Finding a Cover Artist

Set2Stun

Set2Stun

Rejection Collector
Active Member
I've been browsing the ole interwebs looking for an artist to illustrate a science fiction book cover for me, but I haven't had much luck so far. It seems like a lot of them use stock images/clip art and gen AI tools. I'm including a disclaimer (and harsh rebuke) regarding the use of gen AI on my copyright page, so it would be hypocritical of me to use any art that was anything other than an original, human creation, like my novel.

I was hoping some folks here might have recommendations of sites to peruse to find someone, or even of individual artists. I don't mind paying a few hundred bucks for quality work. I'm thinking my best bet for affordable original art might be from an artist based overseas, but I am not sure. This is all new to me. Thanks in advance for any advice you might have !
 
Set2Stun said:
I've been browsing the ole interwebs looking for an artist to illustrate a science fiction book cover for me, but I haven't had much luck so far. It seems like a lot of them use stock images/clip art and gen AI tools. I'm including a disclaimer (and harsh rebuke) regarding the use of gen AI on my copyright page, so it would be hypocritical of me to use any art that was anything other than an original, human creation, like my novel.

I was hoping some folks here might have recommendations of sites to peruse to find someone, or even of individual artists. I don't mind paying a few hundred bucks for quality work. I'm thinking my best bet for affordable original art might be from an artist based overseas, but I am not sure. This is all new to me. Thanks in advance for any advice you might have !
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Any specifics? Price, style, etc. I know some people I can maybe introduce you to.
 
I browse ArtStation quite a bit. You can exclude certain programs in your searches, but there are many who clearly say NO AI on their profiles. I haven't hired anyone through there, and I'm sure price varies greatly, but there is some truly beautiful work there.
 
Sandor said:
Any specifics? Price, style, etc. I know some people I can maybe introduce you to.
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Oh, right, that's definitely a big factor here. I'm looking for the kind of mix of cartoon/realism style of drawings that can be seen on the covers of say, the Saga comic covers. I'm also open to a more retro, golden age sci-fi kind of style. For price I'm flexible depending on quality, but ballparking maybe like $300 or so?

Trish said:
I browse ArtStation quite a bit. You can exclude certain programs in your searches, but there are many who clearly say NO AI on their profiles. I haven't hired anyone through there, and I'm sure price varies greatly, but there is some truly beautiful work there.
Click to expand...
Thank you, I'll take a peek at this place and see if anything tickles my fancy !
 
Set2Stun said:
Oh, right, that's definitely a big factor here. I'm looking for the kind of mix of cartoon/realism style of drawings that can be seen on the covers of say, the Saga comic covers. I'm also open to a more retro, golden age sci-fi kind of style. For price I'm flexible depending on quality, but ballparking maybe like $300 or so?


Thank you, I'll take a peek at this place and see if anything tickles my fancy !
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Unfortunately I don't really know anyone who been able to do a golden age of sci-fi piece. Sorry. Same on the cartoon stuff. I know one person who'd fit but he's got his hands full right now.
 
Trish said:
I browse ArtStation quite a bit. You can exclude certain programs in your searches, but there are many who clearly say NO AI on their profiles. I haven't hired anyone through there, and I'm sure price varies greatly, but there is some truly beautiful work there.
Click to expand...
Thank you again for this suggestion, Trish!

I reached out to an artist there a few days back, worked out a deal, and today he sent me the preliminary sketches. And they. Look. GOOD.
Can't wait to see how it turns out after he adds the colour and everything. I'm so excited about it !
 
Set2Stun said:
Thank you again for this suggestion, Trish!

I reached out to an artist there a few days back, worked out a deal, and today he sent me the preliminary sketches. And they. Look. GOOD.
Can't wait to see how it turns out after he adds the colour and everything. I'm so excited about it !
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That's awesome! I hope you'll show us when it's finished. I'd love to see!
 
Ope, just remembered to follow up on this thread. So, on ArtStation, I stumbled upon the work of Noel Cabrera Fernández (I know you can't post links, but you can just google him). There were elements from his existing art that I thought might work well with my vision of the cover. And boy, did that work out well. Great guy, great artist; I'll recommend him forever. We comfortably went back and forth a bit, and I absolutely love the final product.

sex robot cover.jpg
 
@Set2Stun really awesome you found your artist. Took me several orders on Fiverr to find mine, but she is now familiar with my work and the styles I'm looking for so when I order in the future, it will be from her.

It can be difficult to get an image from your head rendered in reality through the imagination of someone else. Often the images don't match up fully or there will be details that are off, but in the end they deliver something that's been closed off in your mind to reality. I am very grateful for human artists.

I'm also glad you picked a human artist for the cover, I think that will help you in the long-term.
 
Madman Starryteller said:
@Set2Stun really awesome you found your artist. Took me several orders on Fiverr to find mine, but she is now familiar with my work and the styles I'm looking for so when I order in the future, it will be from her.

It can be difficult to get an image from your head rendered in reality through the imagination of someone else. Often the images don't match up fully or there will be details that are off, but in the end they deliver something that's been closed off in your mind to reality. I am very grateful for human artists.

I'm also glad you picked a human artist for the cover, I think that will help you in the long-term.
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I had messaged a couple beforehand; one said no, saying I was giving them way too many details and there was no way they could live up to my expectations (huh?). Another one asked me about how quickly I needed it, and I said, no rush maybe a few weeks is fine. And they never responded. Safe to say things worked out for the better.

I agree that real artists are best, even though they can be rather pricey. It's still very easy to tell what's real and what's gen AI, and even if it weren't, I would never use it to generate a cover. How could I as a writer, who is infuriated with the self-pub market being choked full of fake slop, be okay with using gen AI in anything related to the creative arts? I wouldn't feel comfortable including my "no gen AI involved" disclaimer on my copyright page.

What's your cover look like? I mean, if it's ready to reveal at this point.
 
Set2Stun said:
What's your cover look like? I mean, if it's ready to reveal at this point.
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Let's see if I can link this image correctly:
524316947_747048931598673_8700535039529033839_n.jpg
And then add some text and stuff. I'm thinking of it as a smaller symbol on the book cover. This is the illustration by itself.
 
I tried to illustrate my own covers, but I'm not a cover artist (or any kind of artist). :( I tried and tried, and my covers always ended up being utter rubbish.

In desperation, I turned to AI, not in order to design a cover, but simply to turn my ideas from the "on paper" stage to the "0th-draft" stage. *blush* They're far too embarrassing to use as covers. I saw AI give me a banana-shaped sword and a man with three hands. Ugh.

But earlier tonight, I had an idea. :) One of my novels is set in ancient Babylon, so naturally I thought of Babylonian wall reliefs - like:

- these (from google), or
- these (from shutterstock), or
- the famous "Frieze of Archers" (thought to depict the Persian Immortals during the Neo-Babylonian Empire (602-539 BC), ultimately conquered by the Persians.

My book is set in Babylon in 600 BC, so the "archers" image fits perfectly. :) My protagonist is a goatherd, so I could have the archers filing past and the goatherd giving us a cheeky grin. ;)

Trouble is, although I have the initial images to work with, I wouldn't know how to begin. Would anyone know? Pretty please with strawberries?

P.S. I'm not asking anyone to tell me how to be an artist. :) I know that takes years and years to master. But can anyone please recommend an artist I could get in touch with? I'm willing to discuss my project with him/her, and discuss and pay a fair price. Thanks. :)
 
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I'll always recommend the guy who did my cover, Noel Cabrera Fernández. Found him on ArtStation. If his styles don't work for your vision (he does have a broad range), there are plenty of other portfolios you can sort through on that site.
 
Thank you, Set2Stun. I have checked out Noel's portfolio, and it is impressive indeed. I'll check out more of it when I have more time (...damn this nine-to-five stuff ;)), but yes ... hopefully he will take my commission. I can see he's very experienced, though his portfolio seems to be very fantasy/sci-fi oriented. I wonder if that can be recalibrated towards history/mythology? But after all, fantasy is informed by mythology, right? :) For instance, some of the original 'wizards' were gods like Odin, Zeus et al., and many D&D "monsters" come directly from mythologies of all kinds.

So I think I can see a way this can work. *rubs hands with glee* :devilish:
 
Rath Darkblade said:
Thank you, Set2Stun. I have checked out Noel's portfolio, and it is impressive indeed. I'll check out more of it when I have more time (...damn this nine-to-five stuff ;)), but yes ... hopefully he will take my commission. I can see he's very experienced, though his portfolio seems to be very fantasy/sci-fi oriented. I wonder if that can be recalibrated towards history/mythology? But after all, fantasy is informed by mythology, right? :) For instance, some of the original 'wizards' were gods like Odin, Zeus et al., and many D&D "monsters" come directly from mythologies of all kinds.

So I think I can see a way this can work. *rubs hands with glee* :devilish:
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I commissioned him a few days ago for character art!
He's prompt with his replies!
 
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