get overenthusiastic like that.