Studio Smexy™ Saturdays: Designer Viola

A note from Jenn: Viola is one of my fellow Colorado Romance Writers. We met last year, and when she started doing cover design I knew I wanted to work with her. She is such a great person, so sweet and talented, it's the perfect mix. So settle in and meet Viola, then check her out, she has a few premade covers (some with the SMEXY!) ready to go right NOW!!

Meet Viola:

Viola Estrella loves a story with humor, flawed characters, paranormal elements, and romance. She tries to include these aspects in all that she writes and loves every minute of it. When she's not reading, writing, or designing book cover art , she's spending quality time with her husband and sons in their Colorado home.

Viola is a 2010 RITA® finalist. Her Urban Fantasy, ANGEL VINDICATED, was nominated for Best First Book. Recently she was honored by her local RWA chapter, Colorado Romance Writers, with the 2010 Writer of the Year award. She's represented by Elizabeth Winick Rubinstein from the literary agency McIntosh & Otis.

So...how do you pronounce her name? Good question!

Viola -- Not like the instrument, more like the flower.
Estrella -- With an ay-ya not an el-la. And she dares you to roll the r.

Connect with Viola: Author Site | Design Site | Facebook | Twitter

Jenn: Welcome to Studio Smexy™ Saturdays at Romancing Rakes For The Love of Romance!!!
Viola: Thanks for inviting me, Jenn!

Jamie and Kati: Share 5 fun facts about yourself.
Viola:

1. I'm an author as well as a cover artist.
2. I'm getting Lasik surgery next week after wearing glasses/contacts for over 20 years. Yay!
3. I have four wonderfully amazing sons. (I'm not biased at all)
4. I love wine! But I've been trying to cut way, way back in order to lose weight. Boooo
5. I have a cute, anxious, slightly overweight beagle named Caramel who I love. But, dang, she drives me nuts at times.

J&K: What drew you to pursuing design?
V: I'm also a writer (like I mentioned above) and I found that designing cover art gives me a satisfying feeling that's similar to writing "The End." The entire process is like telling a story. Of course it's a story written by someone else, but I can work with that. :-)

J&K: How many hours do you spend on one cover?
V: It depends on what the author is asking for. Anywhere from one hour to an entire day, sometimes a day and a half if there are changes requested.

J&K: What program do you use to design covers?
V: Photoshop.

J&K: When you design a cover, does the author have any input or do they give you full creative control?
V: The author has a ton of input. In fact, I have them fill out a cover form that asks various questions regarding the characters, the mood/tone, the sensuality, etc. I incorporate their answers and suggestions to the best of my ability. Sometimes I hit a home run on the first try and other times the author requests one or two changes. In the end, I want the author to love the cover and to feel it represents their story well.

J&K: What is your favorite genre to design?
V: I specialize in romance cover art simply because I'm most familiar with this genre. But I also design for other genres as well.

J&K: Which authors have you designed covers for?
V: A good number of indie (or self-published) authors and a couple of small press publishers. You can check out my portfolio to see some of my work.

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STUDIO SMEXY™ Pre-Made Covers by Viola:

Designer: Estrella Cover Art
Photographer: Jenn LeBlanc
Model: Derek Hutchins

Designer: Estrella Cover Art
Photographer: Jenn LeBlanc
Model: James

Designer: Estrella Cover Art
Photographer: Jenn LeBlanc
Models: Will and Brit M

Check out Viola's designer site for premade and custom cover art for your next book cover.

Thanks to Viola for being a part of Studio Smexy Saturdays and always a thanks to Jenn.