What’s the most important thing about a story? There’s no one answer. For fans of hard sci-fi, it might be the intellectual challenge of following how future technology might work. For readers of classic sci-fi, it might be wrapping one’s head around philosophical implications of what technological change could mean to our society. For readers of mystery it might be the challenge of figuring out whodunnit.
For me personally, it’s often the emotions in play that are most critical. My stories are often smaller in scope, with highly personal stakes. They often feature characters who are decided underdogs in the situation they find themselves in. For them, the story is highly personal. It’s not about stopping the grand army of the dark lord, it’s about friends, family, or lovers.
So what’s this mean in terms of covers? Today I’d like to talk a little about colors. There’s a whole field of study about color psychology, with things like blue (a cool color) said to invoke tranquility, calm, or sadness. You remember the old expression, “I’m feeling blue?” Red, a warm color is said to invoke feelings of passion, energy, or anger. How about the expression, “I’m seeing red?”
So weren’t we supposed to talk about covers? I’m getting to it, trust me. So the thing is, when it comes to cover art, it’s not so clear cut. Let’s say we want passion. Great, let’s make the cover all red. Well, fine, if it’s a stylized cover, but if it’s an illustration, all red might not work. Plus, you often want to portray more than just a single emotion.
So with all that said, I thought I’d share with you some color variations my artist, Papaya-Style, came up with for the cover of Arvia: Heart of the Sky.
The prior two books in the series had distinct color palettes, with Harpyness is Only Skin Deep being heavily red tones, and Finding your Harpy Place primarily purple, but with the orange glow of sunrise and brass metallic of the magolabe adding just enough warmth.
Note, these are just composition sketches at this point with minimal detail. And getting back to my initial statement, my request on the colors was not any specific color, but emotions. Show me some color schemes with a mysterious and moody vibe, but not sliding into grim or depressing territory.
Upon seeing these, the funny thing was that my favorite was actually version 3. I loved the vibrant sunrise colors of that one. But it was NOT in keeping with the mood I requested. So in the end I picked one that was not my favorite, but best conveyed the mood.
Once again a huge shout-out to Papaya-Style for her excellent work. Visit her on Artstation to see more of her work.
Arvia: Heart of the Sky is currently on Kindle Unlimited, and is available as ebook, paperback, or hardcover. Paper copies have interior illustrations.