seeking artist for Scapegoat’s Cross

I’m looking for an artist, preferably in the Austin area, to create a series of illustrations for my second book of poetry, Scapegoat’s Cross: Poems about Finding and Reclaiming the Lost Man Within. Specifically, I need a total of seven individual illustrations, each of which will open one of the seven parts of the book. My expectation is that one of these seven illustrations will also appear on the cover of the book.

The interior of the book will be printed in black & white (no color) so I’m looking for illustrations that can be reduced to 4.5″ x 4.5″ for a 6″ x 9″ book and reproduced in halftones without losing the effect of the original artwork.

My goal is to develop artwork for the book that expresses, distills, frames, and amplifies the themes, energies, and tones present in the writing. My intention is to provide the reader with a visual context that both introduces and reinforces the material in each section.

This project will require an artist who is able to feel some resonance with the written material and is also capable of translating challenging subject matter and strong archetypal themes from the verbal to the visual, in a manner that is both subtle and powerful.

My preferred style of work for this project is collaborative. I have specific images, themes, and/or visual concepts in mind, in a very raw form, for six of the seven sections of the book, and I would expect all or most of these visual reference points to be incorporated into the finished illustrations. But I’m also looking forward to a creative process that includes input from the artist with regard to concepts and thematic visualization, and I believe that level of active participation on the part of the artist will be essential to the success of the project.

If you think this project may interest you, I encourage you to have a look at the “New Book” page on my website, where you can view the table of contents and read excerpts to get a better idea of tone, style, and themes. You might also find it useful to explore some of the other material on the site (most of which is drawn from or related to my first book) to give yourself some additional reference points.

If you think you might be a good candidate for this project, please contact me via the email address listed on my website at http://rickbelden.com/contact and let me know how I can see some samples of your work.