ABOUT > Jade
The cover art for all the DreamCraft editions,
and all art on this website barring
the representations of the old GMP covers, plus all the animations,
is the work of one artist/photographer.
Jade has been
working in this field for many years but only fairly
recently switched over from the traditional methods
of paper, canvas, pencils and brush/airbrush, to the
digital medium. Now, she works almost solely with the
computer, and the product is better than ever.
Each painting is a combination of digital elements
which are usually captured photographically, less
often hand-sketched and scanned in. A digital camera
provides the immense library of images needed to
produce complex digital artwork.
Next comes the painting stage, and this is all done
at the software level. Jade uses a combination of
several different programs rather than one:
Irfanview, Micrographx Picture Publisher,
Macromedia XRes, Serif Photo Plus, and
Macromedia Extreme 3D.
Working closely with Mel Keegan, the artist combines
faces and body forms to develop the "look" of the
characters appearing in the books. Aside from
movie tie-in novels, where the cover artist has
benefit of the actors playing the roles, novel jackets
have probably never more accurately depicted the
characters as envisiaged by the writer.
Jade's art and photography appears throughout this
website, and the artist has given us a brief
commentary on the background to most of the covers.
COPYRIGHT:
No content from this site may be reproduced in
any way shape or form without written permission
from the publisher and/or author or artist ...
all of which simply means, please contact
us rather than just going ahead...
   
   
THE bookmarks were free with every
advance order for the novel, until DreamCraft switched over to the Lulu.com
printshop. Alas, we can no longer give away bookmarks ... but the artwork lives here!
>>>to your right>>>: THE CALENDAR PROJECT is one of this artist's most cherished ideas.
Each month a new page is published on-site here (free download in the PDF
fle format). You send it to your printer and either hang, tack-up or mount
it in your workspace. Some great pieces have been created for this project,
and many more are impending. When the year is complete, we'll we using the
twelve images to do a screensaver.
And speaking of screensavers ... Jade was so inspired by TIGER, TIGER
(which was actually written because MK had been inspired to a story
by a Jade piece!) that a whole suite of artwork on the theme was
produced. Check this out:
...a small slideshow of some of the images which were zipped into
the TIGER, TIGER SCREENSAVER. It's a one-dollar-download on-site here.
You'll download the zip file containing the installer and your license,
and click the $1 button to order the 'key' ... visit our
shopping page to get your copy. Remember, a
click on the $1-button to order the screensaver sets you back a buck,
and keeps the artist working...! Or visit the Zazzle store,
and treat yourself, or a pal... and Visit the
MEL KEEGAN GALLERY at Zazzle!
make custom gifts at Zazzle
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If you're not a member, it' time to sign up: there's a fantastic
selection of desktops and screensavers, free for the download ...members only!
Sign up now?
"The Jungle Book" featured as the
prize in the July 2004 Draw ...
in the next upload to the site
you'll be able to buy prints of
this and other artwork; and Mel
was so entranced by "The Jungle
Book" that the painting inspired
the novella, TIGER, TIGER ...
the first time that a Mel Keegan
novel has come along after
the cover!
...pages from the fantasy art calendar. The calendar project is
complete, but you haven't missed out on the art: you can buy
the screensaver for one dollar! Click here!
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Link to us!
...send an eCard!
