Selected 2017 Works

For those seeking one-stop summaries of eligible work for the 2018 awards season, I hope this curated gallery is helpful. Here are a few of my selected published artworks from 2017.

‘La Valiente’
Product illustration for Loteria
Media: Graphite Drawing / Digital Finishes
Client: Lone Boy
October 2017
(Art © 2017 John Picacio.)

‘When The Devil Drives’
Interior illustration for Melinda Snodgrass’ ‘When The Devil Drives’
Media: Graphite Drawing / Digital Finishes
Client: Tor.com
Art Director: Irene Gallo
Editor: George R. R. Martin
July 2017
(Art © 2017 John Picacio.)

 

 

‘El Gorrito’
Product illustration for Loteria
Media: Graphite Drawing / Digital Finishes
Client: Lone Boy
May 2017
(Art © 2017 John Picacio.)

 

 

‘La Araña’
Product illustration for Loteria
Media: Graphite Drawing / Digital Finishes
Client: Lone Boy
December 2017
(Art © 2017 John Picacio.)

 

 

‘El Arpa’
Cover illustration for Uncanny Magazine
Media: Graphite Drawing / Digital Finishes
Client: Uncanny Magazine
January / February 2017
(Art © John Picacio.)

Loteria Original Art: Help Disaster Victims

Our fellow humans in Houston, Florida, Mexico, and the Caribbean Islands have been walloped by natural disaster in recent days — and they need our help. Earlier this month, I made available one of my much-coveted shadowbox assemblages and it sold within minutes of being posted. A portion of that sale will be going to benefit Mexican earthquake relief efforts in Oaxaca, where they were devastated by an 8.1 earthquake on September 7th.

Now, I’m parting with five of my cherished Loteria drawings to generate more donation money toward recovery endeavors. A portion of these purchases will be donated to the food bank or relief effort of the buyer’s choice. I’m partial to the Mexican relief efforts because they delivered personnel and supplies to the US when Hurricane Harvey roared through Houston, and the honorable thing to do as Americans is reciprocate. Mexico City is recovering from a horrific 7.1 disaster on September 19th and I want to do all I can to help them. That said, I have friends and family in Houston, and while I’ve already donated to the Harvey effort, I would be thrilled to see more relief funds sent directly to Houston’s food banks. And of course, Florida and the Caribbean Islanders deserve our continuing attention as well, in the wake of Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

Many of you are aware of my ongoing Loteria art series. I feel that these Loteria drawings are some of the most resonant I’ve done in my career to date. I’m 100% Mexican American, so every time I work on one of these — it’s PERSONAL. These visions are not just about me. They’re about my culture, our identity, and our dreams. There will be only be fifty-four of these final drawings when the series is completed, and several have previously sold immediately.

Here’s a guided tour of the five original works that are now available for the first time ever. Congratulations in advance to the lucky collectors that score one or more of these. I know many of you have been waiting for the chance to own one. Enjoy.


(above)  EL CORAZON (The Heart) / Original Final Drawing
I almost talked myself out of posting this one for sale because it’s a favorite. Considering so many lives are struggling right now though, maybe it’s time for it to light the way for families living through a darkest hour. Many of you have been acquiring my limited-run Loteria Grande cards, and while ‘La Sirena’ and ‘La Calavera’ sold out the fastest, this card sold out soon after. It’s probably one of the most popular icons of my Loteria series so far.

Graphite on Strathmore 500 Bristol • 11″ x 18″ (drawing dimension) • 14″ x 21″ (full sheet dimension)

$5000 • Ships flat and unframed • Includes free shipping within the continental USA • Please add $75 for shipping outside the USA • 10% of purchase price will be donated to relief effort of buyer’s choice

To purchase, email john (at) johnpicacio (dot) com with the subject line, “El Corazon”. We’ll exchange emails and I’ll give the payment contact info so that we can finalize the transaction via Paypal. I’ll then donate to your favorite food bank or relief charity — and ship your artwork to you.

 

(above)  LA ROSA (The Rose) / Original Final Drawing / SOLD
This is the first final drawing I ever did for my Loteria series — the one that started it all. It was inspired by a promotional artwork I did for San Francisco’s Borderlands Books, and I then redid the concept as the drawing you see here for ‘La Rosa’. This was the first artwork I completed after winning the 2012 Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist, and it set the course for my career ever since.

Graphite on Strathmore 500 Bristol • 11″ x 18″ (drawing dimension) • 14″ x 21″ (full sheet dimension)

$5000 • Ships flat and unframed • Includes free shipping within the continental USA • Please add $75 for shipping outside the USA • 10% of purchase price will be donated to relief effort of buyer’s choice

To purchase, email john (at) johnpicacio (dot) com with the subject line, “La Rosa”. We’ll exchange emails and I’ll give the payment contact info so that we can finalize the transaction via Paypal. I’ll then donate to your favorite food bank or relief charity — and ship your artwork to you.

 

(above)  EL PESCADO (The Fish) / Original Final Drawing
This was the second final drawing completed for the Loteria series, and it’s a favorite of Pisces lovers everywhere. This one was a turning point for me because it represented a standard for not just sheer physical execution, but a pursuit of concept that needed to be pushed with every icon. Like ‘El Corazon’ above, I almost didn’t post this one for sale because I dearly love it, but seeing so many trying to keep their daily existences afloat — it just seems like the right moment.

Graphite on Strathmore 500 Bristol • 11″ x 18″ (drawing dimension) • 14″ x 21″ (full sheet dimension)

$5000 • Ships flat and unframed • Includes free shipping within the continental USA • Please add $75 for shipping outside the USA • 10% of purchase price will be donated to relief effort of buyer’s choice

To purchase, email john (at) johnpicacio (dot) com with the subject line, “El Pescado”. We’ll exchange emails and I’ll give the payment contact info so that we can finalize the transaction via Paypal. I’ll then donate to your favorite food bank or relief charity — and ship your artwork to you.

 


(above)  EL PARAGUAS (The Umbrella) / Original Final Drawing / SOLD
This guy has lived in my dreams for as long as I can remember. He finally found shelter in our reality when I finished this drawing a few years ago. I feel like these images are messages from an ancestral past. They’re not all memories of what came before and where we’ve been, but glimpses of where we’re headed and what might lie ahead.

Graphite on Strathmore 500 Bristol • 11″ x 18″ (drawing dimension) • 14″ x 21″ (full sheet dimension)

$5000 • Ships flat and unframed • Includes free shipping within the continental USA • Please add $75 for shipping outside the USA • 10% of purchase price will be donated to relief effort of buyer’s choice

To purchase, email john (at) johnpicacio (dot) com with the subject line, “El Paraguas”. We’ll exchange emails and I’ll give the payment contact info so that we can finalize the transaction via Paypal. I’ll then donate to your favorite food bank or relief charity — and ship your artwork to you.

 

(above)  EL NOPAL (The Cactus) / Original Final Drawing
This kid feels like a kindred spirit. I think we all feel like him at some point in our lives. I think some of us do on a daily basis. There’s a lot of angst and pain in this world of ours right now. So many have had their hard-earned worlds ripped away in a blink. What would we want if that was us? If this drawing finds a new home, then hopefully it can help someone else along the path to finding a new one for themselves.

Graphite on Strathmore 500 Bristol • 11″ x 18″ (drawing dimension) • 14″ x 21″ (full sheet dimension)

$5000 • Ships flat and unframed • Includes free shipping within the continental USA • Please add $75 for shipping outside the USA • 10% of purchase price will be donated to relief effort of buyer’s choice

To purchase, email john (at) johnpicacio (dot) com with the subject line, “El Nopal”. We’ll exchange emails and I’ll give the payment contact info so that we can finalize the transaction via Paypal. I’ll then donate to your favorite food bank or relief charity — and ship your artwork to you.

LIES AND UGLINESS: THE ORIGINAL ART

(UPDATE: This original artwork was for sale today — and it sold in less than an hour. WOW. Thank you and congratulations to author Mark Van Name for scoring this for his collection. Most importantly, we’ve chosen to donate a portion of the proceeds to Mexican earthquake relief, and are now deciding which charitable conduit is best. NEXT: I’ll have FIVE previously not-for-sale Loteria original artworks available for purchase, with portions of proceeds going to further help victims of recent natural disaster in Houston, Florida, the Islands and Mexico.)

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Like many of you, I’ve been trying to do my part to help Houstonians devastated by Hurricane Harvey, as well as Floridians and Islanders impacted by Hurricane Irma. The Mexican Earthquake victims have not left my daily attention, since that massive 8.1 earthquake struck on September 7th. They need our help there, even as they’ve been heroically offering their own relief assistance to the United States.

Sixteen years ago this week, Americans felt compelled to rally around our own. Whenever I look at this piece of original art, I think of 9/11. I had become a fulltime professional illustrator in April of that year, resigning my job in the residential architecture field. More than anything in the world, I wanted to be a professional sf/f book cover artist. It was a heady time. I was slowly building a pro art career, as publishing clients were beginning to take notice of my early cover and magazine work. That morning, I was sketching ideas for the cover of Brian Hodge’s collection Lies and Ugliness. The phone rang, and I heard my mother’s voice, “Are you watching?

“TV’s not on.”

“A plane crashed into the World Trade Center. It’s on fire.”

Oh my god. What channel?”

All of them,” she said.

“OK. Love you. Bye.”

I watched a towering grey cloud billow across a field of blue, as my drawing hand went buzzy and tingly — and then the second plane hit. I don’t remember any work after that. What I do know is this cover idea was born on that terrible day because one of the morning’s thumbnails eventually evolved into the final artwork you see here. I’ve always called this artwork “Lies and Ugliness” because that’s the name of the book it illustrated, but those words and their synchronicity resonate more profoundly as years unfold.

In those fledgling days, I was experimenting across a wide range of media. I still have people ask me, “When are you going to do another shadowbox assemblage cover?” This cover was one of those, and the answer is “not anytime soon” because these were so time-consuming. I did my assemblage covers by hand, with traditional media. The drawing and painting wasn’t the time-consuming part. It was the search for found objects, the construction, and then the careful installation of the pieces. It added an uncertainty and vitality that was incredibly fun, but not the most efficient process either. I was learning lessons and working through my influences at that time — Cornell, McKean, Bantock, Rauschenberg, and so on.

In my 2006 art book Cover Story: The Art of John Picacio, I shared what I thought about the manuscript, and what I was thinking when I did this artwork, “Upon closer study, there was a common denominator: the exploration of faith and sexuality and their effects on the mundane and epic — especially their effects on the perception of the ‘truth’. In many of the stories, Hodge almost seemed to relish in the violent ideological collisions between the pagan and the Christian. There’s a mad love of ritual….”

I also described how the original was created. “I drew and painted the Christ figure in mixed media on masonite, and then positioned it into a homemade wooden box that was built and painted proportionally to the cover dimension. The gargoyle is a a found object that I carved, textured and painted to make it more fearsome. After carefully melding the painting and the gargoyle, the two were surrounded with silk roses, which I painted and touched up individually by hand to make them look just right.”

So here we are — sixteen years later — and I’d like to use this original artwork to help people in need, as best I can. I’m donating 10% of the proceeds from this one to the food bank or relief charity of the buyer’s choice. I’m also pricing this original lower so that it gives the best chance for a donation to occur. For example, my Loteria original graphite drawings (11″ x 18″) currently sell in the $5000 range, so the price listed below for this early shadowbox original is a rare bargain for my stuff — and these shadowbox originals almost never become available. 🙂

Dimensions: 12.5″ wide x 19″ high x 2.5″ deep

Weight: 7 lbs. (before shipping)

Price: Only $1500 (includes free shipping within the continental United States / please add $100 for shipping outside of the United States)

Contact: john (at) johnpicacio (dot) com — Email me with the subject line “Lies and Ugliness”. First come, first serve. We’ll exchange emails and I’ll give the payment contact info so that we can finalize the sale via Paypal. I’ll then donate to your favorite food bank or relief charity — and ship your artwork to you.

Good luck, all!

Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 2017

I’m back in studio from Spectrum Fantastic Art Live and this was my favorite SFAL yet. What a tremendous weekend of world-class art, amazing friends, and celebration. Thank you to John Fleskes + Cathy and Arnie Fenner for making this all happen, along with incredible collaborators such as Carl Anderson, Jeff Smith, Mark Roth, Kathy Chu, Monica Carson, Arlo Burnett, and more.

It was an honor to be one of the Spectrum Award presenters Saturday night, and that felt like a perfect culmination of the jury responsibility. I was grateful to be a part of the effort, and I’m really proud of the finalist and medal selections that my fellow judges and I chose for the upcoming annual. So much emotion during this year’s ceremony. It was great to see, as was the energy of this show from both pros and fans.

I loved the new facility and thought the artist booth layout fit well. I’d love to see SFAL happen here in future years. I think there’s no longer any question that Kansas City can carry SFAL on a permanent basis. It’s not because of any one particular factor, and it wasn’t because of any massive influx of attendees, but I think it’s the feeling that the group of people listed above are made of too much win for this effort to fail. I think SFAL is a few key personnel away from being a major international art destination for art buyers. Kansas City can support this show without a doubt, and we’ll wistfully look back on these formative years as the ‘remember when you actually had elbow-room at SFAL’ years. The quality of the artists in attendance, the quality of the show’s signage and the operation, as well as the overall production value of the whole event — those are rock-solid and world-class. The level of outreach and marketing will catch up, but it’s not because of a lack of effort or brainpower. It’s a matter of a few more foot soldiers and a few more key champions behind-the-scenes to complement the extraordinary team that is already in place. They’re giving max effort and I’m especially in amazement at the job that Carl, Jeff, and Mark do. They seem to have eight arms and the ability to teleport. When this team gets a few more key pieces to carry the buildup to the event, this show will explode to a whole new stratospheric level.

As it stands right now, there’s no other art happening quite like SFAL, and if you missed this year, then you missed out bigtime. The energy, camaraderie, and inspiration from both the art and the artists was off-the-charts. On a personal note — I had my most successful sales year ever at an SFAL, thanks to my ‘La Botella’ drawing selling to one of my favorite collectors. Loteria Grande Cards sold briskly. I loved watching my fellow artists such as Donato Giancola, Allen Williams, Colin and Kristine Poole, and more have really solid sales at this event as well.

It was the best of times, and I hope we get to do it all over again next year, Kansas City.

The Mayor You Deserve (AKA ‘The Batman’)

“Science fiction shows us how we can improve quality of life through technology, but it’s so important that we properly channel the tools and the knowledge that we gain so that we don’t suppress ourselves as individuals of freewill.” — Ron Nirenberg

SAN ANTONIO: Want to see ‘Batman’ become the mayor of your city? Vote for Ron Nirenberg, and you can make that happen.

I first heard of him when he was being dubbed ‘The Batman’, back when he was saving the world’s largest summer home for Mexican free-tailed bats from urban sprawl. Since then, I’ve gotten to know Ron a bit, and found him to not only be a world-class critical thinker who views issues from all sides — but he’s also a profoundly hardcore geek and passionate science fiction / fantasy fan. He puts a deep value on collective vision and looking forward, without forgetting the inhabitants that make a place what it is.

So if you’re like me, and you proudly count yourself amongst the legions of San Antonians who love genre films, collect comics, or play D&D — this guy is one of us, and that’s a beautiful thing. In a time when public officials wrongly view citizens as inferiors and lessers — Ron realizes voters are the Board of Directors, and we need someone who will look out for the inner city, the Southside, the Westside and the Eastside, just as much as the Northside. As our federal and state government officials have become increasingly abusive, we’re going to need strong local government that protects not just citizens’ legal rights, but their human rights as well. I think Ron possesses that social vision, and being that I’ve spent the last twenty years of my life as a Hugo Award-winning cover illustrator in the science fiction / fantasy publishing industry, I wondered if his immersion in sf/f helped shape that.

We sat down in early April for a one-on-one conversation about science fiction, fantasy, San Antonio, and the future present.

John Picacio: Your campaign embraces the slogan ‘The City You Deserve’ which is an interesting phrase because the voters decide what kind of city they deserve, and in San Antonio, that means a leader not only better funnel hopes and dreams into cohesive vision, but also swing the doors of perception *wide* open so voters can actually envision what IS possible. I’ve heard you say that science fiction is the literature of possibility and vision. What was the first sf/f narrative that captured your imagination?

Ron Nirenberg: Oh man. It’s interesting you used the phrase ‘the doors of perception’. That was one of my favorite books I read for pleasure in college. That’s Aldous Huxley. My love of science fiction definitely comes from cinema though, and that happened before I even knew how to read.

I was born in 1977, and we all know what happened that year. So STAR WARS was one of the first eye-opening experiences I can remember, and it also gave me my love for cinema, even beyond genre. The other big cinematic experience I can remember was with my uncle, when we were visiting family in Massuchusetts. We walked into a movie twenty minutes late, and that was E.T.: THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL. That was such a captivating story for someone who was around five or six years old. It’s always stuck with me too.

JP: Is there a particular image from that movie that still resonates?

RN: Yeah. I remember it clear as day. It was when that government agency had attached those big tubes to the house, and we see those guys walking through the smoke, and they looked so otherworldly. That was what Elliott’s perception was. That was how the boy perceived these people, and he associated these agency guys as the danger, while relating so much more to this extraterrestrial who needed his help.

JP: We’re experiencing the world through a child’s eyes, where the concept of ‘alien’ doesn’t automatically mean ‘enemy’.

RN: Yeah. His connection with E.T. was familial. It was close. It was compassion, despite the fact that the two were from completely different planets. It was the opposite of how the technocrats saw the alien, with this sort of amoral approach. The alien was more like Elliott than these supposedly more familiar humans that were barging into his house.

JP: You’re a batman of sorts. Thankfully, you’re NOT a billionaire vigilante psychotic who prowls the streets. We already have enough psycho politicians. What makes the Batman character resonate with so many though is he’s a dedicated protector of his city and its inhabitants. You have a legacy as a guy who saved the summer home of the world’s largest bat colony — 10,000,000 Mexican free-tailed bats near Bracken Cave — and somehow you balanced their preservation with the needs of human neighbors that co-habitate amongst them.

RN: <chuckles) Yeah, they still call me ‘Batman’ sometimes.

JP: <laughs> How did the bat issue become a priority for you?

RN: I like difficult challenges. I’m not scared off by what others perceive as lost causes. When I first came onto the campaign trail and into office, I became aware of that situation and was told it couldn’t be saved. My son and I went to the cave, and it could be best described as an otherworldly experience to watch those bats emerge. I got educated about what they meant to the ecosystem, to the protection of our water supply, protection of our crops, etc. And frankly, those bats were here first.

When it comes to people, I take pride in giving voice to the voiceless, but also protecting the habitats that balance our environment. Ya know, even bats play an important role in our world, and I became keenly aware of that when I posted my video of them on my Facebook page. I woke up the next morning and there were hundreds of shares and comments from people all over the world. I couldn’t even read all of the languages in the comments, but it further reinforced that what happens in our small corner of the universe is impactful everywhere else. So we have to act that way — especially elected officials who create policy.

JP: What’s your favorite Batman memory?

RN: In 1989, two things happened. One — my parents separated. And two — I spent that entire summer walking back and forth to the movie theatre. The two films I watched most were the Tim Burton BATMAN film that came out that year, and INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE. Both of those movies — over and over. Also, when I would come home…..I don’t remember what station it was, but it was some kind of classics channel……they showed the re-runs of the old Batman TV show from the sixties. I remember I also borrowed a Sega from a friend, and those games and those particular films……that BATMAN film…….they got me through a tough period.

JP: You once said that THE TERMINATOR changed your life. I NEED to hear more about that.

RN: First of all, it was a forbidden movie. My parents wouldn’t let me watch ‘R’ movies when I was growing up. So as soon as it came out on VHS, we went to our rental store and rented it. I remember my mom let me watch it, but she made me walk out when it got to the love scene. <laughs> At that time, some of my friends were also dubbing videos. So she found a way to get a dubbed version made with that part blanked out. <laughs> I watched the heck out of it. A friend of mine who actually became a filmmaker himself…..he does a lot of work with Richard Linklater now…..we used to make films just for fun, and we watched so many films together. THE TERMINATOR was our favorite and we would watch it over and over again.

I fell in love with the story. I fell in love with how cool Arnold Schwarzenegger was, of course. I picked up a novelization of the film and it made me say ‘wow’. I mean, there’s so much more to this freaky nightmare that James Cameron had. It was such a tightly-conceived storyline, and it just blew my mind. So ever since then, THE TERMINATOR has been my favorite movie — EVER. And it had just the best elements of the best sci-fi movie you could ever think of. It had great actors, great characters, but in terms of cinema, it had this incredible soundtrack. I’m trying to remember……did Danny Elfman do that one?

JP: Elfman did the ’89 BATMAN soundtrack. I’m trying to remember who did the original TERMINATOR music….

RN: Fiedel! It was Brad Fiedel. It was this incredible synthesized soundtrack. Very Eighties. I still listen to it, just on its own. That movie had everything.

JP: The other thing about that film was it was this seemingly impossible low-budget exercise in problem solving. I don’t know what the budget was for that film, but it had to be less than $10 million, which is minuscule for an effects-heavy film. And with such a low budget, the production design, the effects, all of it…..it’s just masterfully composed.

RN: It made James Cameron. I was just enthralled by it. And like a lot of kids my age, I would play with G.I. Joes. So me and my buddy Justin would make stop-animation films…..some really cool ones. We made up our own stories, but we also re-created THE TERMINATOR stop-animation style using G.I. Joe men. <laughs>

JP: Did you guys find any inspiration from Ray Harryhausen and the old SINBAD films?

RN: Not so much SINBAD, but CLASH OF THE TITANS is one of my favorite films — the original one from ’81.

JP: There you go. Yeah, that was the last film Harryhausen worked on.

RN: Yeah, that’s definitely one of my favorite movies ever. And that was one my mom was OK with me watching.

JP: When that movie first released in theaters, my mother stood in line forever with me to see it. I remember her covering my eyes during certain parts of the film, like when the Medusa came out. After a while, she stopped covering mine, and just covered up her own.

RN: <laughs> Yeah, I love that film.

JP: We’re finding more and more of the world’s great leaders and thinkers possess deep roots in geek culture, and they proudly fly the flag. Barack Obama has been an unabashed Spider-Man fan since childhood. Neil DeGrasse Tyson is a devout Trekkie. National Book Award Winner and Macarthur Genius Ta-Nehisi Coates is now writing Black Panther for Marvel. These are people who are driving the ideas that shape the way we see the world and universe. Are there any works of science fiction / fantasy that currently inspire you as a leader?

RN: I still like the classics. I’m inspired by stories about people who overcome long odds. We waited until my son was old enough to understand STAR WARS. So we’re bigtime STAR WARS fans in my house, and we experience those together.

JP: How old is he?

RN: He’s eight. He actually started when he was three or four.

JP: Yeah, we’re about to start watching RETURN OF THE JEDI with my daughter. I waited a while before we finally watched EMPIRE together. There are a lot of daddy issues in that film, so I didn’t want to rush into that one. <laughs>

RN: We let him watch the first one when he was three. We made him wait a little bit for RETURN OF THE JEDI. My wife wanted him to watch the prequels in order. So that meant he had to wait quite a while before she was comfortable with us all watching REVENGE OF THE SITH together.

JP: Some heavy moments in that one.

RN: Yeah, there are parts that my wife didn’t want him to watch until we thought he was ready. My house is very STAR WARS-centric though.

RN: Movies aside — my favorite comic book is CONAN THE BARBARIAN. I would also say that the Schwarzenegger CONAN film is a close second in favorite films. I don’t know how I got away with watching that movie. <laughs> But as soon as I saw it, I was in love with the character, and as a kid, I became a voracious Marvel Comics reader, especially their CONAN comics. To this day, I still have a huge collection of those. I started with THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN — the big magazine size. I read them all out of order because they predated me. I still read them even now. I was completely disappointed in the new remake film. But yeah, as far as the comics, CONAN THE BARBARIAN, CONAN THE DESTROYER, RED SONJA…..all of it.

JP: I’m ashamed to say that I’ve never read the Robert E. Howard source material. I really need to do that.

RN: Yeah, when I was a kid in school, I did a poster board presentation of the life and creation of CONAN THE BARBARIAN.

JP: <laughs> That’s cool. Were you ever into Frank Frazetta?

RN: He did a couple of covers for SAVAGE SWORD and I have those. Looking back, those were considered pretty risqué for me. I’d go look for those issues at trade shows, and I almost considered them pornography. <laughs>

I also used to stay up late and watch movies like EXCALIBUR. Every now and then, when I was a kid, for some reason at 11 or 12 o’ clock at night, there was a station that would air EXCALIBUR, and I remember watching it late at night when my parents were asleep. That movie enchanted me as a kid. So yeah, CONAN THE BARBARIAN and EXCALIBUR were the two things that dragged me into a love for fantasy. I’m still a huge film buff, and my wife and I watch movies together all the time.

JP: Is she into sf/f?

RN: Even moreso. Erika loves cinema and theatre so much that she can tell where a movie is going before it gets there. I knew I was marrying the right person the first time we watched STAR WARS together. She’s a huge geek. We both are.

JP: Alright, last question — are there any works of science fiction / fantasy that depict an urban or cultural image that inspires you toward the San Antonio of YOUR best dreams?

RN: Hmmmm. Tough question. I don’t know if there’s a specific film, but there’s a pretty common theme that I’ve detected in sci-fi films — and that’s that people are scared of the future. The cities we see in these stories are so often NOT the kind we want — places where government has overreached and people’s freewill has been suppressed. I think THX-1138 was one of the first films I saw where a society disrespects the individual so much that we end up with Big Brother. I think that science fiction has been a lens for us to look through, showing us what can go wrong if we don’t get things right presently. It’s hard to watch a movie or read a science fiction novel and say, ‘hey, that’s the future I want to live in’ because so often they’re dystopias. They’re warnings to us. I rewatched TOTAL RECALL recently, and sure there are a lot of elements of a city that make me say, ‘hey, that would be awesome.’ I mean, I would love to jump into a Johnny Cab. <laughs> Science fiction shows us how we can improve quality of life through technology, but it’s so important that we properly channel the tools and the knowledge that we gain so that we don’t suppress ourselves as individuals of freewill.

Vote for Ron as San Antonio’s next mayor, beginning Monday, April 24th at your nearest early voting site. Bexar County’s 2017 Mayoral Election Day is Saturday, May 6th. Find your precinct and your voting sites here!

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RON NIRENBERG’S ALL-TIME SF/F FAVES:

Favorite comic book character:

Favorite sf/f book:

All-time favorite sf/f films:
THE TERMINATOR
CONAN THE BARBARIAN
STAR WARS
BLADE RUNNER
FLASH GORDON

SPECTRUM Jurying: The Monday After

John Fleskes locks up Fort Flesk — and this year’s SPECTRUM jurying is now history.

Had the best time this weekend jurying the SPECTRUM 24 Annual with Christian Alzmann, Victo Ngai, Laurie Lee Brom, and Mark Newman. It was mind-blowing, enlightening, and grueling. I miss these people already.

Notes from this weekend:

  1. When submitting digital entries, make sure they’re big enough that jurors can appreciate the love and labor invested in the work. Most entries did. A few good ones didn’t. It was a shame — especially when the work looked so promising.
  2. In the Three-Dimensional Category — photography MATTERS.
  3. WOW. There are SO MANY terrific artists out there right now. Inspiring. Approximately 4700 TOTAL ENTRIES this year from all around the world.
  4. Thanks to Christian, I’ll never look at the acronym “CGI” the same way again.
  5. Most Shocking Moment: Hearing the news that Bill Paxton had suddenly died. The jury was eating Sunday breakfast together, and we proceeded to trade classic Paxton movie lines. Great actors don’t have to win Oscars to be beloved.
  6. Bottom Line: If you’re ever fortunate enough to be a SPECTRUM juror — no matter how many minutes you get with your jury teammates, it won’t be enough.

Thank you, John Fleskes, for making all of this happen. You too, Kathy Chu and Monica Carson. And last but not least — never enough thanks can be given to Arnie and Cathy Fenner for creating the SPECTRUM phenomenon in the first place. I can’t wait to see the finished annual this fall! Onward to Spectrum Fantastic Art Live in Kansas City in two months.

Selected 2016 Works

2017 is already flying by so fast. Here are a few of my selected artworks from 2016. For those seeking one-stop summaries of eligible work for the 2017 awards season, I hope this short list is helpful.


‘La Botella’
Product illustration for Loteria
Client: Lone Boy
October 2016
(Art © 2016 John Picacio.)


‘La Corona’
Product illustration for Loteria
Client: Lone Boy
October 2016
(Art © 2016 John Picacio.)


‘La Pera’
Product illustration for Loteria
Client: Lone Boy
October 2016
(Art © 2016 John Picacio.)


Cover illustration for A. Lee Martinez’s THE LAST ADVENTURE OF CONSTANCE VERITY
Client: Saga Press
July 2016
(Art © 2016 John Picacio.)


Interior illustration for Carrie Vaughn’s WILD CARDS story, “The Thing About Growing Up In Jokertown”
Client: Tor.com
December 2016
(Art © 2016 John Picacio.)


Cover illustration for George R. R. Martin’s IN THE HOUSE OF THE WORM
Client: Baltimore Science Fiction Society
May 2016
(Art © 2016 John Picacio.)

WORLDS BEYOND GALLERY: VIEWS AND NOTES

It’s been several weeks since Worlds Beyond Gallery and Alamo City Comic Con, and even though I posted a brief post-show ‘thank you’ last month, you can enjoy some additional photos of the event below. First, I have some wrap-up thoughts to share. This exhibition / vendor model was a collaboration between The Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists (headed by President Sara Felix), Alamo City Comic Con (featuring the combined brainpower of Apple De La Fuente, Austin Rogers, and Wes Hartman), and me. Media-centric pop culture and comic book conventions are proliferating across the country, but very of these cons have successful models for booking and presenting top-quality professional illustrator talents. Unfortunately, when these shows feature such artists, they usually mix them into Artist Alley situations with sequential art pros, who are themselves competing with a tsunami of unlicensed knockoff art product. The result is generally less than optimal. Until Worlds Beyond, there have been precious few (if any) successful efforts to brand, present, promote, market and cultivate that audience within major media / pop-culture-centric conventions. San Diego Comic Con International does it well in its own way, but with the growing number of mid-market regional pop-culture / comic conventions, there seem to be experiments worth trying and a void worth filling. That was one vector that led to Worlds Beyond Gallery happening, but there was another equally important one.

On a personal note — I see my pro art career shifting toward more of a ‘creator-owned’ model, developing my own intellectual properties, and writing / illustrating my own stories. That doesn’t mean I’m jettisoning my career as a freelance illustrator, but it does mean investing more time on my own material than I did for the first fifteen years of my career. I’m not alone in this career shape, as major illustrators such as Brom, Peter Mohrbacher, Ruth Sanderson, Jeffrey Alan Love, and Todd Lockwood have made similar choices, along with Shaun Tan, Gregory Manchess, Wylie Beckert, Greg Ruth, Tara McPherson, and a rising number of visually-centric entrepreneurs. That means new stories, new characters, new properties, new art, and new visions, as opposed to just talented artists re-drawing other people’s properties. It means the visual artist is the creative fountainhead and owner of his/her destiny, and I think that renaissance is worth celebrating with pop-culture audiences craving the next shock of the new. That curatorial focus coupled with the need to connect new streams of art audiences with new visual creators was the inspiration for Worlds Beyond Gallery. (Big salute to Pete Barnstrom for the terrific WBG promo video, and Lou Anders doing his own thing with the separate ACCC / Young Adventurers literary track, as well as all of the ACCC volunteers and WBG booth assistants).

Patrick and Jeanne Wilshire and the exhibition / vendor model they created at Illuxcon deserve a huge shoutout. So do Arnie and Cathy Fenner and what they have cultivated with Spectrum Fantastic Art Live (now working alongside John Fleskes). Those two shows were HUGE inspirations for what was done with Worlds Beyond Gallery, but they’re also independent events — a VERY different proposition from what WBG may have just established.

Worlds Beyond Gallery marked the creation of a working boutique model that can now be evolved, expanded, and improved. All of the artists brought their ‘A-game’ and considering this was a first-time effort, I think the event was a remarkable success. Everyone presented their latest creator-owned works, including a wide array of original artwork available for buying and up-close enjoyment, such as my first official Loteria original art exhibition. Throngs of fans old and new bought merchandise and art from all of the artists. Representatives from other major conventions expressed amazement and awe when they saw the foot traffic and the polish of the display and exhibitions. Who knows — maybe someday we’ll look back upon this as a game changer. Sara and I have been exchanging thoughts. Once the ACCC guys have recovered from staging a huge convention, they’ll possibly have a thought or two about what they experienced. We’ll look at the options and see where this goes. I’m excited about the possibilities. Onward to the next evolution.

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SETTING UP: Gallery walls were over eight feet tall and sixteen inches thick.

 

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BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME: Fans flowed through Worlds Beyond Gallery all weekend long. The format of the space wowed congoers, and created an intimate art experience not previously seen at this convention.

 

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IN LOTERIA WE TRUST: Worlds Beyond Gallery marked my first official Loteria original art exhibition — displaying eight of my original drawings together for the first time. The first series of my Loteria Grande art cards completely sold out at this show and won’t be reprinted in that format.

 

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LA SIRENA AND COMPANY: Here’s a closer look at four of my Loteria originals, as we head toward Brom’s display.

 

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LOST GODS: Brom exhibited some of the original paintings from his new LOST GODS book.

 

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BEFORE THE STORM: Brom encouraged fans to venture into his booth to view originals up close, as did all of the WBG artists.

 

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SWARMED: This is what Brom’s booth looked like for much of the weekend. He signed books and prints galore, and his LOST GODS book was a hot item.

 

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GOLDEN KEY: Ruth Sanderson presented a terrific display of originals and prints. Her scratchboard work is stunning to behold.

 

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WELCOME TO ANGELARIUM: Here’s Peter Mohrbacher’s assistant Sasha holding down the fort, as Pete exhibited a wide array of limited-run prints and merchandise related to his ANGELARIUM universe.

 

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STRENGTH IN SIMPLICITY: Jeffrey Alan Love presented a gridded array of over forty small original works, hung with mere binder clips. It was an elegant presentation that encouraged art traffic and sales, while promoting his debut graphic novel NOTES FROM THE SHADOWED CITY– which sold out before show’s end.

 

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NO PHOTOS PLEASE: Dragon artist extraordinaire Todd Lockwood presented a gorgeous display of limited-edition prints, posters, and merchandise, while autographing his new book THE SUMMER DRAGON all weekend long.

 

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DRAGON LOVE: I don’t know how many copies of THE SUMMER DRAGON Todd shipped to Worlds Beyond, but it was a lot, and few remained by show’s end.

 

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TAKING IT ALL IN: It was fun to see people step into the Worlds Beyond space and not want to leave. It truly felt like a mothership of the illustrative arts landed in the middle of a comic book convention.

 

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2016 WORLDS BEYOND GALLERY ARTISTS: (l to r) Ruth Sanderson, Brom, Peter Mohrbacher, John Picacio, Todd Lockwood, Jeffrey Alan Love

And if that’s not enough for you — here’s some more Worlds Beyond Gallery fun. 🙂

Gift Ideas From Worlds Beyond

If you missed Worlds Beyond Gallery at this year’s Alamo City Comic Con, it was one of the stellar art events of 2016. Brom, Todd Lockwood, Peter Mohrbacher, Ruth Sanderson, Jeffrey Alan Love and I were the six featured artists, and thanks to a partnership between ACCC and ASFA (The Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists, headed by Sara Felix), this inaugural gallery exhibition / vendor experience was an eye-popping success. Here are six out-of-this-world holiday gift ideas, for the art lovers in your life — or for yourself. 🙂

LOST GODS: For readers who love classic mythology and modern nightmares — the latest novel written and illustrated by Brom is for you. New York Times best-selling author Richard Kadrey says, “LOST GODS is an adventure tale and a mythic odyssey. It’s like Dante played out in muggy rural graveyards and the depths of Purgatory on the eve of a demonic war.” Pictured upper right is an original Brom painting I happily acquired at Worlds Beyond Gallery. It’s one of the header illustrations in the new book. The bottom images feature Brom’s WBG exhibition setup, as he autographs books and prints for ACCC fans.nov25brom

THE GOLDEN KEY: For readers who love classic fairy tales and timeless art — there’s Ruth Sanderson’s brand-new, gorgeously-illustrated version of the George MacDonald classic. And if you order it before December 1st, she’ll send you a free, autographed book plate. Her scratchboard work is masterful, and I was lucky enough to come home with the amazing Green Man masterpiece you see in the upper right. Thank you, Ruth! She had a terrific display of originals and prints at Worlds Beyond, and across her lengthy bibliography of illustrated children’s’ works, I think THE GOLDEN KEY interiors are some of her all-time best.nov25ruthTHE SUMMER DRAGON: For dragon-loving epic fantasy readers — Todd Lockwood is a beloved artist amongst Dungeons and Dragons fans worldwide, and this is his debut novel as an author / illustrator. It’s one of Amazon.com’s Best Science Fiction / Fantasy Books of 2016. Best-selling SHANNARA author Terry Brooks says, “The master of dragon art brings the same skills to dragon storytelling. This is a compelling, fully realized story which is as detailed and exciting as anything since the Pern tales. A sure winner.”
nov25todd

ANGELARIUM: For Magic The Gathering fans and lovers of lush art prints — Pete has a fan following as an MTG artist, but his current, creator-owned Angelarium work is the best of his career so far. If you want one of his time-limited edition prints of Raziel: Angel of Mysteries — ACT FAST because the deadline to order is Friday, November 25th. If you miss out on that, his ANGELARIUM: BOOK OF EMANATIONS is a winner. I love the way Pete’s building his art brand, and I’m already looking forward to ANGELARIUM: BOOK OF WATCHERS.
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NOTES FROM THE SHADOWED CITY: For graphic novel fans — I think this is one of the coolest illustrated stories of the year. It’s a book about swords and magic, memory and loss. The format is not the typical ‘sequential art’ format one expects from a graphic novel, but books like this expand the possibilities of what graphic novels can be. I loved Jeff’s spare and elegant display he exhibited at Worlds Beyond, and I was fortunate to acquire a couple of his small original works, pictured upper and lower right.
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LOTERIA GRANDE CARDS / SERIES TWO: For card collectors, Loteria lovers, and tarot aficionados — this deluxe five-card set debuted at ACCC, and will only be available online until December 5th! Cards measure a giant-size 4.5″ x 7.5″ and are printed on thick card stock, with my final graphite drawings reproduced on the reverse side. Pictured here are the five cards in the new set, as well as a glimpse of my Worlds Beyond Gallery display, featuring eight of the full-size graphite originals exhibited for the first time together.nov25john

Best wishes to everyone this holiday season!

Say The ‘M’ Word

Closeup detail of "El Mundo", from John Picacio's LOTERIA art series.

Closeup detail of “El Mundo”, from John Picacio’s LOTERIA art series.

Mexican American.

If you are, you should be proud.

And whether you are or you’re not, you hear the American media and our political parties use the words “Latino” and “Hispanic” instead of using the “M” word, when speaking on Mexican stories, peoples and issues. We’ve seen one political party directly demonize Mexican peoples in order to catalyze fear, while the opposing party responded by repeatedly messaging “Latinos” and “Hispanics”, missing the massive opportunity to use the term “Mexican American” as a proud call to action.

It was a costly mistake, as there are 35.8 million people in the US that self-identify as Mexican American — a full 11% of the total US population, and growing. We see that cultural misstep further demonstrated in this week’s post-election analysis, as graphs flash across our screens about a surprising “Latino” / “Hispanic” vote that favored the attacking candidate more than many would have imagined. Cubans, Puerto Ricans, and Guatamalans weren’t generalized as ‘rapists’ and ‘killers’. And yet, the media kept choosing not to use the “M” word, lumping Mexican American voters in with a bloc that supposedly operates in lockstep. So wrong. It doesn’t work that way. The Democrats failed to directly appeal to the hearts and minds of MEXICAN AMERICANS. By using the words “Latino” and “Hispanic”, they instead spoke to a coalition made of marketing mirage more than ideological unity.

I have yet to see the voting numbers for Mexican Americans in the election because the skewed headline of a “surprisingly high” Latino / Hispanic vote for the attacking party is the lede. It seems to label Mexican Americans as not caring that they were attacked and demonized, further compounding cultural abuse. Bear in mind that this is not just a right-leaning media framing. Left-leaning media and pollsters make this mistake time after time, even as they continue serving themselves their own cultural polling data in myopic ways. In future, I hope Democrats realize how important it is to address Mexican Americans as Mexican Americans, and stop being fooled by the illusions of the marketing agencies and census bureau agendas that crafted these terms in the first place.

When you want to communicate with someone, you use their chosen name, look them directly in the eye, and speak as equals. You don’t make up a nickname, talk over the person in front of you, while staring over their head at some crowd in the distance. It’s no wonder marketers, pollsters, politicians, and sales honks can’t connect with Mexican Americans. You won’t connect with anyone that way!

Do I think Mexican Americans should wage war on the words “Latino” and “Hispanic”? NO. I don’t think that’s a smart use of energy. Those umbrella terms are appropriate harbors for some people’s dreams and journeys, and they can serve a purpose. But for Mexican Americans, I invite all of us to hereby take our 63% within the “Latino” / “Hispanic” labels, redirect our self-identification, and begin taking charge of our narratives, our power, and our futures. Sail forth. Boldly go.

I had already begun doing that for myself, prior to this country’s latest Day of Infamy, but as part of my own plan-of-action, I hereby pledge to proudly self-identify as “Mexican American” where appropriate and avoid substituting “Latino”, “Hispanic”, “Tejano” or “Chicano” to label myself. I pledge to use some of my forthcoming works to offer new dimensions of hope and inspiration to my Mexican peoples, while working as a creator that can resonate with ALL peoples and audiences, as I have for the last twenty years. My friend Leigh Bardugo said to me last week, “You’re a citizen of the world.” She’s right — first and foremost, I am that. Always and forever.

I’m John Picacio.

Citizen of Planet Earth, here to serve all, and continue giving my all, especially in this time of urgent need for new art, stories, and hope.

American illustrator and storyteller.

Mexican American.

Brown and proud.

 

 

 

Worlds Beyond Gallery!

SIXPACKworldsbeyondHRIf you love science fiction / fantasy art, San Antonio, TX is the place-to-be this Halloween weekend. Alamo City Comic Con and the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists are bringing together six major fantasy illustrators for an unforgettable weekend of original art, merchandise, and autographings. The event is called Worlds Beyond Gallery and it features a lineup of professional art talent unlike any previously seen in San Antonio. I’m proud to be part of this inaugural art roster, joining Brom, Todd Lockwood, Ruth Sanderson, Jeffrey Alan Love, and Peter Mohrbacher as this year’s guests. Your WBG admission is free with the purchase of an Alamo City Comic Con admission badge, and it all happens at ACCC this October 28-30 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center.

ACCC and ASFA are offering San Antonio the chance to help expand the arts tradition and expectations in this city. As a native San Antonian, I’ve often heard locals lament that big cities such as New York, LA, Seattle, and Philadelphia score the coolest new art happenings, while SA misses out. Opportunities are rare for a city to prove itself as an arts leader and build a burgeoning fantasy art market for which other cities can only dream. That’s the opportunity facing San Antonio this October. What can you do to further the cause? It’s easy.

BE THERE. Get your ACCC badge today and make Worlds Beyond one of your must-see Halloween destinations this year. Be inspired by some of the most imaginative artists working in sf/f, and enjoy one of America’s fastest-growing pop culture conventions.

SPREAD THE BUZZ. Visit the Worlds Beyond Gallery Facebook Page and give it a ‘Like’. To receive updates on the show, visit the Worlds Beyond Gallery Event Page and let them know you’re ‘Interested’ or ‘Going’. These gestures may seem super-easy, but they’re both a big boost. If you don’t do Facebook — no worries. Use your favorite social media to tell your art-loving friends about Worlds Beyond.

SEIZE THE MOMENT. Start planning your Worlds Beyond visit today. This will be the first appearance in San Antonio for many of the featured artists, and their art is coveted by collectors throughout the world. If you’re an art collector, this will be a rare chance to acquire originals and prints directly from the artists without the perils of online buying and shipping. PRO TIP: When you come to ACCC, make WBG one of your early booth destinations. The artists are bringing a limited supply of originals and merchandise with them, and much of it will likely sell quickly. If you’re an aspiring illustrator or student, bring your portfolio. Socialize. Ask questions. Use this opportunity to improve your craft. PRO TIP: Be courteous, and choose the time wisely when asking for portfolio advice. If an artist has customers waiting, let he/she attend to those transactions. Be patient and wait for an appropriate moment to approach for advice. 

CREATORS FTW! Yes, all of the artists in this WBG lineup are major professional artists who have enjoyed successful commercial art careers, but all of the artists were chosen because they’re each developing their own creative properties. Some are writer / illustrators. Some are developing intellectual properties and merchandising lines. Some are doing both. All are building creator-owned careers and Worlds Beyond was designed by ACCC and ASFA to celebrate that. It’s true that amongst the six, you’ll see artwork commissioned by familiar franchises such as Star Trek, the X-Men, Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons and Dragons, A Song of Ice and Fire, and many, many more, but what sets this event apart is it’s an exhibition of contemporary fantastic art and storymaking wholly owned by the visual creators. This isn’t just the future of art, folks. This is the now, and I’m proud to be part of a growing number of pro artists helping to blaze that path for others to follow and succeed.

HALLOWEEN COSPLAY ON THE RIVERWALK!! Need I say more? How epic is the cosplay going to be at this show?? Show off your costume with all of us at Worlds Beyond, even if your best disguise is yourself. 🙂 We can’t wait to see who you become. We can’t wait to see you there.

(Video by Pete Barnstrom for Alamo City Comic Con.)

THE LAST ADVENTURE OF CONSTANCE VERITY

VERITYsq2picacioA. Lee Martinez’s The Last Adventure of Constance Verity debuts today in hardcover from Saga Press, and I illustrated the cover art for this one. Here you see the final cover art, an enlarged detail of the final graphite drawing, and the finished cover with typography. The final drawing is 22″ x 28″and I had fun drawing Constance big.

Who is she? As the author says, “she’s Nancy Drew, John Carter, and a little bit of Doc Savage all rolled into one. She’s fought aliens, vampires, and dinosaurs. She’s been to the edge of the universe, the center of the Earth, and the beginning of time.” She’s done it all, folks. So what does someone this super want more than anything else? Read the book and find out. 🙂 A funny tale full of absurd humor and snark awaits you. Seriously, if you like your fantasy snarky — and so many of you do — THIS BOOK IS YOUR JAM.

There’s another good reason to pick this one up this week, and to illustrate that, I want to talk about the depiction of race on book covers. We’ve seen so many fails, face palms, and missed opportunities (understatement) when it comes to the depiction of non-white characters on book covers. When Saga Press’ editorial guru Joe Monti sent me the manuscript, I discovered there was very little description of Constance’s physical features. It was clear that this was done on purpose, and thus, I had to question how much I wanted to reveal her features on the cover, as I designed the character. I decided early in the process that I wanted to propose we not hide Constance, and that we not default her toward being an exclusively Caucasian character. I wanted her to be multi-ethnic. I wanted to see some Mexican@. I wanted to see some Asian. I wanted to see if I could create a character that could include more of us rather than only some of us.

For those that don’t work in publishing, I know this sounds like a perfectly innocent idea, but trust me, that this kind of visual proposal makes many sales/marketing/editorial/art departments VERY NERVOUS. There’s a self-fulfilling prophecy in publishing amongst many (but thankfully, not all) that says, “COVERS FEATURING NON-WHITE CHARACTERS DO NOT SELL.”

Let me say for the record — I would love for all of us — you, me, and the person next to you — to finally kick that ridiculous mentality from here to oblivion, never to return. We have a long way to go. We can do this though. Want to be a part of the winning?

Buy this book during its release week. Tell friends to do so. Spread the word. Shock the publishers and the bookstores, and send this book to a second printing in record time. Publishers love success, and other publishers love to copy that success. This mission is doable and IT SENDS A MESSAGE THAT NON-WHITE CHARACTERS ON COVERS DO SELL BOOKS.

And if you don’t care about race issues on covers? No worries — Lee’s book stands on its own with an action-packed story that will leave you wanting more Constance in your life.

Final note — this was a TEAM effort to allow me to draw Constance this way. I asked to do so, but you can thank Saga Press’ editorial chief Joe Monti, art director Michael McCartney, and the author himself for saying, “Sure. Why not?” Without all of them saying those three little words, Constance would be someone else, instead of being a little more of us.

Comicpalooza 2016

ClWOlm8UoAE5gjpBack in studio after a weekend guesting at Comicpalooza 2016 in Houston. Great con, great fans.

Thank you, HTown, for buying every single Loteria Grande pack that I brought with me. Sold out of my stock at the show. Loteria Posters were flying. Loved meeting so many of you and watching the Loteria Army grow.

Thanks to all of the writers and artists who swung by my Artists Alley booth to visit. Really enjoyed talking shop and drinking scotch with C. Robert Cargill and Adam Rakunas.

Thank you to John Simons, JJ Shaw, Mark Schmidt, Vijay Kale, James Burns, and the entire CP team for giving their all to put on a dynamite convention. Comicpalooza reminds me a lot of Alamo City Comic Con here in SA, in that it’s an event run on heart and soul. There are a lot of volunteers giving everything they have so that fans and pros have a great experience. I love the way they mix some of the writers and artists into the celebrity area. I love the little details they do like providing banners for all of the guests, including the creatives. It’s smart business. This was my first time guesting at Comicpalooza and next year, I hope to bring even more Loteria Lovers and ASoIaF fans to the show.

2016 Chesley Award Finalist Times Two!

ARBOLpicacioVery proud to be a 2016 Chesley Award Nominee in two categories! Hooray!! 🙂

My Loteria card art for ‘El Arbol’ is a finalist for Best Product Illustration. I’m elated not just because Loteria is my creator-owned property and ongoing ship of dreams, but because ‘El Arbol’ is a tribute to my friend, the great Jay Lake. Even though his novels and stories would always endure, I asked him before his passing if he wanted to live on as a tree of life. He said ‘let’s do it’ and this drawn art was the final result. This one’s for you, Jay.

SNATCHERSpicacioLRIn the Best Cover Illustration / Paperback category, my art for Jack Finney’s classic INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS is a finalist as well. Cherlynne Li was my art director on this 60th anniversary cover for Simon & Schuster / Touchstone. Last year, I shared my thoughts that led to this cover art. Thank you to Cherlynne for allowing me the freedom to visually re-present one of science fiction’s classic stories in a fresh way that hasn’t been done before. (And thank you to Joe Monti, with whom this job would not have happened otherwise.)

Congratulations to all of this year’s Chesley Award finalists. These are the awards given by the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists (ASFA) and wow, it’s a WORLD-CLASS ballot, chockful of stunning work. Special shoutout to my fellow artists who are also nominated in the Best Product Illustration category — Linda Adair, Mitchell Bentley, Rovina Cai, Jacob Murray, and Magali Villeneuve — and in the Best Cover Illustration / Paperback category — Julie Dillon, Tyler Jacobson, Jeffrey Alan Love and David Palumbo. Honored to be amongst all of you, and THANK YOU AGAIN, ASFA.

Final voting is open to all ASFA members and begins today, June 6th, concluding on June 26th. The awards will be announced in August at the World Science Fiction Convention in Kansas City.  Join ASFA today to make your voice heard and your votes count. 

Thank You, Balticon 50!

Cover art by me for a limited-edtion GRRM hardcover novella, exclusively available via the Baltimore Science Fiction Society.

Cover art by me for a limited-edtion GRRM hardcover novella, exclusively available via the Baltimore Science Fiction Society.

Great times this past weekend at Balticon 50, where George R. R. Martin and I were Guests of Honor, along with Mark Van Name, Fran Wilde, Alexandra Duncan, Kim Stanley Robinson, and an impressive roster of past GoHs such as Charles Stross, Peter Beagle, Connie Willis, Jo Walton, Joe Haldeman, Larry Niven, Phil & Kaja Foglio, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, and more. The level of creative talent in the building felt like a miniature version of Worldcon.

GRRM and me during the onstage "Conversation" event. That was fun. :)

GRRM and me during the onstage “Conversation” event. That was fun. 🙂

Huge congratulations to Nora Echeverria and the entire con com for achieving the single largest Balticon attendance ever. THANK YOU to all of the con attendees who packed the seats for my programming items– and especially my Loteria game session and onstage interview with GRRM, which were filled to capacity. Great job by Sarah Pinsker and Michael R. Underwood on their Dangerous Voices Variety Hour event. Thank you to Fan Guests of Honor Martin Deusch, Shirley Avery, Sue, Nora, Anna, Meredith, Filthy + the Art Show staff for setting up a terrific Art Show and thank you to all who made it a big success as almost all of my A Song of Ice and Fire artwork sold out, along with so many framed originals and prints. I sold out of Loteria Grande Card Sets and signed countless items at my Artists Alley table. Before the con even began, George and I pre-signed 500 limited-edition copies of a new GRRM hardcover novella that I illustrated called In The House of the Worm. (Special thanks to Sean Wallace for making it happen.) This convention was an intense and absolute joy.

I had a blast spending time with George, Parris, Lenore, and Jo. Enjoyed the conversations and quality minutes that I had with so many pros and fans. Always much love and best of times with The Hardest Buckaroos — the Brotherhood Without Banners — Martha, Doug, Christine, Eddie, Neal, Yags, Pod, Kristina, Dave, Douglas, Caryn, Meg, Bill and everyone. Special shoutout to my IMPALED PHALLUS bandmates! 😉

So many people gave their all to make this con happen, as is always the case with fan-run conventions (thank you, Allison, Adrienne, Joe, Roy, Anna, and all). Did Balticon have massive problems with its programming schedule? Absolutely. And yet, thanks to the grit and resilience of diehard volunteers, I saw nothing but joy from every fan I encountered. Romeo Capriotti, this is for you. (Thea, change the words to “woman” and “ma’am” and same applies.) You did a great job, Romeo. Best GoH Liaison I could ask for.

Linda Wenzelburger: Your take on my “La Calavera” is one of my favorite cosplays EVER! Gorgeous work! Made my con. <applause>

Linda Wenzelburger's completely awesome "La Calavera" cosplay (Inset: Cropped detail of my "La Calavera" Loteria artwork.)

Linda Wenzelburger’s completely awesome “La Calavera” cosplay (Inset: Cropped detail of my “La Calavera” Loteria artwork.)

You were amazing, Balticon. In closing, I’m going to share some words from Nora, who chaired this event. This is from her FB page, and I hope she won’t mind. I think it adds some much-needed context.

“i want to thank everyone who helped organize, work, volunteer and attend Balticon 50. You ALL made this an amazing show.

In particular i want to thank Jonette Butler for coming up with the idea for bringing back our Alumni Guests of Honor and for being the driving force behind that and our fundraising projects. Because of her, we were able to raise well over $55,000 AND bring back every Guest of Honor Alumnus who wished to attend. And they all had a wonderful time.”

And especially the following words:

“At the end of the day, Balticon is run by volunteers. We do not take a salary, we have jobs and families and other obligations, i.e., LIFE. We work hard but we make mistakes. We aim for the moon and sometimes we hit it and sometimes we crash back down to earth. We all come together to do this out of our love for the genre and of fandom.”

Well said, Nora — and thank you again, Balticon and the Baltimore Science Fiction Society! It was an honor to be with you!

George R. R. Martin and Nora Echeverria at the Balticon 50 Guest of Honor Dinner.

George R. R. Martin and Nora Echeverria at the Balticon 50 Guest of Honor Dinner.

Selected 2015 Works

Here are a few of my selected artworks from 2015. For those who are seeking one-stop summaries of eligible work for the 2016 awards season as they consider their ballots, I hope this short list is helpful. Usually, I post this kind of info at the beginning of the year, but 2016 has been hella-busy. 🙂 Wishing all artists and creators the very best of luck out there!

SNATCHERSpicacioLR
Cover illustration for Jack Finney’s classic INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS
Client: Simon and Schuster / Touchstone
October 2015
(Art © 2015 John Picacio.)

ARBOLpicacioLR
‘El Arbol’
Product illustration for Loteria
Client: Lone Boy
December 2015
(Art © 2015 John Picacio.)

TROEpicacioLR
Cover illustration for the limited edition of Dan Simmons’ THE RISE OF ENDYMION
Client: Subterranean Press
(Art © 2015 John Picacio.)

NOPALpicacioLR
‘El Nopal’
Product illustration for Loteria
Client: Lone Boy
December 2015
(Art © 2015 John Picacio.)