Covers~

AliceShiki

Magical Girl of Love and Justice
Joined
Dec 23, 2018
Messages
3,530
Points
183
:blob_popcorn:What do you all do for your covers for your stories? I make them myself since I am a cheap gal...

Every time i make one i feel like...10th grader but sometimes they surprise me. :blob_aww: I am decent at abstract painting I guess.

What about you guys?
For stuff like one shots, I just search around for some random copyright-free photo and use that because I'm not gonna spend any more effort on a a one-shot~

For a novel... Well, for my first novel I just used a composition made of a bunch of copyrighted images because I didn't care too much~

For my next novel I'm trying to be a bit more serious though, so I'll either learn to draw something or I'll look around for copyright-free stuff that suits what I want~
 

KoyukiMegumi

Kitty
Joined
Jun 11, 2021
Messages
898
Points
133
For stuff like one shots, I just search around for some random copyright-free photo and use that because I'm not gonna spend any more effort on a a one-shot~

For a novel... Well, for my first novel I just used a composition made of a bunch of copyrighted images because I didn't care too much~

For my next novel I'm trying to be a bit more serious though, so I'll either learn to draw something or I'll look around for copyright-free stuff that suits what I want~
You can use Kirita for drawing and stuff! It's neat and free! :blob_aww:
 

AliceShiki

Magical Girl of Love and Justice
Joined
Dec 23, 2018
Messages
3,530
Points
183
You can use Kirita for drawing and stuff! It's neat and free! :blob_aww:
*googles it* Seems like something similar to GIMP, but more tailored towards artists I guess? I dunno if I'd notice much difference tbh, I'm not that good with art stuff~
 

KoyukiMegumi

Kitty
Joined
Jun 11, 2021
Messages
898
Points
133
*googles it* Seems like something similar to GIMP, but more tailored towards artists I guess? I dunno if I'd notice much difference tbh, I'm not that good with art stuff~
It takes a bit but you can do some cool effect and trace images! I honestly love it! My current cover is from there. That I made myself. :blob_aww:
 

AliceShiki

Magical Girl of Love and Justice
Joined
Dec 23, 2018
Messages
3,530
Points
183
It takes a bit but you can do some cool effect and trace images! I honestly love it! My current cover is from there. That I made myself. :blob_aww:
Well, I'd need to learn how to draw before doing something like that, rn all I can do is some basic editing~
 

lnv

✪ Well-Known Hypocrite
Joined
Dec 24, 2018
Messages
492
Points
133
:blob_popcorn:What do you all do for your covers for your stories? I make them myself since I am a cheap gal...

Every time i make one i feel like...10th grader but sometimes they surprise me. :blob_aww: I am decent at abstract painting I guess.

What about you guys?
I draw the covers fully myself. Though truth be told I suck at drawing people so they come out so and so due to it having people in them :/

But most important thing I feel they lack is "life". I've tried from time to time but still can't get it down to drawing people well...


*googles it* Seems like something similar to GIMP, but more tailored towards artists I guess? I dunno if I'd notice much difference tbh, I'm not that good with art stuff~
Yes and no. Krita technically was a fork of GIMP, but due to the pushback, it kind of went its own way.

The thing that sets GIMP and Krita aside, other than Krita being more tailored towards artists is the difference in approach. Krita tries to make things more simple and clean for users. While GIMP has mostly been like Frankenstein where you get a ton of controls and not know what anything does.

Aka, Krita is much easier to learn to use than GIMP.
Well, I'd need to learn how to draw before doing something like that, rn all I can do is some basic editing~
Well, no. Tracing is a skill that even little children can do :P That is pretty much how most people start drawing, they try to trace things. When you get tracing down, you then can combine multiple traced parts and when you get used to drawing those traces, you will be able to draw them by hand through muscle memory.
 

Lloyd

Professional Writer
Joined
Jun 2, 2020
Messages
2,311
Points
153
I draw the covers fully myself. Though truth be told I suck at drawing people so they come out so and so due to it having people in them :/

But most important thing I feel they lack is "life". I've tried from time to time but still can't get it down to drawing people well...



Yes and no. Krita technically was a fork of GIMP, but due to the pushback, it kind of went its own way.

The thing that sets GIMP and Krita aside, other than Krita being more tailored towards artists is the difference in approach. Krita tries to make things more simple and clean for users. While GIMP has mostly been like Frankenstein where you get a ton of controls and not know what anything does.

Aka, Krita is much easier to learn to use than GIMP.

Well, no. Tracing is a skill that even little children can do :P That is pretty much how most people start drawing, they try to trace things. When you get tracing down, you then can combine multiple traced parts and when you get used to drawing those traces, you will be able to draw them by hand through muscle memory.
thank you for the explanation on Krita. I hate using gimp so I will have to try it out.
 

LinXueLian

Always Handsome
Joined
Feb 19, 2021
Messages
522
Points
108
I shall look those up.

This one! HiClipArt's my go-to site, personally. The stuff is already clean and made transparent, so you can overlay them really nicely against backgrounds from royalty-free photography sites such as Pixabay. I used to have an account in CGTextures too, but they've since moved their site. That one's mostly for making textures for games.
 

Sylvie

Those days are gone, now the memory's on the wall
Joined
Nov 2, 2020
Messages
91
Points
73
:blob_popcorn:What do you all do for your covers for your stories? I make them myself since I am a cheap gal...

Every time i make one i feel like...10th grader but sometimes they surprise me. :blob_aww: I am decent at abstract painting I guess.

What about you guys?
I haven't made many covers but the two that I did make were no copyright images with my handwriting on them. I'm a lot more confident in being able to write in a pretty way than in being able to draw stick figures.
 

KoyukiMegumi

Kitty
Joined
Jun 11, 2021
Messages
898
Points
133
I have a friend who I pay to do those. We go way back and all, and he's a great artist, don't you think?
He is amazing!:blob_happy:I wish I could do that! But... the monies!!!!:blob_teary:

This one! HiClipArt's my go-to site, personally. The stuff is already clean and made transparent, so you can overlay them really nicely against backgrounds from royalty-free photography sites such as Pixabay. I used to have an account in CGTextures too, but they've since moved their site. That one's mostly for making textures for games.
Thank you!:blob_melt:
I draw the covers fully myself. Though truth be told I suck at drawing people so they come out so and so due to it having people in them :/

But most important thing I feel they lack is "life". I've tried from time to time but still can't get it down to drawing people well...



Yes and no. Krita technically was a fork of GIMP, but due to the pushback, it kind of went its own way.

The thing that sets GIMP and Krita aside, other than Krita being more tailored towards artists is the difference in approach. Krita tries to make things more simple and clean for users. While GIMP has mostly been like Frankenstein where you get a ton of controls and not know what anything does.

Aka, Krita is much easier to learn to use than GIMP.

Well, no. Tracing is a skill that even little children can do :P That is pretty much how most people start drawing, they try to trace things. When you get tracing down, you then can combine multiple traced parts and when you get used to drawing those traces, you will be able to draw them by hand through muscle memory.
Thank you for explaining! I never used GIMP, so I did not know! I am glad this helped others! :blob_aww:
Uh.... People... are my worst. One day though.... hopefully?:blob_happy:

I haven't made many covers but the two that I did make were no copyright images with my handwriting on them. I'm a lot more confident in being able to write in a pretty way than in being able to draw stick figures.
I write decent, still learning, but that drawing style is the song of my people!:blob_happy:
 

Herz

Member
Joined
Jun 3, 2021
Messages
46
Points
18
Search online and add a disclaimer and a link toward the place I found the cover, or draw it myself.
 

Mysticant

Resident Ant
Joined
Jun 17, 2021
Messages
274
Points
58
I draw my own covers using Ibis paint, though my drawings are pretty meh imho. I usually bank on abstract concepts and dynamic positions/angles cause I get bored of drawing portraits through doodling.

The other thing I see popular is people using waifu labs if you like anime faces, it is an easy way to get big faces and just slap some design and your title and you are done.
 

Lord_Drakonus

Connoisseur of Degeneracy
Joined
Apr 9, 2020
Messages
170
Points
83
My story's cover came from DeviantArt, and I have already asked the artist if I can use their art or not. But since they didn't reply at all, I figured that I can just use it and then credit them for it. If they ask me to remove it, then I will remove it.
 

Lloyd

Professional Writer
Joined
Jun 2, 2020
Messages
2,311
Points
153
My story's cover came from DeviantArt, and I have already asked the artist if I can use their art or not. But since they didn't reply at all, I figured that I can just use it and then credit them for it. If they ask me to remove it, then I will remove it.
But that's stealing
 
Top