Bethenny Frankel is best known for her reality show “Bethenny Ever After…“, Skinnygirl brand of cocktails and healthy eating recipe books. This is her first work of fiction.
Originally for the cover concept, the editors wanted to show a sexy cocktail with the NYC skyline as a backdrop. After a few sketches, the decision was made to have Bethenny herself be on the cover. Celebrity photographer Joseph Cultice took the original image of Bethenny, which we then incorporated into the cover.
A few variations on the look of the water (I thought bubbles could represent champagne or a jacuzzi) and the skyline were considered before settling on a final water version with soft ripples to allow for type. Set in both Hollywood and New York City, the art director wanted to show both city sky lines with Bethenny centered between both worlds surrounded by water as a fun way to tie into the title. Everyone seems very happy with the final cover.
Skinnydipping interiew on the Today show. Heads up, there’s a 15 second preroll ad I couldn’t edit out.
This job came to me with a cover that had been in the works. The editors had liked the direction, but thought the guy looked too young and the girl was too party girl looking. Instead, they wanted more of a James Bond feel, with a sophisticated woman in the background.
A sample of the first revises, I included an older male in tuxedo with a more urbanely dressed girl running behind, keeping a plane in the background. However, they thought the girl looked to go-go looking, wanted to remove the plane and wanted the guy running in action.
For the second round, I included more action poses with a gun, and a smaller woman in a ball gown behind him. By taking out the plane, the focus is now on the two characters and less busy. A few more tweaks and they selected which man and woman to use, with a red sunset sky in the background backlighting the two figures.
For this job, my client needed me to take the original daguerreotype image and match it to the bluer sepia tone comp that was approved for the final cover.
The key was to colorize and clean up the photo somewhat, removing the frame, yet still keep the sepia, vintage feel to the image.
I’ve been lucky to be able to work on many of Sandra Kring’s titles which are often fun and dreamy, and this cover is no exception.
With the story set in the 70s, the art director wanted to show one of the main characters, a flower child, daydreaming on the cover with a bohemian vibe. So I started with a number of comps depicting this idea with the right mood.
The editors liked having the iconic VW Beetle on the cover, ever a symbol of the 6os and 70s, but wanted me to make it look more hippie in character. So I added varying degrees of decals and paint to give it more flavor, as well as make the picnic blanket more colorful against the grass, as well as add vinyl records, plus a journal.
Job: All I Want Is You
Client: Grand Central Publishing
Art Director: Claire Brown
For this title, the art director wanted to show a woman in an elegant yet playful party dress, as if a wonderful and romantic night is entirely in front of her and she’s just getting ready to leave.
Working with stock, I comped up a few figures I thought reflected that idea.
Keeping the color mostly monochromatic gave the cover a classy look with high visual impact.
This was a color retouching job, taking an old black and white photo and colorizing it. The only direction was to keep the colors overall muted and close in value.
For 2011, I continued my holiday card series with Happiness as the theme. Using images of a model I shot in the studio, I placed her meditating in the center with the manifestation of all she is dreaming about going on around her.
At the top of the piece the lines are white and thinner, suggesting the ethers or Heavens. As you move towards the bottom the page is more solid, suggesting the earth plain with flowers, water and fruits.
Orange is associated with vibrance and power, so I wanted to have that as my anchor color. Because of their abundant, bushy petals, hydrangeas are thought of as a symbol of expressing love, gratitude and enlightenment. I included oranges as well, as they are often eaten on the second day of the New Year to bring good luck in Chinese culture.
All together I wanted to give a sense of contentment and happiness for entering the new year!
Sometimes a client will call upon me to do simple collage and retouching. To get a concept approved art directors will often quickly piece something together, then need someone to pull together and refine everything for the final image.
For the original comp, the art director pieced together a view looking down at woman’s boots and siberian husky puppy, within a heart shape stamped out in the snow. The concept was approved, they now needed to take to final.
Because of the drastic perspective, I couldn’t find existing stock of the type boots the client wanted, leather with fur along the top. So I wound up shooting a pair of boots on myself and placing them within the image. Luckily I was able to find a few stock pics of siberian puppies and created a heart shape out of existing stock pics as well.
For the final image, we swapped out the red skirt for a more colorful one, flopped the figure to the top of the page, made the boots teal color, moved the dog to the back cover as well as change the title!
Susan Wiggs’ covers often have a romantic settings with lovely colors, so it was no surprise when my client wanted to show a pretty scene of a single woman at the beach with a beach house and beautiful sky.The story takes place in New England so they didn’t want it too tropical looking.
Using stock, I comped together a series of layouts with what I thought reflected this idea.
The editor picked one, but wanted to see different color choices since the author’s previous title had a blue sky on the cover as well.
In the end everyone liked the peachy sky. The hand lettering for the author name was provided.
Job: A Simple Winter
Client: Random House
Art Director: Lynn Andreozzi
While at a book store recently, I noticed a slew new books coming out with Amish themes in the story line. This is the first in a series of “A Seasons of Lancaster” novels by Rosalind Lauer I recently did for Random House.
We first photographed a model in studio, then after the final edit was made from contact sheets, I photoshopped her into a winter landscape I created from stock of an Amish farm.
After a series of comps were completed, they decided upon this image of a farm with horse drawn buggy.
Welcome to Melody Cassen Photo Illustration blog!
This is a place of sharing recent work projects and exploring various happenings within the commercial and fine art communities.
Bethenny Frankel is best known for her reality show “Bethenny Ever After…“, Skinnygirl brand of cocktails and healthy eating recipe books. This is her first work of fiction.
Job: 
A sample of the first revises, I included an older male in tuxedo with a more urbanely dressed girl running behind, keeping a plane in the background. However, they thought the girl looked to go-go looking, wanted to remove the plane and wanted the guy running in action.
Job: 
Job: 
Job: 
Working with stock, I comped up a few figures I thought reflected that idea.
Job: 
For 2011, I continued my holiday card series with Happiness as the theme. Using images of a model I shot in the studio, I placed her meditating in the center with the manifestation of all she is dreaming about going on around her.
Job: 
Because of the drastic perspective, I couldn’t find existing stock of the type boots the client wanted, leather with fur along the top. So I wound up shooting a pair of boots on myself and placing them within the image. Luckily I was able to find a few stock pics of siberian puppies and created a heart shape out of existing stock pics as well.
Job: 
Job: 
