Pictures vs Words

[THROBBS]

I try not to be a judge-y person, but the minute I see ComicSans or Papyrus font, I'm triggered. It's also about layout and design. I see far too many covers that don't understand the fundamentals, and it grinds my gears to no end. You don't need anything super fancy to make it look good if your original starting artwork / photo / illustration is solid.

I hear you.

On the other hand, ComicSans and Papyrus — shrug. I feel there is a place for those two. most would say, "that place is in the trash" They have been overused and abused, and I'd say too maligned. I taught typography, and did have to address the shortcomings of those typefaces.
In some ways, the is a correlation with software, like DAZ — for the most part, I am horrified by the images which folk produce, but in the hands of someone with a trained eye and knowledge of light, form, composition, theater... it can be wonderful.

(ok, maybe Comic Sans and Papyrus will never really be "wonderful" )

 

[THROBBS]

OK, back to Visual Literotica.

Go take a look.
There's some awful stuff, and some wonderful work.

 

[XerXesXu]

I've found that authors are interested in their covers. However, I have also found that many feel that they can "do it themselves" (stock images, photoshop & and some awful typefaces). For the most part I reckon the results are adequate. Considerable time, and expertise is needed to do it well, and that isn't typically an expense that an author wishes to cover (heh heh— cover) as the return is minimal. If one can find the mutual fun in a project, then perhaps... oh... that's a unicorn.

My assumption is that most authors on Lit aren't commercial and won't be paying for a professional cover, but being creative people may wish to have a go. I expect the results will cover a spectrum of talent as broad as the written works.

A cover that sells is usually quite easy to create. Divide the cover horizontally in half, colour the halves with one the approved contrasts. A shadowy graphic on one half which may or may not be related to the story, but certainly related to genre. On one half write the title of the book in medium large letters. On the other half write in very large letters 'by Stephen King'.

It'll sell in thousands.

 

[THROBBS]

My assumption is that most authors on Lit aren't commercial and won't be paying for a professional cover, but being creative people may wish to have a go. I expect the results will cover a spectrum of talent as broad as the written works.

A cover that sells is usually quite easy to create. Divide the cover horizontally in half, colour the halves with one the approved contrasts. A shadowy graphic on one half which may or may not be related to the story, but certainly related to genre. On one half write the title of the book in medium large letters. On the other half write in very large letters 'by Stephen King'.

It'll sell in thousands.

√

You've done it!

next.

 

[AlphaLyon]

A cover that sells is usually quite easy to create. Divide the cover horizontally in half, colour the halves with one the approved contrasts. A shadowy graphic on one half which may or may not be related to the story, but certainly related to genre. On one half write the title of the book in medium large letters. On the other half write in very large letters 'by Stephen King'.

It'll sell in thousands.

Nailed it.

OK, back to Visual Literotica.

Go take a look.
There's some awful stuff, and some wonderful work.

Yes. Some of it is amazingly well crafted (I'm a sucker for a good pencil or charcoal drawing), and other stuff is...interesting.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I'm not ready to open that "can of worms" (Tumblr)...yet.

I started a Tumblr blog the same time I joined Lit - it's better suited to visual content, and now that many blogs have figured out ways to get around the stupid "female facing nipples" content "rules", my feed is not much different to what it was when I started.

 

[THROBBS]

I started a Tumblr blog the same time I joined Lit - it's better suited to visual content, and now that many blogs have figured out ways to get around the stupid "female facing nipples" content "rules", my feed is not much different to what it was when I started.

excellent!

I have a few places that I can/do post "nudes". Lit has been one of the few places which I can post the "hard" stuff. There are other places, but they have their own down sides (for my purposes).

 

[THROBBS]

Yes. Some of it is amazingly well crafted (I'm a sucker for a good pencil or charcoal drawing), and other stuff is...interesting.

The "good pencil or charcoal drawings" are in the minority, you have to do some wading to find them. I have suggested better search functions, as well as categories or techniques and subject matter. We shall see. Something really functional would probably require several stewards, and at this point (understandably) it is not a priority.


Yes, "interesting". Though some in that realm does not hold my interest. (in fact, there are a few names I know now to avoid)

 

[THROBBS]

Write about how you've drawn your own conclusions about erotic visual art.

 

[Zach_lost_in_Aus]

For what it’s worth, I’ve always appreciated your artwork Throbbs. Maybe there are many more silent admirers then you know.

 

[THROBBS]

For what it’s worth, I’ve always appreciated your artwork Throbbs. Maybe there are many more silent admirers then you know.

Thank you, Zach.

I like to imagine that is the case.

 

[SimonDoom]

While the Visual Artist's Forum doesn't get a lot of traffic, illustrated stories do phenomenally well here. People obviously enjoy them. Of the top 10 stories on the 30-day most-viewed list, 8 are incest and 2 are illustrated. If you're an artist who wants more visibility, a good way to get it would be to partner with an author and prepare illustrations for a story in that category. HeyAll and Silkstockingslover have figured out that there's a big readership for these stories and they are doing very well with them, and giving artists some extra visibility.

 

[THROBBS]

While the Visual Artist's Forum doesn't get a lot of traffic, illustrated stories do phenomenally well here. People obviously enjoy them. Of the top 10 stories on the 30-day most-viewed list, 8 are incest and 2 are illustrated. If you're an artist who wants more visibility, a good way to get it would be to partner with an author and prepare illustrations for a story in that category. HeyAll and Silkstockingslover have figured out that there's a big readership for these stories and they are doing very well with them, and giving artists some extra visibility.

I've had some interesting partnerships with illustrating stories. Did a couple of my own as well.

 

[THROBBS]

Remember Stella_Omega?
This was one for them. Their character, Despina.
View attachment 2239373

 

[djrip]

Remember Stella_Omega?
This was one for them. Their character, Despina.
View attachment 2239373

Rad.

 

[THROBBS]

Rad.

Not a concept that I would have generated on my own.

There have been a few illustrations like that.
"Mothership" was another Litster's concept, though I don't think there was a story written.

There have been some others (collaborations), which are more in line with the nonsense that I do generate on my own.
Was it CrimsonMaiden ? who wrote "The Giant Faunus"? hmmm... I'll have to look... Anyway, that was more "up my alley", subject wise.

BlackTulip's "Sequoia Secret" — (dryads, but with some neat, unique aspects). I've done a bunch of dryads.

 

[THROBBS]

Mothership concept was an organic, sentient, alien space ship (Apparently, a bit like Maya in Farscape. Luckily I had not seen Farscape at that time)
View attachment 2239713


Giant Faunus, took some back and forthing with the author, as my interpretation was not the same vision as hers (my "giant" was larger than hers).
With this sort of thing, one needs to be explicit (a case where the author should diverge from "the show don't tell" prime directive and TELL — make a list of descriptors if you want something specific).

View attachment 2239718




"Sequoia Secret" had a neat description of the emergence of on of the dryads. A kind of birth.

View attachment 2239720

 

[djrip]

These are awesome! First one reminds me of this.

 

[THROBBS]

These are awesome!

Thank you.

First one reminds me of this.

Very much!

 

[THROBBS]

Not all of my collaborations were so sci-fi/fantasy (well... maybe "fantasy", but not "Fantasy")


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