Behind the scenes

Book cover

Brother Mei Mei and Boudicca stand at the crest of a hill, looking down on a riotous Ceilidh/Highland Games.  There are several reasons I love this piece.  First of all, this creation was done by my exceptionally talented daughter, Penelope Cooper!

My art skills do not lie in the direction of drawing or graphic arts.  Nonetheless, I sketched a few ideas and inflicted them on my poor daughter.  With much patience, Penny took the concepts that I was feebly trying to portray and created this masterpiece.  The book cover is amazing, but the full-sized picture is breathtaking in its scope and detail.  The more you look, the more is revealed. 

It takes a certain kind of magic to take your crazy dad’s ideas and make something worthy of hanging in any art gallery!  Am I bragging?  Yes!  And I don’t care.  Please enjoy.

The OFD Logo

I was informed that needed a logo to brand my book.  Not knowing what I was really doing, I came up with the “OFD” logo.  The paw print is from my Apricot English Mastiff Boudicca and the silhouette of an old fat dad smoking a cigar came from a snapshot that a dear friend took.  So I reached out to a very amazingly talented graphic artist, Grace Stevens, to took on the job. 

Grace’s rendition of my ideas surpassed all of my expectations!  Grace’s talent is evident, but I have to add that Grace’s professionalism was noteworthy of any artist, bust especially one who is at the beginning of her career.  This amazing young woman is going places!