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Copyright © 1996 - 2007 by Partners & Crime, Inc. All rights reserved. Revised: January 2007
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The Evolution of a Book
Jacket|
PARTNERS
& CRIME |
Cover Art by Mel
Odom mystery booksellers (212) 243-0440 |
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Mystery Book Cover Art:
The following series of drawings illustrates the way an artist works collaboratively with a publisher to create the art we see on book covers. The artist reads the manuscript, usually in a preliminary form, and prepares a drawing or painting for submission to the publisher. This series of drawings by renowned artist Mel Odom is especially illustrative of the process because it involved a number of different concepts. The book is Ruth Rendell's Keys to the Street, a psychological portrait by a grand master of the crime novel. The art is for the Canadian edition, published by Doubleday Canada Limited. Mel Odom describes the work: "Two versions of the same theme. The more complicated one is the heroine's face, veiled with spiked fencing. The man's face is the edge of a large key. On the left side of the key is a front door with steps leading to the street." Version
1 "The other much simpler version is the heroine's face hidden on the left by a large key forming a man's profile." Version
2
"We could even do the more complex version without the spiked veil. Think about it, talk about it. This is my best effort at depicting this complex group of elements..." Version
3 The publisher preferred a simplified "complex" version and asked Mel to produce a finished colour drawing. The Publisher's
Choice The Finished
Product Price for the series of drawings, the finished dust jacket, the artist/publisher correspondence and the manuscript the author worked from available upon request.
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