How to create a fantasy book cover: The making of the new-look Terry Brooks
Do you ever wonder what goes into producing the cover artwork for some of the biggest fantasy books out there?
We asked the highly talented illustrator Stephen Youll about how he created the cover artwork for WARDS OF FAERIE (UK |ANZ), the first book in Terry Brooks’s brand new Dark Legacy of Shannara series – out next week on 23rd August.
We wanted a fresh new look for this series – both to appeal to Terry’s die-hard fans and to show that it’s a great point for new readers to get on board with the Terry Brooks phenomenon.
We were delighted with this artwork Stephen produced, so here, in his words, is how it came together:
For Terry Brooks’s first book in the new Dark Legacy series I was asked to create a dragon skull, hanging in a stone alcove with interesting lighting that gave the cover a rich and bold look to it that was different to everything else that was out there. Not much of a challenge?
Step 1: This involves the creation of the alcove shape in the wall. I quickly established the arched alcove with light and shadows on top of a stone textured background.
Step 2: I added the detailed panels from texture cloned from an old door and colored it to match the stone. (more…)