Thursday, August 03, 2006

Phantom Isle Book Jacket



Recently, I did this cover for a book called "The Phantom Isle". It is a suspenseful YA novel about three kids who stumble across some books in the library that have ghosts trapped inside them. The Publisher wanted to depict a scene from the book with the three main kids and give it a slightly spooky (but not scary) feel. Once the painting was complete, we wanted to tie in the Polynesian feel, so I created this woodcut-like border. It matched up with the interior black and white woodcuts they already designed and gave them the look they were after. It was a fun project and it had a tight deadline. The challenge for me was reading the manuscript and coming up with the design in three days. In the end both the client (Bloomsbury) and the artist (me) were pleased with the result.
I really enjoy doing these book jackets. They give me an excuse to stop what I am doing and read for a couple days, and in the end I will have another piece of art out there on the book shelves! Not a bad deal.
Thanks Bloomsbury!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

would you please put up a photo of your latest haircut? from what i have heard, it is as entertaining as any children's book...

Corinna said...

Supernatural books in a library? Man, all the good ideas HAVE already been thought up! Love the illustration, though. =)