MY WICKED MARQUESS

This is the front and inside cover for the book, My Wicked Marquess, by Gaelen Foley, published by Avon Books. From the beginning, I wanted this image to have a look of "dark passion", a kind of desperate intensity that sex can have. But how to get that across? The art director had requested they be in an interior, so I started playing with different interiors in my sketches. I decided an empty mansion or chateau would be better that a furnished room, hinting that they are there illicitly, but also that for them, only they exist. I liked the curving stair and it gave me the idea to have the models form a similar twist, at least on the front cover. The models, Harmon and Suzanne Fogarty, caught the concept perfectly during the shoot. By happy accident , on some of the shots, Harmons face was slightly shadowed and I decided to go with that and really make his face in shadow, bringing out the girl in light. I think there is something in the finished image, the spooky stair, the desperate intensity of their bodies, that successfully expresses my original concept.
For the inside cover, I had to invent a bed for them, not a real bed, but more a pile of blankets and stuff the threw together in the empty mansion. Again, I played with shadows, bringing darkness over their legs, to emphasize their faces and upper bodies. Suzanne and Harmon made this one sexy and graceful at the same time. Thanks to them and to Shirley Green, photographer and Sharon Spiak, costumer.
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