Who is in the books covers?

[Hoid Is Dead]

I think this would be the best place to post this.

 

It is common for a fantasy book to have a 'real' people representing its cover, specially when it has a tv/movie counterpart. (i.e. Sword of truth, Harry Potter, etc.).

 

So I'm thinking, what about Mistborn? Who's in the coverart of the book? Or is it just another cg?

[Young Bard he/him]

I don't think it's usually intentional to have a real life person be a model for a character, it just so happens that the cover artist paints what they think of in their head for the character, and that is usually subconsciously based off someone in real life.

 

For instance, Brandon has mentioned the increasing likeness between Waxillium and Tom Cruise, but that wasn't intentional on Chris McGrath's side, just something he had in his mind when he drew it.

[skaa he/him]

An actress named Willa Holland implied in the comments section here that she's the model for the woman (presumably Marasi) in the Shadows of Self cover. I don't know about anyone else.

 

Why isn't this in the Mistborn forum? Do you want us to discuss the people in the covers of other Sanderson series besides Mistborn? According to this, Michael Whelan took photos of himself holding a staff to help him paint Kaladin in the Words of Radiance cover.

Edited September 15, 2015 by skaa

[Ari he/him]

An actress named Willa Holland implied in the comments section here that she's the model for the woman (presumably Marasi) in the Shadows of Self cover. I don't know about anyone else.

 

Why isn't this in the Mistborn forum? Do you want us to discuss the people in the covers of other Sanderson series besides Mistborn? According to this, Michael Whelan took photos of himself holding a staff to help him paint Kaladin in the Words of Radiance cover.

 

Heh yeah I saw that thread at the time, really funny that Willa is a sanderfan and noticed the resemblance of the model. She didn't actually say she modelled for the cover though.

 

Quoting Peter (Brandon's assistant) from said thread with regards to the artist, Chris McGrath's, process:

 

I read the notes or manuscript from the art director, then do sketches. Once a sketch is approved, I find models, costumes, and book a photo shoot (which I do myself). Then, once I have everything, I get to work at home using Photoshop and my Wacom tablet. Everything is the same as setting up a traditional oil painting, using the same methods I was taught in school.

Edited September 20, 2015 by Ari

[Sera]

These cover artists might be using real people for reference, or they might be not using references at all. Accidental likeness is a very common occurrence—you rarely pull pleasant facial feature combinations out of thin air, you rely on your visual library (mental database of references). If the illustrator says he didn't base the character on someone in particular, I'll believe him.

 

Have you ever noticed the same-face syndrome? Different characters by a same illustrator having the same face? That happens because the illustrator is comfortable in drawing those features, and those features appeal to his/her aesthetic preference. You literally draw this face by default, and creating a different face takes conscious effort.

 

The good illustrator can't use the same face for every character. S/he will attempt to create a new face by combining features, and that's when that sneaky plague of accidental likeness strikes. As you're painting you decide to use facial structure X because it's strong + eyebrows Y to produce a strong gaze + eyes Z to bring balance to the gaze with some neutrality + nose W because it has personality + lips O because they're discreet... suddenly, Tom Cruise.

 

 

Oh, and there are distinct types of reference. Likeness is one, but there is pose reference, light setup reference, etc. Only likeness references require close likeness to the subject you intend to depict.

Edited September 20, 2015 by Sera