However...
The newest cover for The Pirate King is an absolute muddy mess of brown nothingness. I wonder if this was a printing issue or if Lockwood actually painted the cover with so little contrast that Drizzt's hair is the only thing that can even been seen from 10 feet away (besides Salvatore's name).
Surely, with all the programs available and Lockwood doing all his work digitally, it would have been an easy fix to simply select Brightness/Contrast in Photoshop and turn that contrast up. Guenhwyvar is the largest thing on the cover and she can't even be seen from 3 or 4 feet away from the book! Ack!
You can check out the cover here. And believe me, you can see even less when you are looking at a printed version of the real thing.
http://www.amazon.com/Pirate-King-Forgotten-Realms-Transitions/dp/0786949643/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224527243&sr=8-1
I won't hold it against him, his rendering of Sune in the FR book is still one of my favorites along with all his dragon paintings.
You'd be surprised to know how much fantasy artists get paid to do drawings for these books...trust me. Very surprised.
Artist's have their good days and not so good days.
Very true, which is what art directors are for. I mean, when a cover is first printed, the printing company sends you a proof. Whoever approved the printed proof of this cover needs to be slapped up side the head.
Very true, which is what art directors are for. I mean, when a cover is first printed, the printing company sends you a proof. Whoever approved the printed proof of this cover needs to be slapped up side the head.
No comment on what some of the art directors let by past and present.
The compostition is still good and to my understanding...it must be part of a much larger piece of artwork. Someone for some reason just happened to choose this particular shot. I'd like to see the entire piece in hi-res or behind glass.
My guess is some happened when it went from digital to print and to save $ the 1st printing was...as is.
I guess I'm the only one that thinks "No, that's what all Lockwood art looks like... but there is usually more revealing clothes involved."
Nah, most Lockwood art I can spot from across a room because he is very good at contrast and making features stand out. He does go with a golden color palet usually that washes the entire piece, but the picture still jumps out at you because of the excellent use of contrast. (Use of contrast doesn't really involve opinions either. Contrast can be measured)
That's why I'm so shocked by this cover. It might as well have just been a plain brown book with titles.
The compostition is still good and to my understanding...it must be part of a much larger piece of artwork. Someone for some reason just happened to choose this particular shot. I'd like to see the entire piece in hi-res or behind glass.
Now that's an interesting idea. Lockwood usually sets it up so that a nice piece of detail is on the spine of the book, but this one has no such thing. Maybe he intended the layout to be different.
My guess is some happened when it went from digital to print and to save $ the 1st printing was...as is.
The proof is a single copy printed for approval before the 1st print run is even done. After the proof is approved they start the run.
It looks to me like the printer was calibrated with FAR to much black levels (you can't even see Drizzt's green cloak on the physical cover) or on the original image, the black input levels were way off.
Sloppy, sloppy stuff. And a severe no-no on a book that is so high profile.
Dude, it's a fantasy book. Sure, it's high profile (debatably, the reaction to RAS fluctuates wildly in readership; some love him others dispise him) inside the context of fantasy, but it's still only a book in an oft looked down upon genre. We need to be honest with ourselves.
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/bestseller/
Umm.... #3 on the New York Times best seller list. I would call that high profile for anybody in book publishing. Certainly a big enough deal to make sure the cover at least prints properly.
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/bestseller/
Umm.... #3 on the New York Times best seller list. I would call that high profile for anybody in book publishing. Certainly a big enough deal to make sure the cover at least prints properly.
Pfft, New York Times, like anybody's ever heard of them.
*There are exceptions to this, such as Dark Side of the Moon, which was listed for over a decade. But even then, things tend to move off the lists quickly.
I would hope that a publisher would care about the quality of the covers printed on ALL their titles (no matter how tiny the run or obscure the book), but especially on high profile titles that will make this and other lists.
So... you're saying that hitting the NY Times best seller list doesn't indicate that a title is high profile for the company? They don't need to worry about the cover printing right unless it stays in the top 3 for several weeks?
-It doesn't mean that it's a necessarily good book (in this case, a Forgotten Realms book), anyway.
-It doesn't mean that it's a necessarily good book (in this case, a Forgotten Realms book), anyway.
High profile has nothing to do with quality. O. J. Simpson's trial was a high profile case, but that had nothing to do with how well the trial was conducted or the severity of the crime. High profile is high profile, whether it's good or not.
I see RAS's name, the title, the FR logo, and some white blobs.
Reminds me of that pic of Drizzt (when he used to be older) by Brom that has Guenhyvar in it, and you can only see her eyes.
I usually love Todd's work, but that is extraodinarily dark and murky.
I guess showing 'pretty covers' went out with the Moonshaes - everything has to be dark and Shartastic in the Realms these days.
More brightness and contrast, please! Count me on the side of light.
Fantasy is about diversity, and WotC is becoming a one-trick pony with their Shartastic 4e.
And don't blame Mr.Lockwood - When I take a gander at his site, I like the stuff he does for other companies much better - its not him, its the customer's desires that are influencing what he produces.
And don't blame Mr.Lockwood - When I take a gander at his site, I like the stuff he does for other companies much better - its not him, its the customer's desires that are influencing what he produces.
His galleries are amazingly cool, definitely. I tend to like Todd's work best when it is really detailed, particularly when he does dragons. Beautiful stuff!
Perfect example of what I like best: http://www.toddlockwood.com/galleries/books/01/serpent_dragon.shtml
As to the painting, I'm sure it would be much easier to see without the glaring white of the cover lettering creating such a distraction over it. Its not bad if you take the lettering out and actually look at the image itself, difficult as it might be. Poor choice on that point, but not necessarily the artwork itself...
Just for the record though, give me DiTerlizzi over just about anyone any day...
Anyhow, Stigs, were you an 'Emo' Goth, or one of those Vampire Wannabes? :P
-I'd prefer something dark to something light. Makes stains and other things not as noticeable.
Clothing-wise? Then I'm in agreement.
Being overweight, I find extremely dark colors a blessing. :D
However, I like to actually see whats going on in artwork, so something a little lighter would be nice - I think the old Dragonlance Novels had a really nice range of coverart.
Though you're probably right about DiTerlizzi... pity really. Was the best thing there was about Planescape and Changeling.
And I still say the artwork would be more easily seen if they hadn't used glaring white lettering.
I found this particular cover to be indistinct and generally uninteresting, myself.
-Having actually looked at it now, yes, I agree.
-I'd agree even if I didn't actually agree, though.
Clothing-wise? Then I'm in agreement.
-Yes, clothing-wise.
-Having actually looked at it now, yes, I agree.
-I'd agree even if I didn't actually agree, though.
LOL, that's not necessary.
