H. P. Lovecraft Anthology
I have long been a fan of H. P. Lovecraft’s work, I find his distinct style of horror to be very darkly compelling, and the horror mythos that he created still continues to both directly and thematically inspire intriguing new works in virtually all mediums. When I was given the option to create cover art for a Lovecraft anthology as a digital paint assignment, I couldn't help but jump at the chance. Eager to try my hand in doing justice to the literary legend, I knew I would need to find a way to communicate the tone of Lovecraft’s writing.
Cover Art
Easily the best known creation of H. P. Lovecraft is Cthulhu, and as such ‘The Call of Cthulhu’ is arguably his most famous story, so it seemed the natural choice of imagery for the cover art. The climax of the story sees a shipwreck at sea coinciding with awakening of Cthulhu, and this scene would make for a dramatic cover that could appropriately set the tone for anthology. I placed the imagery of the story onto a backdrop of a corroded copper panel to both evoke a feeling of something long lost at sea, and to allow the book itself to almost become its own element of the visual narrative.
Jacket Design
The textual elements of the cover were added in a way that would help to accent the art rather than simply obscure it, with the use of only a single font to contribute to easy legibility and an overall sense of visual unity across the cover.
