Backstage: Cover Art: Substack Cover for The Sword of Myn’
Some Background Details
This version of the artwork is really a temporary one, utilizing a beautiful sunset image from Pixabay as the backdrop to the star Achird - if you enjoy stargazing, Achird is the fainter star after the sharpest point in the W (or M) of the constellation Cassiopeia. You can find it using this chart here. Slightly out of line, Achird is sometimes depicted as the heart of the Queen, symbolically appropriate for this tale.
Set before the star is the legendary Sword of Myn’, the physical blade which, in-universe, inspired the constellation shown to Earthiana in Chapter 4: Midnight Rose. The decorated blade is in part inspired by the sword of St. Joan of Arc, said to have had seven crosses in the blade; here these are replaced by stars.
The tiara is one from Earthiana’s past, as you may have guessed, considering that Solaria does not have a friendly relationship with roses. There were many concepts, some of which you can see below. Fleur-de-lys or stylized irises, willow branches, and lily-of-the-valley likewise come from the princess’ past; peach and rose-gold remain her favored colors.
In the end, I wanted to give a nod to Princess Diana with the tiara, and the final design draws from those which she is known for wearing: the Spencer tiara, which is the one you’ll see in her wedding photos, and the Cambridge Lovers’ Knot tiara.
Currently, the cover-art is undergoing a redesign with a custom background, using the soft blues and golds I associate with The Sun Kingdom. It may look a bit more like this WIP version here, with some color adjustment
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