Cover Story: How to Create Original Magazine Art with Cori Redford

See the cover that could have been

“Art through adversity” is one of our favorite mantras. If it’s easy, then it’s too easy. In this interview, the editor talks to Denver artist Cori Redford, the talent behind our fall issue cover, as we take you through the trials of creating original magazine art—an old-fashioned practice that we are proud to carry forward.

Denverse Magazine: So I had this kind of weird idea for a cover, you know. I like to keep things as playful as possible. And I was like, well, what if we took this classic painting, The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli, and just threw some Denver iconography in there?

So when I first pitched you on the idea, what did you think? What was your reaction to it? And how did you first approach the work itself?

Cori Redford: I thought it was a fun idea. And the first thing I did was look up all the versions of the original painting. Because there are actually several artists who have done it. And the original is in a horizontal format. So I looked to see how other artists had solv…