Furry Writers' Guild Forum

Seeking cover artist suggestions...

Publishing and Marketing
#1

One of my projects for next year is getting “Huntress” (my novella/short novel from Five Fortunes) out as a standalone ebook, which will also include at least one new short story set in that same world.

Which means I need to find a cover artist.

I have a couple in mind as possibilities, but I thought I’d put this out there for any suggestions, especially if you’ve worked with the artist already (as a writer or editor). I’d prefer someone in the fandom – partly, of course, because furry artists tend to charge much less :slight_smile: – but also because I’d like to support furry artists.

Price range: I know I probably won’t get anyone above stick-figure level for less than $100, but I’d like to spend less than $200 if at all possible, since I’ll count myself lucky if I sell enough copies to break even on the cover costs.

Timeframe: Ideally I’d like to have the art done by April 1, so if somebody’s already got a 6-month waiting list, that’s a no-go.

Style: Some kind of stylized realism, either traditional or digital. Nothing toony, Lion King style, or Terrie Smith type, but would prefer to stay away from the hyper-realistic end of the spectrum also (in other words, if their digital stuff looks like a photo of the animal, that might be more realism than I’m going for). They at least need to have some evidence in their gallery/portfolio that they can do feline anthro characters well, and if they have examples with lions/lionesses, so much the better.

Ideas?

#2

I’m getting Darkomi for Fragments. She’s worked my munchkin cat a few times, as well as my poster girl Nitetigrezz (a feline as well). If you want, I can link you to the same pics I was going to link Fuzz to for his approval :3

#3

She’s a good artist, but looking at her gallery on FA, that’s maybe a bit more to the toony side than the kind of style I’m looking for.

#4

Silent Ravyn (http://www.furaffinity.net/user/silentravyn) did the interior art for Abandoned Places and has done some cover art before.
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11529252/ is one of her covers.

Kappy is another good artist, who did the cover art for Abandoned Places.
http://www.furaffinity.net/user/kappy

#5

My top three five picks:

Chris Goodwin can illustrate like a powerhouse, and comes packed with so many various styles in his repertoire that he can practically be ten artists in one. Plus, he’s been a professional illustrator for quite a few books before, most notably Ironclaw/Jadeclaw. https://www.furaffinity.net/user/chrisgoodwin/

Kamui’s work begs to be found on a book, or many a book, and posters. He’s got talent on par with Goodwin and his own deft, dramatic realism to his style. https://www.furaffinity.net/gallery/kamui/

PseudoManitou’s work follows in my tastes for Goodwin and Kamui’s work, and adds its own psychedelia and poster style. If you needed something visually striking, this is it right here. https://www.furaffinity.net/gallery/pseudomanitou/

BubbleWolf has a digital painting style that just screamingly begs to be put on the covers of novels. The painting style strongly reminds me of TOR and Baen books back in the 90’s, back when cover art was everything. https://www.furaffinity.net/user/bubblewolf/

Ryan Wardlow’s work is striking and distinctive, and probably another great choice for novels: https://www.furaffinity.net/gallery/ryanwardlow/

Honorable mentions:

Arphalia has a style I’d probably want to choose more for interior artwork than cover art, as her monochromes with ink tend to really shine, but she’s got all kinds of quality. https://www.furaffinity.net/gallery/arphalia/

Balaa doesn’t dip into the style often, but there’s times her full-colour paintings really look like they’d make a fine book cover. Example here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/5516202/

There’s Blotch, of course. :slight_smile:

Dramamine is currently doing the eye-poppingly wonderful “Night Physics” series which might make for a wonderful styling for furry psychedelia. https://www.furaffinity.net/gallery/dramamine/

Echin is another choice for someone I wouldn’t mind doing internal art for a book, especially his monochrome work. His work tends towards the hyper muscularized, though, so it limits his usability and appeal. Damn shame; he renders subtle expressions with tremendous finesse. https://www.furaffinity.net/view/10750640/

FaberCastel has an art style that invites itself to the covers of books, with the warm pastel hues and stylings. Example here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/4200824/

Inku does elaborate, beautiful anthropomorphic psychedelia. Where Dramamine mines the drug-psychdelia, Inku’s on the other side of that spectrum, with fantastical whorls and patterns and symmetries and… oh, just go look. :smiley: https://www.furaffinity.net/gallery/inku/

Kaji has some spectacular, spectacular paintings going on, poster art out the wazoo here. https://www.furaffinity.net/gallery/kaji/

Louvelex (https://www.furaffinity.net/gallery/louvelex/) would be my top choice for illustrating a children’s book. I mean, come on. This little burro playing a squeezebox is so cute it’s cheating! https://www.furaffinity.net/view/11157197/

NightRhino (author of the spectacularly illustrated ‘Carnal!’ graphic novels) has some gorgeous stuff happening, if you like your anthros gritty and scary: https://www.furaffinity.net/gallery/nightrhino/

Oouna’s done some work for me before, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t include her in this list: https://www.furaffinity.net/scraps/oouna/

Pac is currently doing a lot of the awesome stuff for the Furry Basketball Association project. https://www.furaffinity.net/gallery/pac/

RaccoonWolf’s rough painting style remains incredibly evocative, especially at full size/resolution: https://www.furaffinity.net/gallery/racoonwolf/

#6

Oh! Oh! Please check out Ultrafox: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/ultrafox/

It sounds like his style might be the kind of thing you’re after, plus he’s a dear pal of mine and a lovely person.

Recent big cat example: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/12561128/

Also, I would be super excited to see more from the Huntress world!

#7

So far, my anthologies have had covers by Ursula Vernon, Blotch, Sara Miles, Terrie Smith, Roz Gibson; and the cover of the upcoming “The Furry Future” is by BlackTeagan (who is half of Blotch). I am delighted by all of their work, although some of them are too animation-cartoony for what you want.

#8

Poetigress, do you know Eben Prentzler (Umuntu), an Afrikaaner furry currently in the U.S.? Or he was a few years ago. His art style seems like what you’re looking for.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51mNf3Q1AsL.jpg

#9

The name isn’t familiar, but I remember seeing the cover. Not quite as polished as I’m going for, but getting there.

Everyone else, thanks for the suggestions! To give some more idea of the style I’m seeking, I’ve had Sekhmet in mind ever since way back when I first thought “Huntress” was going to just be a standalone novella and not published any other way, though I don’t know what her availability is going to be like, and her prices skirt the upper limits of my ideal range. Qzurr is another with the type of style I’m going for, but is too far out of my price range. (Deservedly so – mind you, I’m not complaining that anyone’s overpriced; just that it’s more than I can realistically spend.) And yeah, I’ve liked Balaa’s work for a long time, but again, not sure about pricing.

Also, in addition to needing to see some feline/big cat examples, I’d also need to be able to get some idea from their gallery of how the artist handles female anthros, since some artists are better with male builds than female or vice versa.

I guess it’ll just come down to making a shortlist and then working my way down as I contact people to see who’s going to work out. At any rate, if there are others working in similar styles, let me know. (And if anybody knows artists who are also writers, I’d also be willing to trade critiquing/beta reading if that might help offset some cost.)

#10

Yowzah, heck of a list here o.o A lot of names I recognize too, though I was sure of those, they’d charge more than the goal.

Either way, considering the names I ~do~ recognize (talk about great taste!), I definitely want to go through and check out the others.

Btw PT, great thoughts on Sekhmet. Been a fan of hers only since shortly after Blotch and Dark Natasha originally got me into FA :3 I’ll poke at mine and Spirit’s watchlist and see if we can find anyone not listed, now that I have a better idea what style you’re looking for.

#11

As I look around, I keep finding artists who aren’t right for this project but would be great for other things. For example, if I ever do any kind of fairy-tale or folklore-type work that I need a cover for, I’m going straight to Bluari…

Also impressed by Autumn Sunrise’s range of styles – everything from Lion King style to realistic and variations in between. Can’t seem to find much to go on in terms of pricing, though – or at least, not at first glance of her FA page.

#12

CurioDraco is very good with female builds and felines. I know we previously discussed her. Definitely is still worth emailing her about work if you’re interested, as she does tend to accept work like this even if her normal queue is full.

#13

Mars, do you happen to know what her prices range, ballpark? I can’t find any pricing info on her FA or her website.

#14

It depends on what you’re looking for. Her painterly stuff she generally does Pay What You Want, though. It’d be worth emailing her to get a definitive quote, because her pricing is generally different for each style she does. Something like this is around $80, iirc.

#15

Contacted Sekhmet, and it looks like she’ll be able to do the commission. :smiley: Exact price hasn’t come up yet, but she knows my budget. Really looking forward to seeing how this comes out!

#16

Totally can’t believe I forgot about Zarnala.

#17

Not really the sort of style that would suit this particular project, but a very good artist nonetheless. :slight_smile: