A Year in Projects: SHADOWDANCE

Kristen Callihan’s Darkest London Series is one of my favorites to work on. It’s a sexy, paranormal, steam punk romance. The fourth book in the series, Shadowdance, was really a delight from start to finish. The outfits were custom designed with a costumer. The models were perfect for the characters. The photo illustrator did an amazing job pulling the whole thing together. I feel giddy every time I look at it.

I was the art director and designer. Gene Mollica was the photo-illustrator. The costume was created by Time Travel Outfitters. Ron Zinn created the hand drawn lettering for the title.

Here is the rest of Callihan’s Darkest London series that I art directed and designed.

A Year in Projects: LAURA LONDON

For the rest of Laura London’s classic, historical, backlist titles the editors and I decided to take the look in a completely different direction. I used photographs instead of illustrations and created a new layout. 

Here are the new eBook covers for A Heart Too Proud, The Bad Baron's Daughter, Gypsy Heiress, Love's a Stage and Moonlight Mist.

A Year in Projects: THE WINDFLOWER

Third on the list is some romance! Grand Central Publishing's Forever imprint, is re-releasing several of Laura London’s classic romance novels in eBook format. Her most famous novel however, The Windflower, is being released in both print and eBook formats. We decided to recreate the original 1980’s cover for today’s audience. The result is gorgeous! 

 I was the art director on the project. Alan Ayers created the beautiful illustration. Iskra created the custom lettering.

A Year in Projects: CHARLES W. MORGAN LAUNCH

On Labor Day weekend my joint show, with the Dalvero Academy, at the Mystic Seaport came to an end.  The theme was about the history of Mystic and the restoration of the Charles W. Morgan (the last surviving whaling ship). The show had been up for over a year. It was honor to share a show with so many incredible artists and to be part of the seaport’s exhibits.

Watching the ship transform and be rebuilt was an amazing process to see witness. In July, the restoration reached the point where the Morgan could be launched back into the water. Dalvero was invited to witness and draw the event in the VIP section. Here are some drawings from that day.

People watching the ceremony. 

Preparing the Morgan for the launch. 

A small color study. 

There is some impressive facial hair being rocked at Mystic. 

A Year of Projects: ICE COLD

I did not post much on my blog in 2013, but it was certainly a busy year, full of fun and interesting projects. I decided to share a few of my favorites over the next few days to kick off the 2014.

First up, we have a piece I both designed and illustrated. It is a book cover for Mystery Writers of America Presents Ice Cold: Tales of Intrigue from the Cold War. The design is based on Soviet war posters. The art was created in illustrator. 

Holiday Rock Opera

Right before Christmas, my family and I went to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. While I didn't bring all of my supplies with me, I couldn't help but draw a little while I was there. Hope everyone had a rocking holiday (ba-dum ching!) and a wonderful new year!  —Christine

Happy Holidays

Hope you had a wonderful holiday season this year! 

—Christine