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TheEarnestBunbury
11-17-2017, 06:07 PM
It seems like an age since I last posted here - but then it's been a while since I've posted anywhere thanks to computer problems. Anywho, I've continued here and there with my efforts to re-create the look and feel of pulpy novels. The original goal was to develop techniques to produce them very quickly with a view to entering the pre-made book cover market - I've completely lost interest in attempting that market myself but not in the original project. I will, at some point, be putting up a blog with all that I've figured out but that won't be until well into the new year (and maybe when I've a new - and stable - computer).

Anywho, here are a few of the ones I quite like, all of which follow the same method. I can't draw for toffee (at least, not without a set square), so I start with a 3D staging program called Poser - I try to keep the scenes fairly simple and render against a transparency. Next, there's a little adjustment in GIMP or PSE8 before I load the result in ArtRage as a tracing image. I create a background layer, then turn the tracing image into paint layer. I then paint a background and merge the layers, finally attacking it all with oil brush and knife. I'm finding it much easier now to add colour myself, along with highlights and shadows. I also used to rely on a Cutout filter to help block out colour before taking into ArtRage but no longer feel the need for that.

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sabena
11-19-2017, 11:37 AM
Very good work i like very much:)

Skepticalsquare
11-19-2017, 01:29 PM
Interesting art work created in interesting ways :) I really do like the book cover styling .

pat1940
11-22-2017, 11:33 AM
Love your work, all are so well done, looking forward to more

Fashmir
11-22-2017, 11:49 AM
This is so much fun! Well done!

TheEarnestBunbury
11-26-2017, 12:57 AM
This one was created as part of a possible tutorial going from the cover design template though to the painting and assembling into a cover. I've based the design on the old Pan paperbacks of the 50s through 60s and the artwork also follows a pattern common to those books. The artwork on this does take a bit more time, as it needs the three background figures rendered individually and then composited, finally there is an extra layer of painting going on in ArtRage. Still, I didn't think that it took so much extra to price it out of the pre-made market if that's the goal.

Here is both the display version with the wear and tear and the cover full cover version that would be suitable for print (I used the CreateSpace guide for a 5x8 inch trim which, while too big for an old mass market paperback, is the smallest size for extended distribution and has roughly the same relative dimensions).

Oops. posted the wrong image files - I'll have to try and sort out the right ones later

kenmo
11-29-2017, 08:05 AM
Outstanding...

TheEarnestBunbury
11-29-2017, 11:09 AM
Two more...

These were both efforts to try a different composition with a couple of different cover designs. Anyone who grew up on hold books will recognize the first design as based on that of Pan books from the mid 50s through to the mid/late 60s. The second was partly inspired by one of the designs used on Mike Shayne novels - I deviated quite a bit but drew more on the use of the gothic font - this one is League Gothic, which I found a close enough approximation.

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kenmo
12-01-2017, 06:31 AM
Stellar creations...love them all...

TheEarnestBunbury
12-04-2017, 12:36 PM
One for the close of the weekend.

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TheEarnestBunbury
12-13-2017, 10:18 AM
Just having a bit of a play around with this one. I picked up the public domain works of Robert E Howard and although the edition I found is nicely edited and free of major errors, the presentation is a bit dull. Just for my own personal use, I decided to re-format them into ebooks more to my own liking and will later treat myself to some printed editions - starting with Conan. I don't like doorstops, so I'm splitting the Conan stories into four volumes.

Although I'm happy with the overall layout and the fonts, I do need to tweak them a bit (the kearning in 'Tales' is bothering me now that I've noticed it). Of course, this version of Conan owes more to the comics than the original character but I'll try to vary him up a bit with each cover - so he'll have some armour next time.

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D Akey
12-13-2017, 12:14 PM
Looks to me, in this Conan one, like you're taking it past the original illustration technique into your own very elegant, more transparent style -- one of the characteristics of digital compared with the old techniques and media. I quite like this look you're doing. Feels fresh when less opaque. Certainly the layouts are very vintage.

TheEarnestBunbury
01-01-2018, 08:36 PM
I still need to adjust the kearning around the letter 'T' but otherwise, I'm OK with this one now. I'm still planning to set up a blog for creating pulp covers and thought that it would be fun if the tutorial title cards were themselves faux covers. Unfortunately, I have slowed my own progress a tad as I've just bought Affinity Photo and am trying to learn the different ways it does things.

This was the usual method, render in Poser, adjustments in PSE8 with a little help form the Cutout filter (sadly missing from Affinity), then into Artrage and back to PSE8. Limited brush work on the muscles though, as it's a tricky balance of visible brush strokes for effect and lost of detail. Plenty of brush work on the lady though.

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Chad Weatherford
01-02-2018, 09:05 AM
These are awesome! Is the print dot pattern achieved with a layered overlay?

sabena
01-02-2018, 10:16 AM
Very good work you are a great artist:)

DarkOwnt
01-03-2018, 03:36 AM
Hello TEB (TheEarnestBunny)

Your concepts are great and your art work is splendid!

I do notice that since your painting is so well done, you end up conveying the origin of your references. i.e. they end up looking a little "plastic" or CG (I assume you are using digital maquettes). It's remarkable that it is unintended but that you paint so well it still shows through... Have you tried using real people and real world lighting as your models? Maybe a friend would volunteer for an afternoon! I bet you would capture and replicate reality just as well and I think the results would still be very cool but subtly more real looking. Anyway my 2 cents.

Cheers!

TheEarnestBunbury
01-03-2018, 06:25 AM
Hello TEB (TheEarnestBunny)

Your concepts are great and your art work is splendid!

I do notice that since your painting is so well done, you end up conveying the origin of your references. i.e. they end up looking a little "plastic" or CG (I assume you are using digital maquettes). It's remarkable that it is unintended but that you paint so well it still shows through... Have you tried using real people and real world lighting as your models? Maybe a friend would volunteer for an afternoon! I bet you would capture and replicate reality just as well and I think the results would still be very cool but subtly more real looking. Anyway my 2 cents.

Cheers!


Hi,

I really can't claim to be painting these (without a ruler and set square, I can't even draw for toffee). My project goal from the outset has been to find a way to produce covers that ape those of pulps past but which could still be affordable by the people currently publishing today's pulp. That has meant compromise, as these self and indie publishers have micro budgets.

The basic method is to run the image through some filters, such as cutout, and then take result into Artrage and attacking it with a knife to create the illusion of paint. I have tried this with photo stock but that too, I would say even more than the 3D models, betrays itself and shatters the illusion as there is no losing the photo-realism without more work that would sacrifice the economy. They just looked like post-worked photos.

I guess it's swings and roundabouts really.

DarkOwnt
01-03-2018, 10:50 AM
Hi,

I really can't claim to be painting these (without a ruler and set square, I can't even draw for toffee). My project goal from the outset has been to find a way to produce covers that ape those of pulps past but which could still be affordable by the people currently publishing today's pulp. That has meant compromise, as these self and indie publishers have micro budgets.

The basic method is to run the image through some filters, such as cutout, and then take result into Artrage and attacking it with a knife to create the illusion of paint. I have tried this with photo stock but that too, I would say even more than the 3D models, betrays itself and shatters the illusion as there is no losing the photo-realism without more work that would sacrifice the economy. They just looked like post-worked photos.

I guess it's swings and roundabouts really.

Oops my misunderstanding. Very effective and splendid work!

TheEarnestBunbury
01-04-2018, 01:45 PM
No worries. This is an example of the workflow for something that I'm putting together now. The first image is the raw render, then a filtered image, then the final(ish) image. The filtered image was imported into ArtRage over a background layer which I then painted. A new layer on top was created and using the dropper tool to sample, and the the oil brush to block out colours. The top layer's opacity was reduced a tad before I merged it down and took up the knife to blend it all - there was a little bit of colour/contrast correction afterward in Affinity.

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D Akey
01-08-2018, 05:27 AM
Mission accomplished it would seem. Enjoying the series.

TheEarnestBunbury
01-08-2018, 12:13 PM
A bit of practice working with background images that I turned into a quick pastiche on the Carter Brown books as published by Signet.

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TheEarnestBunbury
02-28-2018, 02:09 AM
I finally have a working computer again! It's not a heavy weight but is powerful enough to be like a breath of fresh air.

So, while these aren't completed covers, I am experimenting with a view to making more - though I think there is a little more of the modern comic book about them than old paperback but I'll run with it and see where I end up.

As per usual, I'm using Poser and taking the image first to Serif's Affinity Photo and the Topaz Simplify filter, then it goes into Artrage.

The first of these I took out most of the colour and did a fair bit of over-painting before starting with the palette knife. With the second, I removed all the colour, painting some back for the lips, eyes, and cat - there was less over-painting but lots of palette knife to get the painted effect.

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kenmo
02-28-2018, 02:16 AM
Superb work....

TheEarnestBunbury
03-02-2018, 07:48 PM
Now something a bit random but practice is practice.

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TheEarnestBunbury
03-03-2018, 11:51 PM
Not entirely please with this one as I don't like his head - otherwise, I think it's OK.
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kenmo
03-06-2018, 01:19 AM
Fantastic work and excellent thread...

TheEarnestBunbury
06-18-2018, 06:51 PM
It's been a while since I posted but it's been a while since I've done very much. Here's a three new items and a couple of the previous posts worked into covers.

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pat1940
06-20-2018, 02:02 AM
I love your work, it is so powerful and exciting, alway a great job and fantastic paintings

TheEarnestBunbury
07-22-2018, 10:17 AM
A couple of new ones...

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sabena
07-23-2018, 07:53 AM
Wow fantastic work congratulation :)

D Akey
07-24-2018, 05:16 AM
It's like I wandered into an old used book store. Really enjoying the vibe and the way you replicate covers that have been beaten up as they're carried around to be read during the days before mobile devices.

TheEarnestBunbury
07-25-2018, 11:28 AM
A couple more playing about with colour...

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TheEarnestBunbury
07-26-2018, 10:28 AM
Toying with cover design - this one is based on a couple of old covers.

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TheEarnestBunbury
07-27-2018, 09:42 AM
This is the first of two after classic Mike Shayne cover designs. This design, including the primary font and Robert McGuiness art, can also be found on spanish editions of some Mikey Spillane novels. I'm afraid that my little portrait isn't particularly good but I did manage to figure out the lined effect found on this version of the covers, so I'm satisfied.

It's a great exercise in branding that works very well in a thumbnail. However, this comes at the expense of the artwork which needs more contrast to be seen at a small size than is found in some of the original art.

The main font is from the Scriptorium and is called Shayne, having been based on this line of Mike Shayne books.

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TheEarnestBunbury
09-12-2018, 06:30 PM
These are for a friend of mine who needs a couple of covers now she's completed her second volume of flash fiction in a series - I'm nearly finished with them.

As mentioned before, my goal is to create a method of producing faux painted book covers that are a) of reasonable quality, and b) quick enough to produce so as to be viable for the budgets of self and indie publishers. I'm not motivated to go into that business myself - I doubt I'll ever be that happy with my own work - but I do want to encourage books with the sort of covers that I like to see. Anywho, I think I'm getting there. From opening up Poser (a 3D figure program) to having a finished faux painting exported from ArtRage, took only around 90mins for each of these. I'm not sure how long I spent on the design template but once created, it is simply a matter of placement and swapping out colours to finish individual volumes. If a pre-made cover can be produced in about 2hrs, then allowing another hour at most for customising, this would make covers 3hrs work.

I'm still not certain that this is enough to make it viable for the pre-made cover market though. The top end price for pre-made covers is about $150 to $200 - but they have to be very good to sell at that price - while the average is about $70. On top of this, the pre-made market is a scattershot strategy, so those working it must expect a percentage of their covers to go unsold.

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D Akey
09-13-2018, 03:41 AM
You're on a roll. A real student of mid century book cover style. Good work.