Christoffer Petersen

Authentic Arctic Thrillers

photoshop

Hmm… as Maratse would say

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Yep, I have an idea what you might be thinking. It could be that zombies don’t fit with Christmas (now there’s an idea). Or it could be that zombies don’t fit with what I usually write. Or something along the lines of wtf?

I’ll go with the last one.

This is me, playing around and experimenting with 3D art, which is really more along the lines of graphic design. I put the “assets” together, change some colours, angles, poses, expressions, angle of eyes, position of lips, cameras, lighting – pretty much everything, and then I render the image.

After that, I open it in Photoshop for post work, play with the contrast, some filters, add smoke, add dust (in this case snow with a low opacity setting), remove the stuff that I missed or couldn’t fix in the render, add some more contrast, remove the contrast, then flatten the image and save it.

Voila!

Kind of.

This is what I do when not writing and editing or running – note to self, I need to run more!

2021 has been about two things for me:

Translations (thanks Françoise and Ewa!)

and Graphic Design (a.k.a. covers)

I’ve always done my own covers (give or take a few paid commissions) and now I’m ready to really do my own covers. I’ve mentioned before that I hope to provide pre-made covers for other indie authors, as well as making my own.

My biggest problem is always going to be “letting go” of each cover, as the story that goes with everything I make is already turning in my head.

Oh well.

We’ll see what happens.

Chris

P.S.

Coming soon (including more artwork) … meaning tomorrow – Advent Sunday!

Putting it all together

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A classic question authors are often asked is where do you get all your ideas?

Non-writers seem to get overwhelmed at the idea of creating plots and characters. A friend of mine suggested the same, wondering how I keep track of it all. He is a headteacher of a big inner city school. I can’t imagine what he has to keep track of in a day. Actually, as a teacher, I can imagine it, but am just grateful I was never the one doing it.

But as far as ideas go …

Once, when visiting my parents in England, I walked past a movie theater and a security van was picking up the cash.

That was all I needed.

In the space of five minutes I had plotted out a comic caper/heist story with a couple of friends and a battered Land Rover muscling in on the private cash security business.

Ideas are not the problem.

Time is the problem.

I’ll never use all the ideas I have, especially when they keep coming – just can’t turn them off.

It’s the same with creating covers.

Sometimes the story comes first, or I develop it while making a cover, as I did with Hart Attack.

Then, once the render was baked, I could start to put it all together.

I start with blocking in the text in a layer, moving it around a little, then thinking about spacing between the text.

I’m still learning, but try to follow a few rules and be inspired by other covers. I’ve got a long way to go, and am often experimenting, but when I lock in on an idea I usually stick with it.

Of course, even with Led Zeppelin banging out of the speakers while working, I’ve got the story playing in my head.

It feels like one of those pre-visualisations they talk about on Star Wars movies – short, rough-cut movies that provide visual cues for the director etc. prior to filming.

I know, kind of grandiose comparing my story thoughts with the pre-viz of mega movies like Star Wars! 🙂

Written stories work like that too, at least they do for me.

So, Led Zeppelin, render baking, blocking text, and scenes in my head. It’s lots of fun, and I’ll choose it any day over running a school, or any other business.

Chris

Freedom

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I am an independent author. Sometimes, just saying it aloud helps. 🙂 There’s a lot of stigma attached to being “independent” and a lot of negativity, usually slung from publishers and those authors and aspirational authors who believe the traditional route is the one and only route to being published. Well, in 2021, all I can say is “good luck with that.”

Being independent gives me and authors like me the freedom to decide pretty much everything. It also means we have to own our mistakes along the way. Like everything, there’s a learning curve, but learning is a big part of the reward. Can I do things better? Sure. How do I do things better? Well, I go and learn from people better than me in that area.

But one of the true freedoms can be found in the creative process, including everything from writing to cover design. I’ve always done my own covers – some are better than others, some are far better than others, meaning I really should go back and change one or two of my covers. And, because I’m independent, free to make my own mistakes, I can.

This year, a good friend I met through writing but have never met, put me on to 3D art. I’ve always enjoyed playing around with images in Photoshop, but felt something was missing – in a nutshell, it was “people” or characters who were missing. With 3D models and assets a whole new world opened up, and I could put a face on my characters. Now, there’s a danger here, and anyone who read The Lord of the Rings before Peter Jackson’s films probably experienced the same identity crisis as I did when Elijah Wood became the new Frodo. So, if I add Petra, one of my main characters, to a book cover or promo image, as I have started doing, then readers might experience the same thing.

I think I just compared Petra to Frodo, there. 🙂

Whatever the consequences, I’m actually fine with it, as what I’ve discovered is a new string to the creative bow. Now, when I create covers or promotional images I find I am adding to the story. Sometimes playing around with a cover inspires a story, which is what happened last night when Petra went back in time (see cover image).

I don’t yet know when or if I’ll write this story, but I’m seriously considering it, just to shake things up a bit.

Being an indie author gives me the freedom to do that.

Chris