Behind the Cover: Fortin & Sanders
Jul. 14th, 2009 12:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reviews_and_ramblings"Un croquis vaut mieux qu un long discours." ~ Napoleon.
"A picture is worth a thousand words" as Fortin and Sanders can attest. Recognized widely throughout the art world and romance industry alike for their innovative fine art in book cover illustration, Cherif Fortin and Lynn Sanders introduce an entirely new concept to the romance publishing industry.
A Year and a Day by Virginia Henley
Charming the Prince by Teresa Medeiros
Knight Triumphant by Shannon Drake
The Barbarian by Judith E. French
They integrate beautiful, photographic oil paintings to illustrate their first novella, Passion's Blood. This mix of photography with layer upon layer of oils and lacquer glazing depicts romantic, historical imagery so vivid and realistic a story begs to be told. And so, inevitably, they do just that. Fortin and Sanders combine literary imagination with their internationally recognized painting style to introduce a new sub-genre unlike any in existence in the romance industry to date. The powerful illustrations they create coupled with the classic romantic story beautifully portray the pageantry and chivalry of the medieval period in history. Their innovative talent not only adds an entirely new dimension to the romance reading experience, but offers romance readers a treasure to cherish long after other novels are forgotten.
Cherif Fortin was born in Montreal Canada, August 19, 1970. After completing school, he left his French Canadian roots immigrating to the United States where he studied history and art at the University of Illinois. In 1991, Cherif began an impromptu career as a stunt man for a performing dinner theater, Medieval Times, choreographing acts of dressage, jousting, and hand-to-hand combat. It is here he honed his richly developed flair for drama seen vividly throughout his paintings. Soon after meeting Lynn Sanders at one of his performances, Cherif was invited to model for her professional photography group. Recognizing his inherent artistic nature, Lynn encouraged Cherif to paint as well as model for the medieval photographic artwork she had recently developed. With her tutelage, Cherif's love of romantic medieval art and history soon evolved into a passion for re-creating the enchanting old world charm of the pre-Raphaelite masters. His artistic ability and flair for drama seen throughout their paintings are vivid reminders of his unending enthusiasm for his work.
In Cherif's own words: "What holds the viewer when they see a piece of our artwork is the feeling of motion and conflict, that nothing is ever in stasis. No matter whether the subject is a knight on horseback or lovers in the throes of each other's embrace, there is a dynamic tension there that says 'something big is happening here'."
Lynn Sanders, a multi-award-winning Chicago-area photographer, began her career in the 60's as a photo retouch artist and hand-colorist of black and white prints. In an effort to create the feeling she admired in the work of the old world masters, Lynn pioneered an innovative mixed media technique drawing from an ancient oil-glazing process once used to augment religious iconography. Her efforts resulted in a unique procedure applying layer upon layer of oil and lacquer to a photograph, creating a work highly luminous and suggestive of the style seen in masterpieces of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood during the late 1800's. These Victorian painters emulated the ideals of Renaissance art using rich depth, realistic colors, and the vast resources of historic romance synonymous with that period in history. Lynn and her partner, Cherif Fortin, introduced their artwork to the romance publishing industry, and the rest, as they say, is history. A natural sequence of events followed, culminating in the huge acclaim they enjoy today for the "old world charm" of their book cover illustrations and more recently, their first illustrated romance novella.
"When people look at our art, they're always amazed by its mysterious quality," says Lynn. "They want to know if it's a painting or a photograph. When that happens, I know we've reached them and they're fully engaged by what they're seeing."
http://www.fortinandsanders.com/
http://romancereaderatheart.com/authors/fortinsanders/
"A picture is worth a thousand words" as Fortin and Sanders can attest. Recognized widely throughout the art world and romance industry alike for their innovative fine art in book cover illustration, Cherif Fortin and Lynn Sanders introduce an entirely new concept to the romance publishing industry.
A Year and a Day by Virginia Henley
Charming the Prince by Teresa Medeiros
Knight Triumphant by Shannon Drake
The Barbarian by Judith E. French
They integrate beautiful, photographic oil paintings to illustrate their first novella, Passion's Blood. This mix of photography with layer upon layer of oils and lacquer glazing depicts romantic, historical imagery so vivid and realistic a story begs to be told. And so, inevitably, they do just that. Fortin and Sanders combine literary imagination with their internationally recognized painting style to introduce a new sub-genre unlike any in existence in the romance industry to date. The powerful illustrations they create coupled with the classic romantic story beautifully portray the pageantry and chivalry of the medieval period in history. Their innovative talent not only adds an entirely new dimension to the romance reading experience, but offers romance readers a treasure to cherish long after other novels are forgotten.
Cherif Fortin was born in Montreal Canada, August 19, 1970. After completing school, he left his French Canadian roots immigrating to the United States where he studied history and art at the University of Illinois. In 1991, Cherif began an impromptu career as a stunt man for a performing dinner theater, Medieval Times, choreographing acts of dressage, jousting, and hand-to-hand combat. It is here he honed his richly developed flair for drama seen vividly throughout his paintings. Soon after meeting Lynn Sanders at one of his performances, Cherif was invited to model for her professional photography group. Recognizing his inherent artistic nature, Lynn encouraged Cherif to paint as well as model for the medieval photographic artwork she had recently developed. With her tutelage, Cherif's love of romantic medieval art and history soon evolved into a passion for re-creating the enchanting old world charm of the pre-Raphaelite masters. His artistic ability and flair for drama seen throughout their paintings are vivid reminders of his unending enthusiasm for his work.
In Cherif's own words: "What holds the viewer when they see a piece of our artwork is the feeling of motion and conflict, that nothing is ever in stasis. No matter whether the subject is a knight on horseback or lovers in the throes of each other's embrace, there is a dynamic tension there that says 'something big is happening here'."
Lynn Sanders, a multi-award-winning Chicago-area photographer, began her career in the 60's as a photo retouch artist and hand-colorist of black and white prints. In an effort to create the feeling she admired in the work of the old world masters, Lynn pioneered an innovative mixed media technique drawing from an ancient oil-glazing process once used to augment religious iconography. Her efforts resulted in a unique procedure applying layer upon layer of oil and lacquer to a photograph, creating a work highly luminous and suggestive of the style seen in masterpieces of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood during the late 1800's. These Victorian painters emulated the ideals of Renaissance art using rich depth, realistic colors, and the vast resources of historic romance synonymous with that period in history. Lynn and her partner, Cherif Fortin, introduced their artwork to the romance publishing industry, and the rest, as they say, is history. A natural sequence of events followed, culminating in the huge acclaim they enjoy today for the "old world charm" of their book cover illustrations and more recently, their first illustrated romance novella.
"When people look at our art, they're always amazed by its mysterious quality," says Lynn. "They want to know if it's a painting or a photograph. When that happens, I know we've reached them and they're fully engaged by what they're seeing."
http://www.fortinandsanders.com/
http://romancereaderatheart.com/authors/fortinsanders/
