By Stefene Russell
“I swear, there must be a genie in a lamp I rubbed somewhere,” Dan Skinner says. He’s laughing, but he’s not kidding. In early 2005, he was working as a personal trainer; six months later, he was one of America’s most sought-after romance-novel cover artists. In fact, he can hardly keep up with the orders—and this from a guy who gets up at 4 a.m. and says his energy level is “like hummingbird wings.”
It all started when a buddy, model Nick Fichter, was looking for work as a Harlequin model. “We were trying to get Nick into the movies,” Skinner explains, “and the best way to get noticed is to be on a romance cover.”
Skinner offered to help, shot photos, mocked up some covers and sent them off to publishing houses.
“When we heard back, the question was ‘Can we see more of your work?’—and it literally took off from there.”
He rattles off a short list of clients: Sable Grey Designs (which just added Piers Anthony to its roster), Venus Press, Titan Press and Renaissance Publishing. “I could give you the whole list, but you’d run out of pages,” he laughs—and again, he’s not kidding.
Skinner’s burgeoning client list is partly due to his medium: digitally altered photography. A cover can be created in a day (paintings take three months), and revisions are easy. But Skinner approaches his work as an artist, intuitively understanding what makes people pick up a book.
“You’re telling a story in one frame,” he says. “I am really detail-oriented, because I want everything in that fantasy to be perfect—I’ve pieced together castles brick by brick for a backdrop.” He’s also picky about models. “Most of the guys on romance covers are fitness models,” he sighs, “and they’re great at looking like a brute—that’s what they do.” Skinner’s favorite new model, Paul Oberle, is a slight, fit 5-foot-8.
“When he first came to the studio, I thought, ‘I’ll give this kid an hour.’ But he has acting ability. If you have someone who can convey sensuality just with the expression on their face, you have a better cover right there.”
In May, Skinner will meet fans in person for the first time, when the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention flies him to Daytona for a week. But he’s not getting all puffed up about this whole famous artist thing.
“I think I’m an idiot savant,” he chuckles. “I’m serious. Twenty years of personal training—I’ve probably trained everyone in St. Louis—then this thing takes off. It’s just weird. In fact, it’s beyond weird; it’s even beyond miraculous. It’s magical. That genie in the lamp is doing its trick.”
Check out Dan Skinner’s book covers at www.sablegrey.net/designs/index.html.
