A.J. Corza’s Got You Covered – This Week’s Top Pick – “The Adorned” by John Tristan – Cover Art By Angela Waters

Show of hands, does this cover make anyone else want to lick down his spine and back up again?

Seriously, here I was adding links to a new website I’m setting up, I click on a link my author gave me, and BAM. Right in the eye!

Guh.

Or as they say on the very controversial but damned hilarious television show Archer, sploosh!!!

This is a delicious cover. Why do I say that, besides the drool worthy body? Because while I have no idea what the story is about, I honestly don’t care. All I know is I just want to read it NOW!!! *laughs* Yes, I am that shallow about my guilty pleasure books, which has already been established if you’ve been keeping up.

Sexy back? Check. Tattoos? Check. That long, lean, sensuous curve from shoulder to hip? Check. Yum…

The Adorned by John Tristan, with cover art by Angela Waters, is actually a novel about a man that moves to the city of Kered after his father dies, and becomes a piece of living art that exists to please the divine rulers of the city. Now, because of the font used on the cover. I assumed (incorrectly) that this might be a book about the high seas, pirates, booty, pirate’s booty…but even after reading the description, because I wanted to not be that assuming person ’cause we all know what happens if you assume, I think the font still works. It has that kinda sand worn, ink on parchment kinda feel to it. Plus, it contrasts really well with the deeper worn leather browns and golden tans that make up the rest of the image.

Notice, however, the point that I’ve been trying to drive home with all of the self-published authors and artists: the font is cut off on the edges because the picture was not made to Amazon specifications for covers. Amazon asks for a cover size of at least 600 x 1000 pixels which is an odd size to be sure and this is in no way the fault of any one person, author or artist; it’s just one of those things to be on the lookout for. Besides, it doesn’t really make or break this cover. And since it’s the very very edges of the font, it’s pretty easy to look over, and honestly why am I looking at the font again? Oh right, I’m supposed to. Dammit.

But let’s talk about the rest of the cover, shall we? I love that I can’t tell from a quick glance if this is a hand drawn cover or if it’s a manip. I’m going to guess (never assume) that because all of her other covers on her site are manips, this is as well. So I’m gonna climb out on a limb here and guess also that the tattoo was not already on the model. I could be totally wrong on that point, but I flexed the Google Fu muscle and came up with bupkis. That said, if it is truly a manipped tattoo onto the back of the man, it’s very well done.

Tattoos are a BITCH. I know I’ve done quite a few. Not for covers–well, not yet–but I’ve done them in the past for friends onto “various” photos that they’ve asked for, because I’m just that good of a friend. But every single time was a fight because the ink that looks so good on our own skin does not want to sweetly lay itself over the skin of another random person without some serious coercion. Nope, it wants to disappear in places, change color, warp out of shape, etc., etc. And it does all this while you’re trying to get the skin from someone else to match up with your selected eye candy and not change into some sort of amorphous blob of barely recognizable ink.

Think of it this way, if you had transferred a picture on a piece of silly putty and you wanted it to match your skin tone exactly, kinda like something from a Star Trek episode, you’d have to change the pigment, flatten it, change the darkness or lightness, and probably after all that, touch up the edges, all without distorting the pic at all. Not so easy now, is it? Nope, like I said, a bitch. This tattoo? Flawless. Which really means I’m hoping against hope that is a manip and not an actual tattoo. But even if it turned out to be the latter, it still gives us a good platform to open discussion about authors asking for horrible complicated tattoos or tattoos in general.

I love tattoos, I have a couple, my boyfriend has some rather large ones, most of my friends have at least one if not more, but they belong to the individual that bears them. I don’t think any of us would want someone going onto the internet and randomly finding their personal picture, cutting out the tattoo, and using it to make money off of. If you’re inspired by it and use it for a drawing, great, but cutting someone else’s back up to suit your needs, well, it’s just rude. Plus, you can get in trouble.

Why am I saying this? Because authors sometimes have no concept of how hard it is to find tattoos to use that will fit the exact specifications they have in their book and their head. Saying, “Well I’m paying for it, I should get what I want,” is great but not always feasible. Plus, and I can NOT reiterate this enough, it takes a long time to find that tattoo. We’re not talking minutes, or hours, we’re talking days, weeks, and oft times it just won’t be found. Unless it is your personal tattoo, authors, do not expect to see the exact tattoo you want. Sometimes we can Frankenstein it or even draw it freehand, but most times it’s just not going to happen. And asking an artist to just use one you’ve found on the internet is not cool either. Pictures on the internet are public, it’s true, but if you make money off of something that the other person clearly owns, you’re very likely to end up paying that person for the usage. Rule of thumb: if it’s not on a stock site, it’s probably not for use. Sucks, I know, but there you have it.

Again, I’m not sure if the artist bought the picture like this, made the tattoo by drawing it, or what have you, but it works very well. So kudos to you Angela. And kudos to John for hiring Angela to do his cover for him.

So that’s it for this week, guys and gals. Hope you enjoyed the commentary, and remember I’m always open to questions. All you gotta do is ask.

Have a great day and may the good books be with you!

A.J.

All thoughts and comments are the reviewers only and not the viewpoints of others. If I’ve made you angry, stepped on any toes, or otherwise ruffled any feathers, I do apologize. This is just for fun, and written in the hopes that it will help fledgling book authors and artists to grow and learn.

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