Oh look at this! It's a seasonally appropriate blog post!
This is a cover for the "Mysteries Unraveled" series from Annie's Publishing. If you haven't seen my previous cozy mystery blog posts, cozy mystery covers tend to have a quaint, small-town setting, a hobby theme (crochet in this case), and a "sinister element" that suggests danger. Here is what the AD asked for:
"We are thinking about a Texas wedding license on a small serving table, with a crocheted shawl draped across it. The tea cup is turned over, spilling its contents across the shawl and bottom of the license (which is obviously hidden by the shawl). Behind the table is a Christmas tree (just enough of it showing to let the reader know it is a tree."
"We are thinking about a Texas wedding license on a small serving table, with a crocheted shawl draped across it. The tea cup is turned over, spilling its contents across the shawl and bottom of the license (which is obviously hidden by the shawl). Behind the table is a Christmas tree (just enough of it showing to let the reader know it is a tree."
At the time I received this assignment, I was traveling through New Zealand with my husband and staying in various AirBnb houses. I rummaged through my Airbnb host's kitchen to find some props so I could set up a photo shoot. Luckily she had a teapot, a teacup and some candles. I used my own scarf in place of the crocheted shawl.
I used these arrangements to help me come up with three rough sketches, which I sent to the client:
The AD liked rough #3 the best. He asked me to zoom out a bit, add some crochet hooks to the table, and some crocheted Christmas ornaments to the tree. Did I mention this book has a crochet theme? He sent me this image:
Here is the revised color rough I sent:
The AD said to go ahead with the final, although to make sure that the Christmas ornaments looked like snowflakes and not the Star of David!
Here is the finished book cover!
That's really cool how you painted the yarn! How did you figure out how to do that?
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