And, here it is…the official cover reveal for my new novel GREENSHIFT!
The wonderful artwork and typography was done by artist Byron Winton.
Byron is from my neck of the woods near Pittsburgh, PA, where he is a member of the PITTSBURGH SOCIETY OF ILLUSTRATORS.
He paints popular culture imagery from memorable movies like Star Wars and Resident Evil, but also creates mind-blowing original concepts like Mari sabotaging a hydroponics bay for GREENSHIFT. Byron has also worked for author SUSAN K. DRONEY, the industrial band REIN[FORCED], and CALIBER COMIC. You can buy his awesome work on Deviant Art as Urbanite by Design.
Byron’s a good sport, very patient, and such a professional that he never complains when I bombard him with crazy ideas about my world in the Ambasadora-verse. And I also send him lots of photos that inspire me, like this hydroponics greenhouse…
…or David Boreanaz in a bathtub (one of my personal favorites).
Byron usually details his creative process from start to finish on his blog Layer by Layer, but today he’s doing it for the IMJ NATION!
First, the tools of the trade:
1) Spray Bottle of water – Used to keep mixed colors moist and to spritz painting when doing washes.
2) Krylon Workable Fixative – Used in conjunction with the Matte Medium to help seal in previous layers of work.
3) Liquitex Matte Medium – Also used to thin down paint. Helps create a transparent color layer.
4) Disposable Palette – Mixing and paint staging area. Pad of 50 or so sheets. Easy to tear off a sheet when out of room.
5) Sarah Graphite Transfer Paper – Used to transfer enlarged drawings on the prepped board.
6) Golden Heavy Body Acrylics – Heavy Body works great for thinning colors without loosing pigment intensity. Brand of preference. I’ve used them since 1990. Odd fact: The manufacturing plant is located minutes from my hometown. They awarded me a Shopping Spree Scholarship when I graduated high school.
7) 3M Blue Painter’s Tape – Latest discovery. Use to use masking tape but it often left the adhesive on the board when left on for more than a month.
8) Hair Dryer – Essential for speeding up drying time.
9) Golden Gesso – Great primer for prepping boards.
10) Mixing Cups – Used for mixing up washes and storing mixed colors for extended uses… just cover with plastic wrap.
11) Assorted Brushes – Natural hair, synthetic, flat, oval, round, and wash, it doesn’t matter as long as it holds color. No bristle brushes!
12) Eye Dropper – Used with the palette to moisten paint.
13) Compass with Extender Beam – For big circles!
14) Mechanical Pencil – .3mm with 6H lead.
15) Click Eraser – For mistakes… I make them.
16) Toothbrush – Perfect for creating fine to large splatter depending on the paint viscosity and flick technique.
17) Badger Airbrush – Used mostly for making things glow.
Not displayed; Masonite board – Bought and cut to 18″ x 26″ at the hardware store.
Now, how he uses all of that stuff!
After the final layout was agreed on, I enlarged the image fit the board and began transferring it. The red marks are circle center locations.
I normally paint back-ground to foreground. Here, I did a solid black fill for background, leaving the middle and foreground objects white.
Using various color washes, I randomly applied, radiated from Mari’s left eye. It’s close to the vanishing point. It’s a colorful effect, but works subtly on the final image.
Laying in the base grey color for the insides of the hydroponic cylinders and foreground pipes.
Foliage is added to the inner of each unit. Whitened the lighting rods.
Airbrushed a glow around the lighting. Also laid down the grey and foliage for the outside of the hydroponic units.
Toned the rings of the hydroponics. Also added a askew cover to the junction box. I felt there needed to be more mischievousness on Mari’s part.
Knowing that the light source was behind Mari, I had to paint her in shadow and that she was going to be edge lit.
Initial scan of the painting. I do a 4-part scan at 300 dpi on my 8.5 x 14 scanner and stitch them all together. The scan always looks gross and dark areas have reflections. I really dislike my scanner and am constantly on the look-out for alternative solutions.
Color corrected and any imperfections edited. The final product without typography…
Piece of cake, huh? Yeah, right! Thanks, Byron!!
Surprise Giveaway!!
To celebrate my cover reveal, I’m giving away a free e-copy of GREENSHIFT to 3 lucky, random commenters. My kitty Puddahs will sniff out the winners from a pile of little slips of paper with your names written on them. One extra special, extra lucky winner will win the AMBASADORA/GREENSHIFT bundle. Good luck, and may the cat be with you!
Special thanks to Byron Winton for creating such a beautiful work of art for my cover!
Good luck to anyone wants to be entered into the giveaway!
Not exactly on topic, but I had forgotten about those David Boreanaz bathtub pics… I had them for my screensaver for sooooooo long…!!!
Heather, it’s always on topic to talk about Boreanaz in a bathtub! 😉
Hey, congrats on the novel, I might just have to give in and get a Kindle Fire whenver Amazon bother to release it over here.
Got a Kindle Touch for Valentines (because I don’t like the backlighting on my iPad for prose work)… And because I have a wonderful GF.
So what did I do? I bought a copy of Heidi Ruby Miller’s Ambasadora and then a copy of her new novel Greenshift!
Already had Ambasadora but I couldn’t resist a second copy at the low $2.99 entry fee. Got up from my couch three minutes after I purchased them and Amazon had already sent me a receipt!
Of course, this makes me ineligible for the giveaway… But hey, I was INELIGIBLE ANYWAY. 😛
Still people out there saying these things aren’t the FUTURE of prose works? Yeah, right. I bet these naysayers never thought people would want to take PICTURES with their PHONES either.
I still take pictures with my DSLR and I still like to read proper books (or dead tree books as some ebook jihadists like to call them) 😛
As do I.
And I will always love both. I KNOW digital takes away the NUANCES in music and the natural texture of photos.
But you have to remember that I have mentioned I have pre-arthritic hands. One of the reasons I call OMNIBUSES doorstops… Other than the fact that they make GREAT doorstops.
But I shouldn’t generalize: Omnibuses (or large numbers of dead tree books) press dead flowers great too. 😀
Oh come one, you can’t expect a drunken idiot like me to remember everything 😛
Insideman: How awesome that mine were some of the books to pop your KT cherry! 😀
You were my FIRST, Heidi. I will always remember that. 😀
HAHAHAHAHA!!
I don’t have the Fire, just a regular Kindle because I was afraid I would do work instead of simply read–it was a good call on my part. 😉 I’ve gotten back into reading in such a big way. Grad school killed my pleasure reading for a while, but the Kindle brought me back. (I should get paid for that endorsement!!)
Thanks, Locusmortis!
Congratulations to you on your latest novel and to Byron for his beautiful cover. And thanks for the step by step guide to the finished product. That was fascinating. But is that ALL there is to it?! Ha!
I am an artist of another sort so I really do appreciate all of the intricacies. Oh, and nice David Boreanaz subliminal thrown in there!
Thanks, ktnish88!
Byron did an incredible job with Mari on that cover. 🙂
And, so glad someone else appreciates a David Boreanaz pic as much as I do. *swoon*
Looks pretty awesome. I have to check it out I’ve been looking for good books as of late.
jrgold said, “Looks pretty awesome. I have to check it out I’ve been looking for good books as of late.”
I like the sound of that! 🙂
Thanks!
Reblogged this on Bizarrowriter's Blog and commented:
Awesome giveaway! Win a copy of GREENSHIFT!!!!!!!
You rock, John!! Thanks much. 🙂
I’ll check it out!
Congrats on your new release, Heidi!! The cover looks great!!
–Jess
Thanks, Jess! And, yes, Byron did a great job with the cover. I’m very happy. 🙂
Nice to “see” you here.
@ktnish88 – There was also the second guessing, pacing back-and-forth, getting opinions from friends, redoing parts where colors weren’t working, and the thrusting of an angry fist skyward for the defiance, isolation, and introspection I must endure with every piece.
Amen. And finally, you have to let it go out into the world whether you are ready or not and it is usually, if not always, your favorite work until the next project comes along.
Great cover Heidi! Can’t wait to get my hands on a copy.
Thanks, W.D.! It’s always great to have support from one of the Seton Hill Writers. 😉
Cool! I liked the behind the scenes/making of info.
So glad you enjoyed it, Ed!
After seeing how much work it takes for the cover, I wanted a place to showcase all of Byron’s talent–the IMJ Nation was the perfect venue.
At the risk of sounding like a bit of a kissy butt, I wouldn’t mind having that cover art in any stage of it’s development, especially the early layers with the psychedelic colors, but that just my preference. Fascinating stuff from Byron..
And what up with the Ambasadora-verse Heidi? you’ve got a whole universe in your pocket now.. what’s next? the Ambasadora Wiki-page?
(probable should check to see if you don’t already have a Wiki page of some type, but I’m too busy to check right now)
VictimPrime, I would LOVE an Ambasadora-verse Wiki-page. 🙂
And, though you were probably being rhetorical when you asked what’s next, I’m going to answer you anyway…
I have at least four more books in different stages of completion within the Ambasadora-verse and a thriller I’m revising. (I had a lot of work stockpiling over the years!) I’m hoping to get one or two of those out this year.
I couldn’t resist responding to this post–Susan K. Droney is my mom, and Byron has been a close friend of mine for 12 years now. Congrats on the new book!
Awesome that we have Byron in common, Jenn! That was a very cool tat sleeve on your Mum’s cover!!
Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
By the way, my cat will be picking the winners on March 1!
I need the following winners to contact me via email at heidirubymiller AT gmail, please!
VictimPrime – AMBASADORA and GREENSHIFT
Locusmortis – AMBASADORA
ktnish88 – GREENSHIFT
ed2962 – GREENSHIFT
I had never seen those bathtub pic. Mmmm yum. The cover is really pretty. Congrats on the book.