Tuesday, Liz Czukas posted a for-fun cover of The Sorbet Guy, mocked up for her by the super-talented Wilette Youkey.
That cover makes me all kinds of happy. Maybe because I already love the story. Maybe because I love Willette's graphical elements (fonts, texture and fleurons rule!). Whatever it was, I wanted one for myself.
I'm no Photoshop pro, but I did take a class back in the stone ages. Most thirteen-year-olds out-perform me, so don't look too closely at my work with the selection tool. Or, if you do, pretend along with me that my characters are plagued by bone and shoe-nibbling parasites.
I'm also not sure if it is genre-appropriate. I have a sinking suspicion it might be too whimsical. But I like it.
Yay pretend cover! You are imaginary, and about a book whose epic editing needs daunt me, but you make me happy.
I LOVE it! It's adorable and I think perfect for the book. I'm no expert, of course, but I think you've really hit on something with this.
ReplyDelete- Liz
Brilliant, 11-11.
ReplyDeleteJust how did you do it?
James.
Thanks, Liz. I think you're more of an expert than you think.
ReplyDeleteHey James! Thanks for asking.
1. I googled for images of wedding shoes, skeleton feet and Greek borders.
2. I used Photoshop selection wand to trim unsightly excess from the images before I pasted them onto a black background, resizing them to fit. Luckily, all that translucent tulle was already against a dark background. I got into the color balance of the border and turned yellow all the way up.
3. I browsed through fonts until I found Charlemagne Standard (and imprint MT shadow for the P). I typed things out in a gold color inspired by the shoes and the new border hue.
4. I stretched the text in a few directions. Did you know you can alter the tracking, leading, kerning, and letter height/width inside Photoshop? Just discovered that this week. It was like finding buried treasure in my backyard. All my previous Photoshop knowledge is 12 versions and fourteen years old. Like I said, stone ages.
Very nice! I really like the idea of the wedding dress/shoes and the skeleton feet!
ReplyDeleteYou have artistic talent. Great job. That cover on a bookstore shelf would catch my eye.
ReplyDelete