Sunday, October 2, 2011

Meet Decadent Cover Artist Trisha Schmitt!

Cover by Trisha Schmitt

 How did you get your start in Graphic Design?
I have always been the creative type. I love to draw and do pastel landscapes. I am a huge reader, and one of the series I adore is Lara Adrian's Midnight Breed novels. When I joined her fan forum, I was introduced to photoshop. I was hooked!! I started to make banners and little graphics for the peeps on the board. It kind of spiraled into me teaching myself everything I could in Photoshop. From there, I went on to photo-retouching for photographers, which helped hone my skills, but was boring.. So I put my love for books and art together and started pushing to do cover work. Here I am now!
What are your favorite sorts of covers to do?
Hmmm... My favorite.. I really love anything paranormal. They have more creative freedom and are just plain fun! Nothing like a hawt vamp to make my muse sing.
You’re one of our house cover designers. Do you remember the first project you did for Decadent Publishing?
 Ha, ha, well.. Heather kinda fan/stalked me before I did any work with Decadent. (Not in a bad way! I just posted how much I loved her stuff on her FB page. LOL!--Hb)  I do a lot of character fan art for the books I love, and she found me that way. I love know she had rotating wallpapers of my art on her computer. That kind of stuff rocks my world! Then, I believe we were in some sort of chat one night, and I said to Heather, " Hey, why am I not creating covers for you?! " a few weeks later I had my first cover project Another Chance by Rebecca Royce. I love working with the team at Decadent. You all rock! Oh and FYI, Heather can booty dance like nobody's business!
What are a few of your best or favorite Decadent Publishing covers?
I really like Usher's, Inc. that was fun and my first and I think only YA cover!  Daughter of Lust was challenging and creative, too.

What other authors do you design for?
Oh, too many to list! I have done over 136 covers this year alone! I am a workaholic! When I get a project assigned, I have to get it done THEN! Which is getting harder to do. I am working with a few major NYC houses now, and they keep me pretty busy!
Do you have other creative outlets besides designing?
I love to scrapbook. Which I have not done in ages, but I love it. The design composition with scrapbooking actually is the same as cover composition. 

Thanks for having me here! I wish you all the success in the world!!

7 comments:

Barbara Elsborg said...

I really admire those who can see things so clearly and then create the image. Can you draw and paint as well? I'm useless at anything like this. Even when asked what sort of cover I'd like - I have no idea!!

Ann Mayburn said...

Trisha did my very first cover ever, 'Daughter of Lust', and I may have been a bit...ambitious with my cover art request form.-lol- She still worked her ass off to get what I wanted and I was totally blown over but how utterly awesome it turned out. :) Then she did 'Wild Lilly' for me and I was once again blown away by how diverse her skills are.

Love me some Trish!

Tricia said...

Barbra, I do draw, not as much as I would like to. I also digitally paint. Ann, you know I love you! I am honored to have been able to do 2 of your covers. U rock! Thanks Decadent for having me here!

Rebecca Royce said...

Loved Another Chance's cover. You are so talented.

Anonymous said...

I had originally heard of a "Picky Me Trish" from images of awesome fan art on the Black Dagger Brotherhood yahoo group and followed er on FB after that. Then saw her come up again when she did a piece for Thea Harrison on twitter. THEN I was in Philly for AAD and met Tricia the cover artist and realized SHE was Picky Me and I had a fan moment, when I saw all the AMAZING covers she has done!!!! Not only is she tremendously talented, but she is super sweet and sassy to boot. Great interview :)

Marianne Strnad said...

I knew Tricia before her fame truly hit her, and I can tell you from personal experience that she is 101% genuine and that she has not changed one bit. She is simply the sweetest person ever. Tricia puts a large part of her heart as well as everything in her creative arsenal onto her covers so that each one produced is utterly fabulous. What is so unique about her is that she is an avid reader, and hello...PAYS ATTENTION TO STORY DETAILS...so that each cover is true to the author's concept, which is why she is so beloved by authors & their fans everywhere! Tricia has worked so diligently that she has well-deserved every accolade that has come her way. Rock on girl-love ya!<3<3<3

Tricia said...

Way to make cry Marianne and Pam! Hugs! Jeezzz lol Rebecca, so happy you love your cover! Nothing makes me happier than a pleased author!