AN INTERVIEW WITH COVER ARTIST CRIMSON VERMILLION

On Friday, August 5, 2011, in Missoula MT I interviewed Sarah Zbinden, AKA Crimson Scarlet Vermillion, the cover artist for the Flight Of The Sorceress cover you can see above.

Sarah and Barry with her cover art

Hi Sarah, thanks so much for giving me this interview. Can you tell me a little about yourself?

I grew up in Great Falls MT. My family was very poor. When I was young, my father worked odd jobs but after a while he became a saddle-maker, which is what he does now. I went to Great Falls High School where I was an up and down student. I hung out with the kind of kids that today are called Goths but back then we were called “hoods” which meant we drank and smoked and stuff.

Did you go to college?

I went to the University of Great Falls for a while, then transferred to Montana State at Great Falls and then transferred again to the University of Montana where I graduated with a BA in English Lit. I put myself through school.

You did a great cover for The Flight of the Sorceress. Do you have any formal art training?

Not really. I took a course at U of MT but didn’t do very well in it.

So how did you get into your art?

Mostly, I was encouraged by my mother but along the way, I saw some work by a Montana artist named Jason Beam and he inspired me. I learned his technique because I liked what he did and got a lot of his work to study from.

What do you call the kind of art work you do?

It’s called digital art, photo manipulation. I use a photo I like and project it onto a white background. Then I manipulate the photo. I select a background and layer the photo over it. I layer colors, change textures and put in brush strokes and shadings. When I’m through it doesn’t look like a photo anymore.

Do you know the woman who is the sorceress on my cover?

Yes. Her name is Mari. She’s not Celtic. I believe she’s Ukrainian.

Have you done other book covers than Sorceress?

Yes, about fifteen, but mostly for people who have self-published. I’ve also done CD covers for local bands in Missoula and calendars.

So basically, someone either gives you a photo they want you to work with or you find one they like thematically and then you manipulate it until you get the image that works for t

That’s about right. Sometimes I provide the photo or they search out free for commercial use stock and we use that photo. So long as they have the copyright and/or permission to use it I then manipulate it to make it the look and feel they want. 

Where can people see your work?

I have some of it displayed in a site called http://.crimsonvermillion.deviantart.com . But you can also contact me crimsonscarletvermillion@gmail.com.

Thanks, Sarah, I hope you get a lot of work in the future. Your cover for Sorceress has gotten raves.

Thanks so much, Barry