Cover art conversations.(dear luna)(Brief article)

Dear Luna,

I'm writing in response to Tess, who wrote a complaint in the January/February 2008 issue about New Moon's cover art. She said, "the girls on the cover are super skinny, with perfect hair, and smooth skin, and they all wear fashionable clothes ..." She said that she would like New Moon to print cover art that portrays "real" girls.

I think that since the cover pictures are artwork and not photographs, the girls in them aren't going to look completely realistic. They're the artist's ideas about what girls look like. We could not possibly look like the girls on the cover, because they are illustrations.

Also, in all the New Moon covers I've seen, the girls tend to be diverse in race, clothing styles and accessories, and physical features (some wear glasses, others wear braces, etc.).

There's also the fact that art, in essence, is creating something visually appealing. I don't think we should be telling artists to draw unattractive pictures to put on a magazine cover. I respect that everyone has the right to their own ...