Featured Artist: Michel Krasnodebski
A couple of months ago, I mentioned in a blog post about the difficulty of trying to determine who the artist was for one my stories if the internet wasn’t going to actually “never forget.” If your page is up and it doesn’t fall under the range in which a spider from an indexing/archiving site like Google or The Wayback Machine doesn’t actually “capture” your site’s existence, then its like you were never there–things become almost impossible to find.
Well, I did find that artist’s name and while I will be featuring her at some point in the near future (as well as others), I wanted to briefly talk start by showcasing another artist, the one who did my first “cover” for my story HawkeMoon, published last year by Storyhack. The cover was done by Michel Krasnodebski.
The Artist
Now, I don’t know how it is for novelist–either traditionally published or self-published, but for short-story writers like myself, it is always a treat when there’s artwork that accompanies your story as you never know when it’s going to happen and in what form it will take. In some cases, depending on the work, there’s no artwork at all for the individual stories, but only for the cover. The editor is the one who decides (and that’s pretty much true in all cases that I’m talking about–and this is from experience–other writers may have other experiences). Artwork for stories usually consists of one-to-two images (interior) for the story and are usually black and white. And for my stories, have usually been at the beginning of the story to sort of set the tone for the story. Again, editor finds the artist and the artist comes up with an accompanying image. The editor usually picks one of the stories in the magazine, and commissions an artist to come up with an image based on that story (usually in full color) and that’s the “cover story.”
Michel Krasnodebski
The last one is what Storyhack asked Michel Krasnodebski to do for my story, HawkeMoon. Now, I wish I could tell you all about my Krasnodebski, but, unfortunately, I’ve never worked with, nor met, this artist before. I can say that, based on his Facebook page and his Artstation page, he is someone I would like to work with in the future on other projects (such as graphic novels). Two of his illustrations, “Swamp Monster” and “Elf” are both really well done pencil sketches that I admire.
“Elf”
by Michel Krasnobeski
While fantasy art seems to be a love of his, his realistic artwork, especially when colors are applied, are really pretty special. I love the “cool” tones to his coloring, and while a few illustrations are pretty bright, the others have a much more muted tone that I think really makes the line work and the inking pop.
Again, I’ve not yet interacted with him on a one-to-one basis, so I have no idea how expensive a commission for him might be, but I definitely will keep him in mind in the hopes that one day I’ll have a project that he might be willing to work on (and have the money available to afford to be able to commission his artwork as well).
If nothing else, writing short-stories and submitting to markets where the editors commission artwork to accompany stories is helpful for young writers (esp. those who are wanting to be comic book/graphic novelists) a way to discover new artists who they might one day want to work with.
I know Michel Krasnodebski will probably never see this blog post, so this is just my way of saying thank you to such a wonderful and talented artist, and a way to show my appreciation for him coming up with such a vibrant cover to illustrate my story! Hopefully, one day we’ll get to work together on a longer form project!
If you have a chance (and opportunity), give him a look, and be sure to support him
Sidney
Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora WolfRead Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Purchase HawkeMoon on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase Dragonhawk on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase WarLight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Ship of Shadows on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Faerie Knight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or Kindle
Currently Working On (7/2020):
“Project Wall” (Science Fiction Story)
Drafting: First Draft
Unhallowed (Weird Western Story)
Drafting: 2nd Draft (Working Draft)
Childe Roland Graphic Novel
Up Next: Rough Draft (Story)
I, Mage (Urban Fantasy Story)
Drafting: 1st Revision
