If you've visited our site before, you'll have noticed our wonderful contests, some of which have featured cover pictures in puzzle form. Needless to say, there has been plenty of discussion amongst members and guests alike about these covers, and I decided it was high time I took a closer look at the Art of the romance novel. I wondered about the process of creating a cover, the people who are involved, and the history of romance novel cover art. Wondering has led to research, and research has led to this article, which has been a cooperative effort featuring input from just about everyone at A Romance Review. It seems that we all have our favorite covers, and reasons for liking those covers, and the differences have made for fascinating conversations.

If you run your mouse over some of the pictures on these pages, you'll see how a painting or image turns into the cover of a novel with the simple addition of text!!

In an effort to be logical in our approach to this wide-ranging subject, I thought I'd start at the beginning, and take a look at the history of the romance novel cover to see if I could find out where this phenomenon began. Internet searches continually mentioned a new book, published in January 2002, called "The Look Of Love - The Art of the Romance Novel" (Princeton Architectural Press, 2002) After locating a copy, I realized that I had an amazing resource on my hands - this book is full of helpful and scrupulously well researched historical information, and also full of wonderful covers - some well over 60 years old. It's certainly recommended reading for anyone who'd like a look back at how far we have come! I was most fortunate in reaching the author of this fascinating book and obtaining an interview with her. Please follow the link below to read my chat with Jennifer McKnight-Trontz.

  To the right is the cover of Catherine Coulter's book Devil's Embrace. When you run your cursor over it, you'll be able to see the painting on which it has been based. Occasionally devices like the one on this cover are used as a "stepback" - a form of cover where the illustration is actually on the second page of the novel, and some form of cutout allows the reader to see through portions of the cover to the illustration beneath. Below you can see the cover of Patricia Veryan's book, Shadow's Bliss, which features another of Elaine's covers. You'll notice here, and in several other mouseover graphics, that there is a difference in color tone between the original and the cover - this may be accounted for by the source of these graphics (I found them all over the 'Net) and also the printing process for the novel covers, where inks are selected that are close to the original, but not always identical.

It's a shame that the graphic limitations of this page prevent me from using larger images for these illustrations - the beauty and the detail of these paintings is quite extraordinary. It is clear when wandering through Elaine's gallery that her work certainly falls under the heading of "Art".

The process of creating one of these beautiful paintings can take Elaine Gignilliat up to two weeks of fourteen-hour days, from first pencil stroke to final coloring. It's an intense process, but it certainly pays off - if you visit Elaine's website be sure to check the pictures of her home which she has turned into a gallery of her work.

The photograph that Elaine uses as the basis for her illustrations usually features one or two models. I wondered, during the course of my research, what it was like to stand in front of a camera, dressed in costume and have one's picture taken, to be used as the cover of a romance novel. I was extraordinarily lucky to be able to ask two very well-known cover models just that question (and a bunch of others while I was at it)! They were delightful interviewees, and if you click on their cover, below, you can visit the page dedicated to "Mr. and Mrs. Romance" - Leland and Leslie Burbank.

While Elaine Gignilliat uses the traditional artist's tools of paint, brush, and canvas, advancements in technology have produced a variety of new techniques to assist today's cover artist. One very special process produces the most exquisite images - works of art in their own right. The Fortin and Sanders studio has developed a technique which involves a combination of the old and new - photographs are layered with lacquers and paints which result in works which are practically indistinguishable from the Old Masters.

These lovely images have been assembled into a unique volume entitled "Passion's Blood" - the first illustrated romance novella. Its themes of medieval chivalry, treachery and desire are perfect for these sumptuous images. I hope to be able to feature these talented and imaginative artists in a future column devoted to this technique.

Fortin and Sanders' distinctive covers have also appeared on many of Virginia Henley's books, Leslie Burbank's "To Tame A Viking", and "The Shadowing", by Joan Overfield which was released recently.

The gorgeous cover of Mary Jo Putney's "China Bride" is by John Ennis, and shows how much can be conveyed without the use of anything more than a picture of a woman's back! I note that this particular cover won the ARTemis Award (presented by the Romance Writers of America) for the outstanding piece of romantic novel cover art on a Long Historical Novel, for the year 2001. Deservedly so. While John still produces the occasional piece in oils, he now prefers his computer for commercial work. His reasons make a lot of sense in this day and age; he mentions the time it takes for oils to dry, the simplicity of making any necessary changes to a computer image, and the fact that the finished product can be very rapidly and easily emailed to the publisher. The computer has given John Ennis the opportunity to explore other genres and I am including a mouseover of his beautiful illustration for the cover of Anne McCaffrey's "Acorna, The Unicorn Girl" - it's science fiction, but the romance is certainly present in this gorgeous picture. For people who keep track of that sort of thing, John uses a MAC computer, and has listed Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter as being among his software tools of choice.

Unfortunately, (publishers take note), it is often next to impossible to find out who created the artwork for the novel you're holding! Some publishers give credit to the illustrator, but far too many do not! So may I encourage you to take a closer look at the cover of that book you're thinking of buying - you may not be in a large and important art gallery, but you are indeed holding a genuine masterpiece in your hand!!!

I am indebted to the following sources for some of this information:

www.romancebookcoverart.com, the home of Elaine Gignilliat's work;
www.fortinandsanders.com, the site featuring Lynn Sanders and Cherif Fortin, creators of luscious graphics, who graciously permitted the use of their illustrations;
Amazon.com, where there are lots of wonderful bookcovers that you might consider using for your desktop wallpaper;
www.ennisart.com, where you can wander around John Ennis' gallery, and...
The Romance Bookcover Site, where you can lose yourself for hours in a selection of breathtaking cover art.
The images contained in this article have been gathered from a variety of sources and I hope I have respected the artists' copyright requests. All images, to the best of my knowledge, are in the public domain and may be viewed via the links above.

Producing this column has meant several weeks of being steeped in the world of cover art, and I have developed an enormous respect and admiration for those who produce this material. On behalf of romance readers everywhere, I thank all the artists who do so much to enhance our reading enjoyment! I'll never look at another book cover the same way again!    Celia - April 2002