art for a cover

[asakiyume]

I'm slowly getting ready to self-publish a longish short story, "The Bee Wife," about a bereaved beekeeper and the swarm of bees that loves him. I've made some cover art for it. Let me show you in four steps, broadening out to the whole picture:

Step 1:



Step 2:



Step 3:



Step 4--the complete image:



It may still be a while before it's out in the world, but I hope when the time comes, people will enjoy Florian, his many children, and his bee wife.

Comments

[summersgate]

I love your painting! And appreciate getting to see it evolve.

[nineweaving]

Beautiful.

Nine

[asakiyume]

Very pleased you think so--thank you!

[asakiyume]

Thank you very much! It was a delight to create.

[mallorys_camera]

Wow! I love your cover art!!

[asakiyume]

Thank you! It was a labor of love. Lots of reference images ;-)

[zdenka]

That's beautiful! And I like it better than plenty of traditionally published cover art I've seen.

[asakiyume]

Thank you very much! I know that it will look amateur compared to a professional cover, but since the whole project *is* amateur, I'm not too bothered. If people like it--the cover and, hopefully, the story within--then that'll be wonderful.

[sovay]

It may still be a while before it's out in the world, but I hope when the time comes, people will enjoy Florian, his many children, and his bee wife.

I look forward to it very much.

[asakiyume]

The blessings of the bees upon you (but not by means of hair entanglement)!

[sovay]

The blessings of the bees upon you (but not by means of hair entanglement)!

So long as they don't sting me, I won't mind!

[sonia]

The art is lovely! (And just a little creepy, to my eye.)

I thought of you when I saw Timor Leste on a list of countries that don’t use postal codes. I used them as my example in the code I was writing in your honor.

flag icon for Timor-Leste ^_^

[asakiyume]

Thank you (and yes, I can see the creepiness)!

And thank you too for thinking of me and using Timor-Leste as an example! Timor-Leste is in the news right now (which it rarely is in the United States) because of the pope's visit there.

Re: flag icon for Timor-Leste ^_^

[sartorias]

Very brightly textured cover! I look forward to reading the story and seeing how the two are in convo with each other.

Re: flag icon for Timor-Leste ^_^

[asakiyume]

I hope, when I do finally get it out in the world, that their interaction pleases!

[amaebi]

That looks wonderful, and I look forward to it.

[asakiyume]

Thank you! I hope to have it out by the end of the year, and I hope it'll be something you'll enjoy.

[smokingboot]

This is beautiful. I can't wait to read it.

[asakiyume]

Thank you--I hope it will distract and delight

[wayfaringwordhack]

Hooray for cover art and stories, my many-talented friend! I am looking forward to reading it. Art geekery: What media did you use? (ETA appropriate user icon!)

[asakiyume]

Thank you for asking! I used mainly oil pastels, but collage for the bee wife's profile: for her, I printed out photos of swarms of bees (color-printed), then cut them and pasted them to fill the profile space. (And I love your appropriate icon!)

[wayfaringwordhack]

Ah, I spotted the collage, but I couldn't quite put my finger on the rest. It looked like paint but not quite and now I understand why. Lovely!

[asakiyume]

I've always loved oil pastels--the vibrancy of the colors!

[med_cat]

A good illustration, and looking forward to the story :)

[asakiyume]

Thank you kindly--I promise it will be much, much less expensive than the last one you read!

[med_cat]

No worries! The last one was hardly _that_ expensive ;))

[asakiyume]

Well I'm very sure Andromeda Spaceways appreciated your purchase, and I was highly gratified as well--thank you ^_^

[med_cat]

It was my pleasure :) I'd forgotten to read the other works in that magazine, should do sometime

[littlerhymes]

That is amazing! I love the textures.

[asakiyume]

I'm so happy you like it! It's done mainly with oil pastels, but the woman's profile is collage--a color printout of photos of bee swarms.

[athenais]

Oh that sounds great. I love the art.

[asakiyume]

Hurray on both counts! I hope, when I finally get it out into the world, that it doesn't disappoint.

[osprey_archer]

Oh, yay! I'm so glad that you're going to self-publish this story - it's such a good one, one of my favorites of yours.

[asakiyume]

💛💛💛
Thank you--it means so much to me, knowing that you liked it.

[adore]

It's beautiful! And I look forward to the story!

[asakiyume]

I'm so glad--thank you thank you!