Lusty Goddess'

Well, it finally happened. Wednesday I went to finish the Christmas shopping. I get paid on a Wednesday, you see. Anyway, I was so good. I picked up only what was needed as I knew that I had to do the groceries before I went home. So there I am at the grocery checkout and how unusual, the groceries cost more than what I have in my account. Yes, this is quite normal for me. However to save embarrassment I ususally whip out the Mastercard and pay with that. Well, yes you guessed it. This time there was no money available on the Mastercard, I had no extra cash in my wallet (again, not unusual) so I then had to find $84 worth of groceries to hand back. What a bloody nuisance! I really needed the majority of the things that I had to hand back. I don't know how everyone else in the world is finding the finances these days, but christ! $100 does not go very far *sigh*.

I'm so annoyed with myself for letting the Mastercard get away from me like that. I purposely have a low limit because I know how quickly it can build up and I am thankful for that small mercy. So, it seems I've already spent my next couple of Cover cheques LOL! Nothing like getting some enjoyment out of your hard earned cash, eh?

Anyway, enough of my whining ;) 'cause another two covers have been released over at TEB.

Tribute for the Goddess by Brynn Paulin. This was probably my first real attempt at replacing a model's face. The model with the hair didn't look quite innocent enough, but I'm really happy with how this worked :D I mucked around a bit and was able to re-create a water effect by using textures and motion filters, then added some cloud & lightning brushes for the background. The guy I really liked, except for the lighting, however, I managed to make it look like it belonged there by tinting the background to match the aqua lighting. A couple of hair brushes for him and we were complete! I think this was the second draft. The first had a full body shot of the Goddess. She was holding a flower but I had to paint that out because it was irrelevant to the storyline.

Unholy Lust by Iona Blair. This cover went through a few drafts, trying to get the right feel. I had troubles getting this one for some reason. But that's it. Sometimes no matter how hard you try, the covers don't come together as easily as you'd like. This could possibly be why I've just done the dark background & swirl brushes. I did like the couple though, and was quite intent on using them. Still, all in all it's not too bad ;)

Coming Soon

Hmm .. Prince of the three Mountains Daring the Underworld LOL! Sounds intriguing ;) Okay! These are the latest two covers that have been released over at Total-E-Bound :D

Daring the Underworld is second in the Uniform Behaviour series by C.S. Chatterly. I had great fun trying to create fire for this one! It's turned out pretty damn good too LOL! Is it just me or does the guy have a George Clooney look about him?

Prince of the Three Mountains by Ellie Tremayne was a bit more time consuming. The original stock photo was cropped off at the biceps and was off-centre. To even him up, I had to paint in his arms/elbows, only to crop them off again for the final cover! LOL. Still, it was a bit of a challenge ;) Don't you just love that background though?

More Covers

Gawd! It's been a while since I've posted anything here. Been busy with covers, courses and family life :D

Here are a couple of covers that have now been released.

All very different, eh?

Tempting the Law is probably my favourite in this group. Although Conquered is a very close second ;) Broken Pottery is another in a long series so I'm feeling a little restricted when it comes to these. Still, I must say that it was nice to try something different from the musclebound bodies. Believe me I NEVER thought I would say that! LOL. I was also able to try a few different techniques. I got the idea of the tartan background from April Martinez's wonderful tutorials. It's difficult to see since I've added the gun and cuffs but there are folds and material textures in there somewhere. Its funny how something as subtle as using the Irish Murphy tartan (the character is a Murphy) can make all the difference .. well, to me anyway. I'm sure no-one else will even notice LOL!

Every one of these covers has been a personal little journey of discovery. I absolutely love it! It's the best job that I've ever had.

Most Relevant Cover!!

Wow. I can't believe it!

I've won the October Award for Most Relevant Cover over at The New Covey Awards. It's really nice to be recognised in this field of work, especially considering I'm still a relative newbie.

Congratulations also go to Lexie Davis , the author of Rain Fell Down :D

Thank you to everyone who voted for this cover *hugs*. and thanks to TEB for giving me a go ;) Sheesh! Anyone would think I'd won an Oscar, LOL.

I'm Moving Blogs

Aaaww gee. I know it's only early in the piece but I've decided to switch blog sites. I'm heading over to Wordpress. I've had no end of trouble trying to make this space look professional. For some reason I can insert one banner and have it fit but if I try to install another one (exactly the same size) then it's too big and falling off the page. I really don't have the brain (or the time for that matter) to work out CSS and codes. I want it to work straight up without having to spend endless hours fiddling.

So. I'm off. Follow if you will ;)

New Header & Cover Breakdown

So, I've given myself a bit of a face lift. Thought it was time that I started to put a more professional persona out there ;) So in this little lapse between covers, I've been busy creating banners and avatars.

I've also been trying to create a CSS Journal for my DeviantArt page but have given up in disgust. I have a feeling that no matter how hard I try, I'm never going to understand the codes. I might yet have to palm it off to someone who knows a bit more about it. And here I was considering creating my own web page. Yeah. Right!

Here's a little something that might be of interest. It's a breakdown of one of Lust In Time. If it's a bit hard to read, it can be seen here. Just click on it to enlarge.

First Feature

So I'm kinda excited. I've been featured over on Dionne Galace's web page. Check it out when you have a sec :D

The thing is. Don't you just hate it when you read back something you've written and even the voice in your head sounds bored? Gawd! I mean whilst I consider myself a cover artist, I also like to dabble in a bit of creative writing. The little snippet I provided Dionne certainly doesn't bode well for me though. Perhaps I should just stick to covers LOL!

Mind you I do have to say that it's been awhile since I've been inspired enough to write. But today, I had an idea and am itching to get it down. Who know's once I get it into perspective I might share a few ideas here :D