Wednesday, August 7, 2013

A Chiaroscuro Cover for Portrait of a Protégé!

I just learned a new term, thanks to my sister who knows all sorts of great words, (like penetralia!). The word is "chiaroscuro." As an artist, I should know it, alas, my unschooled background is showing, not to mention my linguistic challenges! Try as I may, the pronunciation eludes me, but that won’t stop me from using it in my soon-to-be-published novel, Portrait of a Protégé! It fits so well because its definition perfectly describes the style of art that I’m using for the cover. Here’s the definition (from my Mac dictionary):
chiaroscuro |kēˌärəˈsk(y)o͝orō, kēˌarə-|
noun
the treatment of light and shade in drawing and painting.
• an effect of contrasted light and shadow created by light falling unevenly or from a particular direction on something: the chiaroscuro of cobbled streets.
ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from Italian, from chiaro ‘clear, bright’ (from Latin clarus) + oscuro ‘dark, obscure’ (from Latin obscurus).
So, now I must insert the word in the story, just because I can. Yes, it is a gratuitous use of a fancy foreign word, but that’s this writer’s prerogative! Besides, there's a portrait in the story with this exact lighting, though it's not the painting on Protégé's cover.

Anyhow, Protégé's cover was a lot of fun—yeah, it’s original artwork by moi. The dress was actually a cheesy Goodwill prom gown that I altered via the paintbrush, and my husband is the photographer extraordinaire. I do believe this is my favorite cover. I am still working on the cover copy, but this is what I have so far: 
James Grayson of The Step-Up Man introduces Portrait of a Protégé, written by the character Layla Sand as the sequel to her semi-autobiographical story, "Girl Running."
Four years after the close of L. M. Sand’s novel, "Girl Running," Leila is twenty-two and living on a pretty little lake in New Hampshire. A new set of circumstances throws her into a repeating cycle of grief that twists and morphs into unexpected and powerful emotions. Leila must finally confront her fears and learn to let go while navigating the field of psychology, protecting herself from the capricious winds of Southern hospitality, playing in the backyard of big-money art, and taming her unruly heart. Even her 'guardian' has a thing or two he must learn about love and letting go.
It’s a real challenge to write the cover copy since Protégé is a sequel to a story within a story and is a ‘speculative’ work, written four years into the future. Likely, most readers will have already read The Step-Up Man and so all that will make sense ... or not...

10 comments:

  1. Awesome cover! I love the colors and the contrast and the fancy word! Yes, I love those writer's prerogitives. You're doing so much with your writing. I'm envious. All I've been doing is pulling weeds. (At least not my hair, yet.)

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    1. Thanks Yvonne! The lighting was all Todd. I wasn't sure of what I wanted except the general pose and dress. He is especially good at "chiaroscuro" when he paints portraits in oil.

      Fortunately for my readers, the protagonist, Leila is also an unschooled artist and will need to have the term defined for her, while making the author look as if she knows what she's talking about. :)

      Once The Step-Up Man and Protege are out there, I don't know what I'll do--I guess it will be time for me to weed. :D

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  2. Beautiful cover. Really great. Can't wait to read this one!

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    1. Thanks Anne. It's nearly ready to pass on to you. I'm so anxious to get these published!

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  3. Oh, I LOVE THIS!!!!! So, so pretty!!! *Kisses Cover*

    I'm dying to read both of these. I also have Spilled Coffee on my list as soon as I'm able to get it Amazon. :)

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    1. I'm so glad you love it! It is my favorite--makes me want to do one like it for The Step-Up Man, but it wouldn't fit the tone of the story.

      I'm really looking forward to having you read these--can't wait till my publishing work is done for while so I can actually do some fun reading. I need to catch up on your books, too!

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  4. I can so see this cover in Amazon's top 100 list!

    I was wondering if I could ask for a little technical advice, Ms. Artist? I really like how you've customized this blog with you header and the background texture. How on earth did you do it and have you secretly become a computer programer?

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    1. Well, I'd love to see it on Amazon's top 100 list, but I will be happy just to see it published and out on its own, no matter how far down the list!

      As for my blog header and background, I did it in Blogger Draft>Layout. Where the header banner is, click edit, and then upload a picture. As far as the background, that’s under Templates (you access all that from your Blogger Dashboard). They provide all sorts of background options—just a matter of picking one you like. Feel free to send me an e-mail if you need more direction. It's been such a long time since I did all that, but maybe I'll remember some of it, lol.

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    2. Thanks for the advice, JB. I went a little bonkers on my design, but it was fun! Take a look when you get a chance :)

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    3. Your new look is great and a terrific way to give your upcoming story a happy home base! :)

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