Behind the Scenes – The Art of Madame Whitsome

This is a cover for Melange Books.

I really enjoyed putting this one together, especially given that so much of it was playing with how the textures interacted and overlapped. This was a case where the art form gave me enough detail to give me an idea what kind of mood I needed to convey, and the kind of symbolism that might work well, but gave me a bit of free reign as to what I actually did. The result? I had an idea almost immediately that I wanted to try, though it was a while before I had a chance to work on the actual cover.

Of course, the auto-align function in Photoshop CS6 came in helpful as usual, and I also played with various filters and masking to achieve the final effect. One thing to keep in mind when playing with filters, especially if you’re starting with a proof, is that it can be really helpful to name the layer you worked on with what filter you used, and the basic numbers you input into that filter. That way you achieve the same, or a similar effect on the final image. 🙂

Stock images from: Dreamstime.

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-grunge-texture-image19642535
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-grunge-wood-texture-image6312920
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-green-grunge-background-abstract-texture-image33062940
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photography-musical-notes-image6760767
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-sheet-musical-notes-image1041320
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-angel-wings-digitally-rendered-image-white-feathered-image31948892
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-image-celtic-harp-chair-image17238791