#suddenly have 2 new characters to design when i get back to digital lol

[didderd]

please make a swap tic that's name is toe 🤣 tic tac and toe,,,,,, /j you dont HAVE to itd just be funny

Hehe. One step ahead'a ya, dude. ^^^^ (From my reblog alt last night.)

Tho I think his name will be "Tou" lol. (Maybe the others suggested 'Toe' and he was like fk no, and they settled on this lmao)

[juliusjethompson1]

Julius Thompson Interviews International Book Cover Artist Kellie Dennis from London, England!

Julius Thompson’s Q/A Session with Kellie Dennis!

JT: Please tell us about the life of an international book cover artist.?

KD: Busy—really busy, I always have something to do, my mind always has ideas floating around. I could be working on one cover and scrawling through lots of images on a stock site and I will suddenly see an image that I really like or that may work for another cover I have on my list. I will end up downloading it and sometimes even leave the cover I was working on because the new ideas are there. Then going back to what I was previously doing.

Designing covers is a bit like writing books; you must be in the right frame of mind to even start work and sometimes this can take a few days to get really into the mood to start designing.

 JT: What is the process of developing a book cover?

KD: Every cover artist works differently but for myself the first thing I do is ask the author for the title, authors name, series and/or tag line lines, then I need to know more about the book: where it’s based, what the genre, and most importantly what the main characters look like, also if there’s any items in the book but could be used on the front cover.

I always recommend authors stay away from trying to re-create a scene from their books for the front cover unless they have a picture or images that they have written the scene around, it’s very hard to find the exact image that an author would have written about. And we all know the readers love to pick holes if something is not right.

From the information the author’s given me, I will then have a look on stock sites (like Shutterstock, iStock, Adobe Stock and places like Period Images) to find the perfect images. I say images because many of my covers have anything from 1 to 10 images to create the perfect single cover.

For authors that want exclusive book covers I would contact model/photographers direct to see what they have image wish. These images can cost anything from $200-$2000 per image.

Once I have the images I would then start the design process. This can take me anywhere from 30 minutes to a full day’s work—it’s a case of laying the images over each other to get the layout I want, then the process of cropping images removing them from backgrounds touching them up and adding the finishing touches like colour, tones and magical glossy look that lot of my covers are known for.

 JT: What exciting covers are you working on now? How do you know when you are finished with the cover?

KD: All my covers are exciting I love working with first-time authors where everything is new. When they first see samples I send them, they get so emotional and can’t believe that I have brought their world to life. I’ve had a lot of authors say that I’m a mind reader.

I do have an exciting series of covers I am designing for USA Today Bestselling author, Lexy Timms, using model Nathan Hainline images. Lexy is a great author, and I have designed close to 200 covers for her so far.

When I started designing covers I was watching a YouTube video on how to do something. I always remember the guy that was in the video said something along the lines of “as humans we have a tendency to over doing things so whatever you doing to an image if it be make it lighter/darker adding colour, once you think you have finished reduce it by 10%” and that’s what I always do to finished a cover, I’m a great believer in less is more.

 JT: Please tell us about your life as a book of artist in England?

KD: It’s probably the same as everywhere else in a sense. Maybe in England we get more rain and it’s a lot colder but I don’t find being in England to have an effect on my business. Most of my authors know my times zone are different and are willing to work around it, I’m also not a great morning person so I don’t mind working late into the evening once the kids are in bed, and sleeping in a little in the morning.

 JT: When did you first consider yourself an artist?

KD: Probably not until recently. My son had to do some schoolwork where they had to google the parents pictures and when my son put my name into Google loads my book covers appeared and his teacher asked him what they all where and he said, “My mum designed them and she the artist.” Also, recently this year me and my husband went to a book signing and at the after party I got chatting to quite a few different people and I was shocked at how many people knew who I was and they all had books that I have my designed.

 JT: How long and when did you start your work?

KD: I’ve been doing graphic designs for almost 10 years. I started off doing adverts and website design and got into designing books covers around four years ago now. It wasn’t even on my horizon to design covers; I literally fell into the job. It started with my mum telling me to read this book and I had a look at it on Amazon and was like really mum because the cover was not great. That’s a big factor for me when buying books (I freely admit to being a cover snob myself) Anyway, I bought the book and loved it and end up staying up really late reading it and going on Facebook and liking and following the author. She popped up and said thank you for becoming friends. We got chatting and talking about her books I told her that the book had been recommended, but not one I would’ve picked up if I’d been browsing Amazon on my own. I nicely explained that the cover didn’t really appeal to me, one thing led to another and I remade her a new cover that got shown to another author who then ordered a cover and so on so on.

 JT: Do you work full time? If so what’s your workday like? If not what do you do other than design and how do you find the time to do this work?

KD: I am a full-time cover designer. This is my only job. My company, Book Cover by Design, has been around for 4 years and became a limited company over year ago.

A normal work day for me usually involves answering around 20 to 50 emails and Facebook messages. Then I usually try and do all printable wraps that may need finishing and little odd jobs like update blurbs etc. I think I spend anything up to 2-4 hours a day on stock sites looking at images and contacting the models and photographers.

I normally design between 2 to 5 covers a day. I have been known to do up to 15 covers if they are part of a series as these tend to be quicker. Once the text is laid out and in place, it’s just a case of changing images and editing images etc

I always try to finish designs the same day as I start them as I can find it quite difficult to get back into the flow of a design once I have stopped.

 JT: What would you say is your most interesting artist quirk?

KD: I talk/shout at my PC a lot, lol. I’m not the most patient person in the world so if the Internet go’s slow and I need to get images downloaded I can get loud.

With my actual designs I personally prefer a more realistic looking cover then the really fantasised painted affect covers you see a lot. I’ve become really good at saying no that won’t work in very creative ways. There is only so much that can fit onto a 6x9 space that gets view in thumb nail size more that full size.

 JT: As a child what did you want to be when you grow up?

KD: That’s a hard question... I didn’t have a clue.

When I was 11 my parents moved us from Essex to Wales and in the school I was really badly bullied. So when I was 14, my parents pulled me out of school. We had 14 horses and a livery yard stables so I spent time training the horses, working on the farm etc, but when I was 15 turning 16 I really got into drawing and applied to go to college where I was accepted a year early because of the work I had shown the professors in the interview. While I was at college I got diagnosed with dyslexia, which answered a lot of questions of why I struggled in school. I spent two years learning classic art using watercolours, oil paints and charcoal, and after finishing college I started working in retail sales, and worked for a few big company working my way up to store management all before I was 21, after meeting my husband I started my own business making handmade wedding stationery from there I moved onto digital art, which led me into designing the covers.

 JT: Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

KD: Just to say big thank you to the authors and readers that continue to use my services and love my covers. Without you I would not have designed over 5000 book covers in the last four years.

My favourite saying is never judge a book by its cover... but why not?

 JT: What advice would you give to people that may want to go into this profession?

KD: Make sure you know the laws around copyright licenses for images and fonts, read the terms conditions on all stock sites you may use.

Google images should never be used to find images for book covers.

Watermark your work and never give out your psd files.

You need to have very good computer equipment and a good knowledge of photoshop. If you don’t want to go to college or do online courses there are plenty of helpful videos on YouTube on how it works.

****************************************************************

 1.     Kellie Dennis Contact Details

2.     Book Cover by Design Ltd

3.     Email: kellie@bookcoverbydesign.co.uk

4.     Website: www.bookcoverbydesign.co.uk

5.     Facebook: www.facebook.com/bookcoverbydesign

6.     Twitter: @bookcoversbyme

[furederiko]

Countdown Counter: 10. Kyuranger 39 is calling for a Hero, in order to save a 'Princess' in need! It's my first post for December 2017 too...

- Can't believe it's December already! As in, there are only 2 months left for us to enjoy a rollercoaster ride with Kyuranger. Aaaaawww... -_-. This recap-view was initially planned to be the final post of November, but evidently so, that's not the case. Well, things tend to run off track every now and then, and delaying this one eventually became a conscious decision. I DID watch the episode when it aired last week on November 26th, but I've decided to wait for the fansub in order to get a more accurate view. And I have only been able to catch the subbed version this morning, due to health and internet. - Last we saw the Space Rebellion, the team was divided into two. Tsurugi/Xiao led one half to clear out the wacky Cepheus trials, while Lucky's unit went to Planet Ghem to locate the Perseus Kyu Globe. In case the name and shape of the planet (with joystick and directional pads) aren't obvious enough, it's clearly a pun for the word 'GAME'. - Madako has been converted into Mecha-Madako, and become the Menaster of Perseus System. She wastes no time to trigger Champ's berserk. Worse, she and a Bovine All Purpose Weapon Unit-00 deactivate Champ and snatch him away. How can she accomplish all of these? With the help of one not-that-surprising figure: Professor Anton. Yes, as has been speculated by many and later rumored and reported, Champ's creator is NOT dead. The creepy mad scientist is still very much at large, and has been the brain behind the Vice-Shoguns 'revivals' and continuous modifications. Fun fact: In the mythology, the tale of Perseus is famously connected to the Greek monster Medusa. Madako might be an octopus, but her head design does resemble a woman with snakey hair, am I right? So her being the Perseus Menaster sort of fits the bill. - The world around the team is then altered, and Lucky, Stinger, Spada, and Kotarou suddenly find themselves turned into... RPG characters. Well, duh? Planet GAME, anyone? Kotarou gets to be the 'Hero', Spada gets to be this unit's fan-service master as the shirtless 'Warrior' (he's skinny, but IMO in better shape than Tsurugi LOL), Lucky is entrusted to be the episode's crossdressing master... a magical gir- I mean female 'Mage', while Stinger also uncharacteristically becomes the 'Jester'. Of course, we also know how melancholic Stinger could have been. Prof. Anton created this alternate space with the Alternate World Projection Machine so he can trap them for good. - With the Kyu Globes being rendered powerless, their personalities are also slowly altered to fit their new... ugh 'Jobs'. Wait... WHAT?! Yep, this is... as Hammy notes it perfectly, HILARIOUS. Singing and dancing Musical-Stinger totally steals every attention with his performance outbursts (seriously TOEI, make a Kyuranger Musical already!!!). Macho-Spada allows his actor to play a dumb brute jock (those blank expressions! LOL), while Brave-Kotarou gets to be the COOL leader. And surely I'm not the only one who thinks Feminine-Lucky actually looks pretty convincing as a girl, right? His inner-Eris, perhaps? *wink-wink* - Their mission, should they choose to accept it or else, is to rescue... beautiful Black Cow Princess, from the evil clutches of Demon King. Ouch, so Champ's the 'Damsel in Distress' in this situation, huh? LOL. Demon King is obviously Prof. Anton. He used to be gentle and kind in Champ's memory, so this time his actor gains the chance to ham up his performance into a twisted maniac intent on turning the fighting robot into a weapon of destruction. Sure, it looks campy and exaggerated, but unlike that other show this level of weirdness feels natural and makes sense. And surprise, surprise! Prof. Anton... isn't really 'alive' in the flesh. Great goodness, creepy Anton is CREEPY. He has become the Super Sentai version of Marvel's Arnim Zola!!! That scene with the TV head is a great proof of this homage. Just like Zola, he had uploaded his consciousness to a machine to gain immortality. - But it gets better! The professor was NEVER good, and has been Jark Matter's devotee for hundreds of years. Good-Anton was merely the undesirable benevolent 'residue' left behind in his mortal body when the real one decided to go full-pledged machine. Problem is, Good-Anton acted selflessly by taking Champ away, turning him into a robot of justice. That means the one Champ knew was indeed good, eventhough that was merely a 'defect version'. That's the reason why Scorpio was sent to eliminate Good-Anton. How I love this twist! Did you see this coming? I sure DON'T. Again, Kyuranger keeps on surprising us. - Champ has always been a weapon of destruction, and the 'Berserker Circuit' located next to his heart is the key to all this. Dang it, the Rebellion technicians must have done a FINE job rebuilding him to NOT have noticed this utter crucial thing. This chip explains why Champ occasionally gets out of control. Anton has unlocked its function now, reverting Champ back to his natural purpose. So the team needs to destroy it if they ever want to bring their friend back. But can they do it without blowing away his heart in the process? Do they need to sacrifice one of their own to protect the universe? - That's where Musical-Stinger plays a vital part. Unable to transform, he is defeated very easily by Champ. But following Feminine-Lucky's advice, Musical-Stinger uses the thing he does best to revert Champ's missing heart: SING! And goodness grace, what a tearjerking moment it becomes. Sure, the silly flamenco dance bit at the start made me rolled my eyes, but halfway through the performance turns into very melancholic and deeply emotional. Don't be surprised if out of the blue, smoke gets in your eyes! Fun fact: The song Stinger is singing is none other than his image song that could be heard during Scorpio's death, and was also featured prominently in his V-Cinema. But he deliberately alters the lyric to Champ's condition, that it's no longer about the loneliness of the Scorpius System warrior. This one is about his bromanc... I mean, partnership with the Taurus System hero. Similar to the Dark-Naga conclusion, we get to see glimpses of Stinger and Champ's moment together. A perfect touch for an already strong scene. - Champ partially wakes up from his berserk, and asks Stinger to do whatever it takes. There's a faint glimpse of Good-Anton in a neat metaphor of 'Angel vs Devil', as Stinger succeeds in liberating Champ's heart. Gotta love how the partners play it cool afterwards, with Champ teasing how 'bad' the song sounds. Just hug it out already! We all know you both want it. LOL. - Stinger's strike also short-circuits the lab, causing Digital-Anton to lose his hold. Alternate World no more (which is sad, because I want to see more role-playing... -_-), it's time to duke it out in battle. We get really cool action sequence too! Leo Red Orion, Dorado Yellow, and UrsaMinor SkyBlue take on Mecha-Madako, while the duo of Scorpius Orange and Taurus Black deals with a pair of Unit-00s. Scorpius Orange utilizes his special power up using the #27 Monoceros Kyu Globe, and Taurus Black can send his fist flying now! Being freed from the Berserker trigger seems to have granted him some kind of power up. Meanwhile, Leo Red Orion uses his 'Gate of Babylon' attack to summon projectile weapons for him and the other two. Neat move! - In the end, Mecha-Madako retreats alongside Digital-Anton (along with his mechanical brain, of course). She had sacrificed her regenerative ability so her days is pretty much numbered, while the mad scientist must have forgotten that becoming a machine isn't any better than having a mortal body. Looks like these two will play important roles ahead. Could it be, Digital-Anton is behind Don Armage's secret of long lasting life? Highly likely. But that's the story for the final arc in the remaining 9 episodes. For now, the other Kyuranger's unit arrive just in time during the mecha battle, reuniting the team to goof off locate the prize in the 'palace'. Naturally, it's the BN Thieves who discover one... in a treasure chest: the #36 Perseus Kyu Globe. Only one more left! Next stop, Cassiopeia System...

Overall: This episode was another solid example of how brilliant Kyuranger handles the tone shift. What started out as humorous and ridiculous comical-fest, eventually evolved into a dark emotional turn, while still able to slip in exciting action sequences. Eventhough many including yours truly expected this would be a Kotarou's focus episode, it ended up becoming an excellent conclusion to Champ's story arc instead. In that case, it confirmed that both "Episode of Stinger" and its coupling web-series "High School Wars" took place after episode 34 and before 35. Admittedly, those separate features were rather inconsistent with this fact (the V-Cinema's ending, among others), but I guess we'll just have to take it as is. It's the only plausible and logical placement anyway... *sigh* Nevertheless, the show continues to pull off all kinds of sci-fi plots in general. And that is nothing short of impressive! The Mecha-Anton twist might not be original, but it was also unexpected. And those RPG-nods, they instantly reminded me of the crazy fun "Yuusha Yoshihiko", to the point that I was disappointed we didn't get to see more. And I'm not kidding. Two episodes in a row, and the show has left me wanting more. So just the thought that the series is going to conclude pretty soon, is giving me all kinds of mixed feeling... Next week: Aim for the Big League! Baseball Spada strikes!!!

Episode 39 Score: 8,1 out of 10

Visit THIS LINK to view a continuously updated listing of the Kyutama / Kyu Globes. Last Updated: December 2nd, 2017 - Version 3.07. (WARNING: It might contain spoilers for future episodes)

All images are screencaptured from the series, provided by the FanSubber Over-Time. "Uchu Sentai Kyuranger" is produced by TOEI, and airs every Sunday on TV-Asahi. Credits and copyrights belong to their respective owners.