Commissioned art - Invictus

There are so many great options that it is impossible to choose one. I do like althor5's idea though

I'm thinking about doing a shot of the Invictus with its guns out, flying away from Olympus shipyard, with Gravitus in the background. I think it'll make for a bit more dramatic, colourful image. I've sent a bunch of suggestions and pictures to the artist so he can start modelling the Invictus. I'm fascinated to see what he comes up with! :-)

Tefler

That might be a good cover for the ebook that includes that scene.

Hey Tefler, hope you're doing well :) . Any chance you could get a better made map of the entire TSM universe ? Would love to see where the major planets and empires are :)

Sid1712

I would like to see the Invictus descrying Mikaboshi's fortrss while John is talking to the reporter.

althor5

Thanks for all the feedback everyone! Your comments have been very insightful as always. :-)

Tefler

Since it's for the first book, option 1 seems appropriate. I suggest the pic to show the Invictus at docking bay 13 in the background, with the fore quarter of the fool's gold in the foreground. To look like the moment John and Alyssa sets their eyes on their new home for the first time.

Tefler, since first eBook is Chapter's 1-10 I think number 1 is the best option.

voted 1 but also like the idea of fools gold

rich ed

Fuck Notre Dame.

After reading all the comments, I'm going to go back to my initial question, I think. How many chapters - what content? - are going to be included in your initial ebook, Tefler? Things like the Hive ship, the Drakkar, the Maliri, or even Jade... will they be in the first book? If not, they certainly shouldn't be on the cover. Subsequent book covers, certainly... but the cover should reflect what is in the book, not what is going to be in a later book in the series.

Evan

Question is do you want it to be a spaceship story or a soldier in space? For later chapters it won't matter as much, they'll be hooked and even if you had a sleeping giraffe on the cover we'd buy it. To start though, which would draw more attention. I'm leaning towards ship battles. It's the initial focus and the ground missions came a little later anyway.

Roethan

John with his alyssium sword fighting the Drakkar behemoth in a heroic pose would be nice!

Mapstar

I'd like a variation of the first option with the Invictus in flight with the Olympus shipyard in the backgroud, that would flow nicely into haveing one of the stretched Invictus in flight with Genthalas behind it.

ringill

I would rather see it fully upgraded after it was extended.

Wardonis

Well, since you have enough story already for several books, pick several different artworks. First book could be your 1st look at the Invictus. Second, could be Dragon March battle. (pick one) Third, etc. It all depends on where the book breaks would be, and what you want to highlight for that book cover.

Muledrvr

Tefler, I'd keep in mind that you don't want the cover art to reflect the story in the beginning, but rather, approximately halfway through the ebook, if not further. So, I'd first consider just what that first book will entail, and then, I'd pick a representative scene - NOT an imitation, necessarily - and have the cover art showcase it. For example, let's say that the crew in the first book includes, by the end, John & Alyssa, of course, as well as Calara, Dana and Jade. You could have the Olympus Shipyards shown from the perspective of the bridge with the crew present on the bridge as they're approaching the shipyards with the Tyrenium (sp?) from the trip where Dana was brought aboard and Jade was 'acquired' from the pirates. Kind of a side-view of the bridge showing each of the girls and John, approaching (as seen from that angle on the bridge) the huge Terran Federation shipyard, perhaps showing one of the Dreadnoughts that was under construction at that time, so that the scale of things can be seen... and perhaps even showing a tiny little spacesuited figure working away as they approached. I also liked the first choice, which appears to be the overwhelming favorite, but I thought I'd offer an alternative for your consideration. It would also work as a 'pencil' drawing for a chapter's header image, as was previously suggested.

Evan

Take care that it does not become to dark. The illustration you have has a nice light background

Kim Biel-Nielsen

@CJ Mora I second this opinion

O.o This artist will do an awesome job with the art, Dana will be pleased. $700 worth it, maybe a timed go fund me periodically to allow us patrons to chuck additional funding into fleshing out the art variety faster. Yes, those of us get artwork for $2 and over but I dunno, maybe something could be worked out? Just an idea

Forbsey

@CJ Mora I like the way you think.

I like the concept of seeing the Invictus for the first time, over a battle scene. Actually, if this is for the first book it would be cool to see the Fool's Gold in the background. It says that it's a starting point and you can gradually transition into more and more thrilling covers as the series progresses, allowing the covers to build tension like the battle scenes do.

CJ Mora

What about the Invictus facing off against the first Kirrix give ship. It's the first major step along the path of 'heroism' as the Tartan public would see.

Dragonkain

If its for a cover than option 1 seems sensible.

As a side note, I would tell the Artist now that you'll likely order additional pictures of the Invictus as he might be able to save his work before a step in his process allowing him to do it for cheaper in the future. Also, check your messages when you have a chance. Thanks.

DemonHunterCole

I voted for how the Invictus was when John and Alyssa go to board it back in Chapter 7 as having people and the dry docks should help add perspective on how massive the ship is.

DemonHunterCole

Just a thought but for the beginning of each chapter (ebook wise) you could include an artists sketch of various objects, places, people or scenes with the chapter number. I personally feel this adds an extra layer of professionalism to it

Been looking at the guy's DeviantArt page. He's got skill. You could probably have him eventually do the full series of Invictus models. Maybe even do interior shots too, such as the bridge, bedroom, officer's mess, Dana's workshop, the lagoon, the Raptor in the hangar, the Valkyrie, Faye in the cyber-realm, etc.

Jedi Khan

I think the cover for the first book should be the Fools Gold with a silhouette of John maybe on Karron the first time

I think for a book cover, the first option will look...cluttered. Other than that it would be a great scene.

D. D.

Can't wait for the books

Seraph casz

Answer is yes.

Jedi Khan

My first instinct is "Something Else" such as Invictus in Genthalas getting the 250m plug insert, the crystal skeleton, etc. Mainly because I like cutaway views. But I'm voting for #1 as I know you already have the model in build that can be used for Photoshop or 3D photo purposes.

Will it be the original invictus as it was sold to John since it will be the cover to the first book?

ItWasn7Me

The original has more uses and you can always do the next version later.

I'll bundle the chapters up into roughly 120k word books, then use this artwork for each book. As I get more artwork, I'll change the later book covers to include new art.

Tefler

Wow, pricey! I'm assuming you are referring to 3SM as your first ebook. Are you splitting it into several books? Cuz it's pretty massive and probably should be split. Just wondering where those splits will be and if you are going to change the story a bit to make it have more of an "end" between books.

Roethan

I unable to choose since there are al an integral part of the story just in another timeframe but they all contribute, for that amount of money they should present at least 3 different images, jeez.

William Wallace

What about a cross section of the invictus as its being modified for the singularity drivers?

DeltaByte

It costs $700, so choose wisely! ;-)

Tefler

Ah man. So many options. Damn, how do I pick?

Jedi Khan