Another post about MLAABQ cover art · 5:13pm Feb 8th, 2017
Guess what, everyone. Fanart has been made for My Life As A Bipedal Quadruped. This is a pretty momentous occasion for me, and it’s an excellent excuse to bring up the whole thing with cover art again.
So here is the picture, from Cyanjames2819
Edit: Also, here's a link to the deviantart page.
She’s not quite how I imagined her, but before I say anything else, I just want to stress that this is really cool, both as its own piece of art, and because I love it for it being a piece of fanart of something I’ve made.
And now I should really also give a shoutout to Detsella Morningdew, who’s offered to make coverart for MLAABQ before. I responded with uncertainty, not because of her skill or style, but because I wasn’t sure what I wanted. Cyanjames just sent me a message suddenly with this picture though, so it was very much a surprise, and a very pleasant one.
Back to that point with me not being sure what I wanted.
I’ve made a blog post about this issue before. I’d like a cool piece of coverart for MLAABQ. However, I’d like to get it right the first time. I’d feel terrible if someone made a nice little pic, which I might end up removing to make room for another, better pic, later.
I had an idea for a picture that I specified in another blog post, and while I hold that it would be a cool picture, the feedback I received made me doubt its value as cover art.
This picture from CyanJames, what do you guys think of it as coverart? It’s not valid because I think the dimensions aren’t compatible with Fimfic, but could it be something like this? The other issue is of course that I’d like her to be designed the way I imagined here, so here’s what she looks like in General Zoi’s Pony Creator:
And her cutie mark is ripped off from The Report, the one down on the right, only it’s blue instead of pink:
The other big design-deviations are the legs. As I can’t reiterate enough, the legs on Cyanjames’s picture looks really cool, although they’re not strictly compatible with the plot. The plot of the story I mean. Her prosthetic legs, both the first ones, and the current ones (magic cyberlegs 2.0) are very close to as thick as her fleshy legs, if you’d shave them. They’re not massive pieces of metal though, they’re hollow. The chassis seems pretty thick, since they’re hollowed out to make room for the enchanted gem-dust. So if you look at one of the legs standing up from a cutaway view, at the far side there’s a metal plate, followed by a space and then another metal plate, with that space between them filled with a gem-dust. After that, the middle of the leg is hollow, and open, so that you can look into it from the bottom of the hoof, after that is an identical arrangement of metal plates filled with gem-dust, which is part of the same structure as the previous arrangement. The outer part is covered by a dense cloth, which on a casual glance looks the same as her coat.
I think I might need to sit down and actually sketch this down. I also had an arrangement in my head about how the joints work, with how they could have a bit of ‘give’ to make them feel more natural, but I forgot it.
As for this picture: We can just pretend that the legs on display are models she’s developed for ‘civilian’ use, and that she’s trying them out before deciding that they’re good enough for general use.
But back to the whole thing with cover art. Assuming the illustrator gets it all ‘right’, would this be a good cover pic? Do you guys have any other ideas?
ssokolow had a cool idea where people say the themes and feelings that come to mind when thinking about the story, and then one could try and make a picture with as many of those things as possible. What do you guys think? What do you think when you think about MLAABQ, and what could be a cool piece of cover art?
When me and my editors talked about it a while back, there was a suggestion have it a contrast shot, and this picture came up as one of the examples.
Love to hear anyone's suggestion, and any ideas really. Should the picture try and capture the whole story, for example, or just the first 12 chapters?
stick a link to this fanart in the story summary, keep your current cover art.
4414215 Current cover art is null though. I need to actually have one made.
That is some sweet fan art.
4414260 It is, though not sweeter to anyone but me I think
We need more cyborg-ponies, and we need them illustrated.
4414254
exactly
you need a cover art that matches with the title.
4414277 Ah yeah. I need to sit down and start designing then. Hopefully I'm gonna have some time in the weekend.
4414292
you could go the simple route. no background, human and pony sitting upright in wheelchairs side by side facing the viewer; human has human prosthetics and crutches lying next to its wheelchair, pony has prosthetics and crutches lying next to its wheelchair; a special effects lightning bolt seperates the two.
complicated version, the special effects lightning bolt seperates two scenes; the human scene has an angled view showing Gabe sitting at her mri workstation with the viewer able to see the MRI through the glass, her Prosthetics and crutches sit next to her chair, gabe chair is turned so gabe is facing the viewer; the pony scene has an opposing angled view of pony Gabe sitting at her workbench facing the camera, with partially complete pony prosthetic on the workbench behind her and crutches and wheelchair next to her.
in both versions, the empty eye socket is visible; the missing leg is visible; the missing arm is visible.
how is this for ideas?
4414311 I can say right away that it would be a nice picture. What do you mean for that picture to convey though? Does reading MLAABQ make you feel anything, and what imagery do you associate with those feelings?
4414318
The picture is supposed to convey the immediate content of the story, and is disconnected from any feelings from the story.
The feeling i personally get from the story is fluffy joy tinged with platonic intimacy and domestic excitement.
i associate no imagery with those feelings.
4414424 The straightforward approach. Well, that's worth consideration certainly.
I'll be happy as long as the cover-art features Nurse Redheart in it, since she is so pivotal to the story and Gabe.
Sketching the outline yourself before commissioning a talented artist sounds like a good idea.
If I were you I'd also get more than just one piece of art.
4415320 Yeah, some more characters beside Gabe. Perhaps Armor as well.
You're the stock-jockey, I'm a recent student who haven't even got his first salary yet. Check you privilege, man ><
I think the format of the fan art is a good idea for the cover. It is simple enough to be seen and understood instantly - which is a good thing for FimFiction, as the first thing that is judged is the cover art, and often in a split second.
I think Redheart should be standing next to her, perhaps helping in some way?
And I also think one leg should be covered, but slightly metallic-looking (hard, but I think I could do it), and one leg should be half-covered by the textile covering, with Gabe in the process of putting it on, leaving the leg partially visible, which should showcase the glowy lines described in the story.
I also have gotten significantly better at vector art than before, which makes me feel a lot more comfortable offering my services.
This is the cover art I made for my own story: guiding-light-mlp.weebly.com/uploads/9/5/2/3/95230028/guiding-light-cover-art_orig.png
What I have in mind here would not include a direct title, and the ponies would have much more focus put on them, but you can get a general idea of what a pony would look like when vectored in this style.
Also, to show that glowing lines are not an impossibility with vector-based art.
4420656 The glowy lines aren't visible to the eye though, it's when Gabe or Twilight switches over to unicorn-horn-magic-resonance-sonar that they 'see' the glowing outlines of ponies' physical shape. Unless you're talking about Scrap's top-notch metallurgy, which doesn't glow, just has the metallic parts covered in serpentine shapes, like an old-west revolver with some prettying up.
Yeah, Redheart and/or Armor should probably be in the picture too. One of the difficult parts also is getting the design for the legs right, since I can't remember exactly how I visualized it when I wrote it
Gabe being in the process of working on her limbs sounds like a good idea. Maybe having her hind-leg off and working on it with a spanner.
That's a cool pic though
4420825 Ah, yes. I see.
I suppose the brass swirls could be interesting enough for the piece, but it would be nice to have something to "catch the eye." (No pun intended.)
Maybe the setting could be the forge, when Gabe pours in the dust? That would not only catch the eye, but if I remember correctly, would also include her old method of transportation. And the forge itself makes for a very interesting setting, with all sorts of lighting effects and enough mystery to get a reader interested in what is going on.
Armor would be there as well.
But I can't remember if Redheart was present. That would be a problem, as I really think she should be in the picture.
Anyway, I'm just throwing ideas around to see what sticks.
4420938 there is one thing that worries me about the current ideas for a coverart-pic, would people start reading it, and after 100000 words theyd go 'the cover promised me cyberpones! Where are they!?'
You could be right about The forge being a cool setting for a coverpic, and liberaler could be taken to have redheart there.
4421325 Yeah, I definitely understand what you are saying.
I believe that could be avoided by not only having the old wheelchair partially visible, but I think it could be made obvious it was a prosthetic in the shot where she adds the dust. Maybe not showing her sight of the enchantment, since while it would be cool, it gives false impressions of cyber ponies, like you said. I think I can make the bronze look sufficiently cool, with all the twisted swirls that Scrap put in there. The lighting of the forge fire would really complement the metal.
And yes, liberties could be taken. For example, the scene where she adds the dust to the upgraded version isn't actually written out explicitly, so you could just say that Redheart was there for that one.
And symbolism is a big part of cover art, anyway.
4421362
Very true.
On the part with cyberpones, it's also the thing with it taking quite a while before Gabe turns into a magical cyborg. People might expect cyberpones right out of the gate. But what I see in my head from your descriptions of a potential scenes you describe that might not be an issue.
Sweet looking fan art you received. and 4414266 Yes, yes we do.
4420656 Nice art you made for your story. I like the glowy rune array.
ps: Happy?... a blog getting attention past its first 18 hours.
4443284 Yes I am
Keep that in mind when you continue your story
4443284 Thanks!
My computer lagged so much...
4443418 Sorry, no plans to have cyborg ponies in mine, though. Closest you get is just plain ol' Cassie and her prosthetic, non-robotic leg and cybernetic eye.
4443765 From the artwork I've seen, Cassie looks neither old nor plain
There should be a group for cyborg-ponies though. Humans welcome too.