I recently finished painting my first commissioned book cover.
I recently finished painting my first commissioned book cover for a book of poems being published this fall by a small press. I will be writing much more regarding this project in additional posts. For now I will simply write that it’s so different to paint a translation of another’s writing than to paint what simply beckons you. Ahhh … there is so much written about this that I still want to read and then write about in those noted future posts. The first step was to visualize an image that responded to the poems in the book. I had two ideas amongst many that stood out. Then one visually solidified into a complete painting in my mind, including the smallest details. I knew then that mental painting would become the book cover. Next, I sketched a dozen or more small works of various areas of the visualized piece. I then watercolor painted each. This preliminary work was so significant when it came to sketching the final work. This artwork was completely done by hand....
