Carl Russ, III wrote a great book, and it put my imagination into overdrive. I imagined myself with awesome spellcasting skills, bravely fighting against the evil beasties that took over the realm of Aria.
Today, though, I want to talk about another important person that made Aria come to life for me:
Bryan Golden.
You're asking, "Who in the heck is that?"
...right?
Well, Bryan Golden is the artist who designed the spectacular cover. As you can see, his artistic interests veer toward manga and comics... and he's been drawing them for over ten years!
I'd say it shows.
His cover art worked with the Tales of Aria in such a way that it transformed my very image of myself as my imagination transformed my body and curves into something that would fit within the pages of my favorite manga.
As I lifted my arms to produce a brilliant orb of light, the very air that surrounded me seemed to transform and flow into a new and surreal environment. My eyes twinkled and my hair shimmered with power, lengthening until it wrapped my body within its ethereal tresses of grandeur.
Yeah. I was totally hot.
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| Blue Moon, copyright Bryan Golden, 2014 |
The effect was, in a word, magical.
And he does more than just book covers. He's a digital artist that also focuses on comics and website mascot design. In fact, in 2011, Little Bite: Vampire Detective was published by Zeta comics, and was both written and drawn by Golden.
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| Little Bite: Vampire Detective |
Is Little Bite any good? Honestly, I don't know. I haven't read it.
But what I do know is that when I viewed it on the Zeta comics page, I loved the style, and the layout was smooth. It's something that I most definitely want to check out.
Why did I choose to focus on Bryan Golden as the first cover designer to spotlight? Well, after reviewing Damiano's Disk, a friend of mine mentioned that the art on the cover was the style that he was looking for with a project of his. He then pointed out that he didn't see a link to the designer.
There was a link...
But it was within the image's caption, which means it was very small and easy to overlook. Clearly, this needed to be remedied.
Spotlighting Bryan Golden as my first cover designer choice was a great way to do it.
Besides...
I have a special place in my heart for the Ever After High series, Shannon Hale being one of my favorite non-indie authors (her free short, Ashlynn Ella's Story, is fantastic!) and Golden appears to share this love. His whimsical pieces inspired by Ever After High on his deviantART gallery page placed a smile on my face that seemed to brighten the entire room.
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| Ashlynn Ella, copyright KagomesArrow77 |
After going through his art, I have to admit to becoming a fan. He has a special talent for energizing me. His work sets the imagination aflame, bringing magic to life in a way that can't truly be put into words.
Be sure to check out his DeviantART page, as well as his latest cover design work on the Tales of Aria, in Carl Russ, III's second installment: The Awakening.
Let Golden's magical artwork inspire you, just as they did with me.
Bryan's a great guy to work with. His rates are fair, he's quick to deliver, and he's never let me down. I couldn't have asked for a better depiction of my characters. I'm truly blessed to have stumbled across his page. For me, his art is half the fun of the series.
ReplyDeleteI believe it! The art fits hand-in-hand with your story.
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