Interview with a Cover Artist: Part 1
Today, we are happy to welcome cover artist Matt Hinrichs. We have so much to talk about that we’re doing this interview in two parts. So, let’s get started!
First things first. Here is the cover Matt designed for my just-released novel Moonlight Dancer.
I’ve already received compliments on the cover!
I’ve already received compliments on the cover!Matt, when did you know you wanted to be an artist?
As far back as I can remember, I was attracted to imagery (cartoons! Sesame Street!) and loved to draw. Probably the first time that I considered art as a career came around the ages of 10 or 11, when I saw the wonderful illustrations in Cricket magazine and the like and realized that people actually did that stuff professionally.
Was there a special teacher who inspired you?
I can’t pinpoint it down to one – there were four nurturing art teachers that I had during my K-12 years who were all wonderful, slightly eccentric women. My first art teacher from kindergarten through third grade was an older lady who wore red-framed eyeglasses. My art teacher in Junior High was a casual, ex-hippie lady who earned my scorn by failing to promote me to the advanced class in 8th grade (what, was she blind?). My high school art classes were guided by two wonderful ladies who made the spacious, large-windowed places they taught in a refuge from the rest of the school.
What art/computer training have you had?
After high school, I attended the local college in my area, Arizona State University. Go Sun Devils! ASU has a good fine arts college. I studied painting, life drawing and more esoteric things like installation and video art. One thing I did not study was graphic design – ASU had a two-year design program, and the one time I applied it got rejected. I ended up learning the basics of design and layout on my own using the beige ‘n boxy Apple Macintosh computer that my parents got me as a graduation gift. This was apparently good enough to get me a job at the Arizona Republic newspaper, where I stayed until going freelance in 2003.
Let’s pause here to look at a couple of your covers and have you comment on them.
Novel about a 1920s era married couple, wealthy American arts patrons, and the literary/artistic circle they helped create in Paris. This was influenced by the artist Helen Dryden and commercial illustrations from that period.
(Deb: Beautiful, I love the background texture.)
Through a Chamber Door by Joyce Hinrichs and Jean Sweeney
A mystery that follows two friends in Jerome, Arizona (a town not far from Sedona) as they come across a time-travel portal that takes them back to Edgar Allan Poe’s 19th century. This is part of an ongoing series, which meant making it stylistically similar to the previous book but different enough to stand on its own.
(Deb: deliciously creepy effect!)
Who are your favorite artists?
I’ve always been addicted to design from the mid-20th century, from the Art Deco age through the ’40s and ’50s all the way up through the ’70s. For book cover design, a lot of times I look at modernist paperback covers from designers like Alvin Lustig, Paul Rand, or anybody who worked at Penguin in the ’60s to see how skillfully they worked with limited printing budgets to create simple, unforgettable work. A lot of the same limitations they had apply to the modern world of e-books as well.
I have a ton of favorite artists and designers, current and old, whose imagery gets posted on my Pinterest boards: http://pinterest.com/litkids/
Thanks, Matt. Readers, tune in next time when we’ll look at some more of Matt’s covers and finish our discussion. In the meantime, leave a comment or pose a question for Matt.
2 thoughts on “Interview with a Cover Artist: Part 1”
Lovely images! I especially like the cover for Sarah & Gerald. It is simply gorgeous. I too am a big fan of the Art Deco period. Great to read this interview as I am always interested in what inspires art and the artists who create it.
I also loved the Sarah & Gerald cover. I think the artist really captured the mood of the period. We have more covers and interview coming in the near future.