Melissa Myers contacted me a short bit ago about redoing her covers for “The Elder Blood Chronicles” series of hers. First off, I have to say, if you are at all interested in fantasy novels READ THIS SERIES! I can honestly endorse it because I started reading the series before doing the cover.

We just finished book one’s cover “In Shades of Grey“

BLURB: In a breath it was gone — her home, her family, her future. For Jala, the first taste of magic was a brutal one. Spared from death by the protection of a god, Jala is rescued by outlaws and taken to a remote country temple to be raised. Thinking herself no more than a farmer’s orphan, Jala is caught completely off guard when told that she is to train at the High Academy. With no escape from this new future, Jala finds herself cast out of the temple and forced into a world of magic and intrigue. Now she must learn quickly about her world as well as herself if she is going to survive.

As Jala’s magic unfolds she is drawn back to her ruined homeland by nightmares and acquires a Familiar like no other. Realizing she is far more than a simple farmer’s daughter, Jala begins searching for the secrets of her past. As the truth unfolds and her reputation in the city of Sanctuary grows, so does the danger. With half of the Elder Blood houses wanting her dead and the other half wanting her help, Jala finds herself the center of more attention than she ever wanted.

*****

I don’t think I’ve told Melissa this yet, but I hold this cover particularly dear to me because in my frustration (yes I got frustrated) in getting the image from my head to the screen, I wound up doing something I haven’t done in years. I digitally painted. I work on photography, photomanipulations, design, vector art, but I haven’t actually painted stroke by stroke in, well I’m not sure how many years. The whole cover isn’t digitally painted, though there are a lot of areas that were. Mostly though it was Marrow, the cat-like creature called a Bendazzi from the books. Don’t get me wrong, he wasn’t fully free-hand, I started with something, well a couple of somethings, mostly for reference.  But all that fur you see, and the detail, was painted.

Here’s a closer view.

And here’s the full print cover.

And the Facebook Timeline Cover image.

Look for it in print and eBook!