Galendor Cover Art

It took five months to conceptualize, draw and then paint the cover for the fist book in the Galendor series. The advantage of being with a boutique publisher is negotiating for creative freedom. The disadvantage was before getting that freedom, I had been assigned an artist to create the cover. We couldn't come to an agreement on design and I ended up paying for three unacceptable designs above the five the publisher paid for before she graciously stepped down. Perhaps this makes me seem like a picky jerk, but I only get one shot to be published for the first time and I didn't want to compromise. I saw the cover as emulating an old leatherbound book with metal clasps and a line drawing burned into the leather. The publisher thought color would make it more 'clickable' so, I dug deep and began the long process of painting. As an amatuer illustrator, I'm more comfortable with pencil sketches. The work of Alphonse Mucha inspired me heavily.

I kept one element of the original artist's work, the font for the main word 'Galendor.' I've since been told by professional graphic designers that the 'G' is a mistake as it isn't easily read. I concede this fact, but I'm proud of the cover and will keep it!