SPECTRUM 17: THE BEST IN CONTEMPORARY FANTASTIC ART last month announced its list of artists selected for inclusion in the forthcoming annual. SPECTRUM is a much-anticipated, juried volume compiling the finest works from the worlds of books, comics, advertising, editorial, 3D and concept art in the previous year. This weekend, I was notified that two of my 2009 works were selected. They are my cover illustration for Mark Chadbourn’s AGE OF MISRULE: BOOK 1 — WORLD’S END (pictured here), and my cover illustration for James Dashner’s THE 13TH REALITY: THE JOURNAL OF CURIOUS LETTERS.

Lou Anders was the art director for the MISRULE illustration and I thank him for once again being a superlative collaborator, allowing the room to roam and find this image. Lisa Vega was the designer that commissioned THE 13TH REALITY illustration. I’m especially gratified the SPECTRUM jury selected this one. THE 13TH REALITY: THE JOURNAL OF CURIOUS LETTERS released last year in paperback, and the publisher rejected this image in favor of a much less potent, color version of the artwork for publication. I’ll be pleased when my preferred version debuts in SPECTRUM’s pages this November.

Here’s my final cover illustration for the forthcoming Pyr edition of Mark Chadbourn’s THE DARK AGE: BOOK 2 / THE QUEEN OF SINISTER. It’s the second book of the trilogy that follows Chadbourn’s AGE OF MISRULE. Folks with long memories will likely notice that this cover is radically improved and modified from the catalog version.

I believe the book releases in June. Pyr unveiled the cover yesterday via their blog, and I was encouraged to see so many instant comments across Twitter and social media. The world really is a smaller place these days. 🙂 And below, you can see how the finished cover will look when it hits US shelves later this summer.

Here’s my final cover illustration for the forthcoming Pyr edition of Mark Chadbourn’s THE DARK AGE: BOOK 1 / THE DEVIL IN GREEN. It’s the first book of the trilogy that follows Chadbourn’s AGE OF MISRULE. The nice thing about THE DARK AGE is that the trilogy can be read as a standalone and doesn’t require reading AGE OF MISRULE in order to follow the story. However, reading MISRULE certainly enhances the experience. 🙂 I’m glad I was able to improve the cover art from its initial catalog version. And below, you can see how the finished cover will look when it hits US shelves later this summer.

Boskone 47 — what can I say? As I said Saturday night to the NESFAns, Boskone is still the grande dame of regional sf/f literary-centric cons, and proved once again why it’s one of the measuring sticks (along with Armadillocon and a couple of others) by which similar cons are measured. It was an amazing weekend, and one of the best cons I’ve ever experienced. I was the Official Artist for the con. Alastair Reynolds was the Author Guest of Honor. Michael Whelan was the NESFA Press Guest along with Lois McMaster Bujold. Vernor Vinge, Tom Shippey and Mary Crowell completed the lineup of featured guests. That’s a helluva lineup! 🙂

I spent quality time with Michael, and got to visit with Al while we signed stacks of his new DEEP NAVIGATION story collection (cover art by me). As with most cons, it’s not the GoHs that do the heavy lifting; it’s the volunteers. And when you’re talking about Boskone, those volunteers are largely made up of members of the New England Science Fiction Association. I can’t possibly thank all of them by name, but I’ll single out a few of them as I run through a few personal Boskone 47 highlights.

* Valentine’s Meal: Traci and I arrived in Boston late afternoon, Thursday, Feb. 11. Valentine’s Day was Sunday, but we opted to celebrate Thursday night because we were certain Sunday was gonna be tough because of my GoH responsibilities. A great night — we did a three-course dinner tour in Boston’s North End. First stop: clam chowder and beer at Union Oyster House; next, a giant Giambotta pizza at Regina Pizzeria; and then the capper: Modern Pastry for chocolate rumcake and a miniature key lime pie. We were stuffed. We had lots of leftovers to take to our room and needless to say, we had a ball.

* Art Show: Boskone’s art shows have a reputation for annually being amongst the best in sf/f. This one was no different with a high-quality lineup that included Bob Eggleton, Rick Berry, Omar & Sheila Rayyan, Jean Pierre Normand, Gary Lippincott, Marianne Plumridge-Eggleton, Rick Sardinha, Kelly Kotulak, Marc Robinson, and Marc Scheff, amongst many others. Michael Whelan was NESFA’s Special Guest and he celebrated with a giant 40-year retrospective of works that included his original paintings for Michael Moorcock’s STORMBRINGER, Stephen King’s DARK TOWER and Joan Vinge’s THE SNOW QUEEN. Michael brought one painting for each of his 40 years in the business. It was an awesome display. So with all of that greatness in the room, and with me as the Official Artist, needless to say, I brought my best. Two items that really seemed to get a lot of audience attention — a giant backlit print of my cover illustration for Dan Simmons’ DROOD (see first image) and the final convention appearance (at least for a very long, long time) of my mixed-media shadowbox assemblage for Jeffrey Ford’s WELL-BUILT CITY trilogy (pictured directly above). I was amazed to walk in to the Art Show on Sunday morning and discover that the latter won “Best of Show”. With so much amazing art in the room, I kept staring at the ribbon to make sure it was real. Very appreciated!

A few Art Show shoutouts: Gay Ellen Dennett — if you’re an artist and you ever see her name as the person running an art show, you’re in the best of hands. She ran a dynamite art show from beginning to end. Huge thanks, Gay Ellen. She had help from folks like Joni Dashoff, Ira Donewitz, Andrea Senchy, the Atwoods and others, but she ran the show and did a stellar job. Chip Hitchcock — thanks for being Superman when it was time to get that lightbox up and glowing — you’re clutch and appreciated; and Filthy Pierre — same to you. These two guys are examples of the kind of first-class people who are the heart of any great con, and my hat’s off to them.

* Michael Whelan / John Picacio Conversation: Thanks to the excellent work of Priscilla Olson and JoAnn Cox, the programming was amazing. All of my program items went off without a hitch, and from the overwhelming audience reaction afterward, it seems that the Whelan/Picacio conversation was an especially big homerun. It’s hard to tell from my side of the table, but I’m really glad this one connected with so many people. From where I was, it could have gone on for another hour because Michael and I were in a groove, exchanging back and forth unscripted. He’s not only one of the greatest artists ever in sf/f, but one of my favorite people in the field as well. We don’t cross paths often, but when we do, we seem to click for some reason. This was my favorite hour of the whole con. It went by too fast.

* Joe Siclari / Mark Olson: More programming highlights. Siclari and Olson are veteran NESFAns, as well as notable sf/f art historians and collectors. I really enjoyed their panels about the history of sf/f art (“Absent Artists” and “Who Painted That?”). The latter was especially cool. They put together slideshows of old-time sf/f imagery and Eggleton, Whelan, and me had to guess who illustrated the art. I love that stuff. Picked up a couple of names I didn’t know that I’ll research this week. I usually prefer programming panels that talk about the present state and future of sf/f art, but these guys really put together enjoyable programs about the venerable past, and I love that stuff too.

* NESFA Press Book Debuts — ROBOTS & MAGIC, the second volume of NESFA Press’ Lester Del Rey short story collections, debuted at the show along with DEEP NAVIGATION, a terrific collection of Alastair Reynolds’ short stories. Steven H. Silver edited ROBOTS & MAGIC and Ann Broomhead did the honors for the Reynolds. Both are terrific, and I provided the cover art for both volumes. Special shoutout to Alice N.S. Lewis who did the design for both books and most of the Boskone publication work for this year. She’s a gifted designer and I really dug her solutions.

* Friends Old and New — That’s why conventions are great. Too many people to name them all, but I had a blast with Irene Gallo, Dave Seeley, Audrey Price, Pablo Defendini, Marc Scheff, William Lexner and wife Maureen, Kelly Kotulak, Marc Robinson, Robert Weiner, Karl Schroeder, Stacy Hague-Hill and Sarah Beth Durst. The most unexpected new acquaintance I made at Boskone happened on Saturday night. Traci and I were seated for Boskone’s Saturday Night Awards Presentations and I just happened to be seated next to the legendary Jane Yolen. This was good enough by itself, but to find out that Jane knew who I was and knew my work caught me off-guard in the best of ways. She’s terrific and hilarious, and it was an honor to meet her.

* Rick Berry Studio Visit — I’ve long admired Rick’s work, and he was kind enough to invite a number of folks out to his studio on Sunday night. I learned a lot that night, and I suspect a couple of bits of that experience will affect how I work later this year. Irene had told me that it would be hugely inspiring to visit his studio, and she was right. Thanks to Rick and his wife Sheila, as well as Robert Weiner, for the food, drink, and good times.

Cons are often judged by their GoHs and guests, but I often judge them by the volunteers that run them. NESFA, you did an incredible job. Thanks to Jim Mann (this year’s Boskone chairman — take a bow), Laurie Mann, Ben Yalow, Tim Szczesuil (thanks for receiving my boxes, man!!), Ian Stockdale (new owner of the MUSE OF FIRE original underdrawing, and I’m honored to be in his collection), Mary Kay Kare (thanks for looking out), Tony & Suford Lewis, Ann Broomhead, Geri Sullivan, and Robert Luoma (thanks for the projection help…went off without a hitch). Great job, Boskone!

For more photos, see my Flickr set.

Hot off the press — three new promo postcards featuring my cover art for (l to r) Dan Simmons’ DROOD (Subterranean Press ltd. ed.); Mark Chadbourn’s AGE OF MISRULE: BOOK ONE — WORLD’S END (Pyr); and Dan Simmons’ MUSE OF FIRE (Subterranean Press). These postcards will be freebies for all who attend my Guest of Honor Slideshow at Boskone, February 13th (Sat.), at 11am. Spread the word. Sound off below if you’re attending the con. ‘Hope to see you there. 🙂

NESFA Press’ ROBOTS & MAGIC: SELECTED SHORT STORIES OF LESTER DEL REY, Vol. 2 will debut at Boskone next week, but it looks like it’s now available for purchase online. It’s got an intro by Terry Brooks and it’s edited by Steven H. Silver. Alice N.S. Lewis did the design. I’m looking forward to seeing the finished books next week. 🙂

Here’s my final cover illustration for Lauren Beukes‘ forthcoming novel ZOO CITY. It’ll be an Angry Robot mass market paperback, coming this May. Lauren is the author of one of 2009’s breakout hits, MOXYLAND. She describes ZOO CITY as an urban fantasy — “a muti noir set in a re-imagined Johannesburg. It’s the story of a girl with a sloth on her back, a dirty 419 habit and the magical ability to find lost things who gets drawn into a case to find a missing pop star.”

Here’s my initial thumbnail doodle for the cover. I even drew in a first stab at the typography, just to get some sense of how that might work (or not). I knew I was only responsible for the cover art, but I factor in the type placement when I sketch thumbnails for covers. Sometimes I draw it in, even if I’m not designing the final type, and sometimes I just leave space for it. It’s always a consideration though. The final type design is by Argh! Nottingham (see below), and I dig it. It’s a simple, strong solution, and says “noir” without being cliche.

As for the art, I was given a solid brief from Angry Robot that described what they wanted on the cover. They wanted three main characters, and their pets, to be the focus, and offered a fairly specific way to handle it. I saw the cover a completely different way, but made sure to include all of the elements (main characters, pets, setting, mood, attitude). They were terrific and said “go for it!”

Relevant note here — it’s not often that authors have input during the process of making a cover. There are lots of reasons for this, and that could be a whole blog post by itself. The point is it doesn’t happen often. In this case, Lauren was very involved, and she and Marc Gascoigne (publishing director) were fun collaborators. It was my first time working with Angry Robot, and a pleasure. They’re building a terrific line of books. I’m really excited about ZOO CITY, and am already looking forward to its release in May.

First post of the New Year: here’s a one-stop visual list of my 2009 published works. As noted here and here, the awards nomination season is upon us again (Hugos and otherwise). If you wish to reference the list below for future consideration this year, please bookmark. FYI: in addition, my blog sidebar displays my 2009 work in abbreviated form. Onward…

(above)
Cover illustration for
MUSE OF FIRE
by Dan Simmons
Subterranean Press
January 2009

(above)
Cover illustration for
the limited edition of
DROOD
by Dan Simmons
Subterranean Press
April 2009

(above)
Cover illustration for
AGE OF MISRULE: BOOK 1
WORLD’S END
by Mark Chadbourn
Pyr
May 2009

(above)
Cover illustration for
AGE OF MISRULE: BOOK 2
DARKEST HOUR
by Mark Chadbourn
Pyr
June 2009

(above)
Cover illustration for
AGE OF MISRULE: BOOK 3
ALWAYS FOREVER
by Mark Chadbourn
Pyr
July 2009

(above)
Cover illustration for
WAR & SPACE: THE BEST OF
LESTER DEL REY
Edited by Steven H. Silver
NESFA Press
August 2009

(above)
Cover illustration for
ASIMOV’S SCIENCE FICTION
September 2009

(above)
Cover illustration for
ARE YOU THERE AND OTHER STORIES
by Jack Skillingstead
Golden Gryphon Press
October 2009

(above)
Interior illustration for
KNOWING DARKNESS: ARTISTS INSPIRED
BY STEPHEN KING
Edited by Jerad Walters
Centipede Press
November 2009

(above)
Cover illustration for
the limited edition of
THE TERROR
by Dan Simmons
Subterranean Press
December 2009

(above)
Cover illustration for
STARSHIP: FLAGSHIP
by Mike Resnick
Pyr
December 2009

(above)
Cover illustration for
THE 13TH REALITY:
THE JOURNAL OF
CURIOUS LETTERS
by James Dashner
Simon & Schuster / Aladdin
December 2009
(alternate cover version)

Here’s my cover art for James Dashner’s THE 13TH REALITY: THE JOURNAL OF CURIOUS LETTERS, just released this week in a fresh new edition from Aladdin. When you see the book on the shelf, you’ll notice it’s got a different color scheme. Although I did both versions, the one pictured left is my preferred version.

Why two versions? When the job came to me, it was noted that the book was targeted toward “independent readers” which is defined as 9-12 year-olds. It was also noted that the cover would be printed on silver foil. Early in the process, I went to the bookstore and stared at the shelves of books that this cover would compete against. It was immediately obvious that this market uses a LOT of color and flash to grab eyeballs. Every cover seemed to be trying to out-flash the one next to it. That’s not unlike the adult sf/f section, but the tendency was perhaps a little more aggressive throughout the independent reader shelves. That’s what inspired the color scheme you see here — a direct counterpoint to the book’s competition — spare and ultra-restrained, where one key element (the scarf) calls out, and the rest of the art plays off the shimmer of the foil material. It seemed like a surefire strategy to help the book stand out and sell, and I was excited to see the final result. Well, you know what they say about the best-laid plans of mice and men….;)

The version you see here was deemed “too sophisticated for 9-12 year-olds”. Oy. Anyone have any 9-12 year olds in their family? If you do, you know that one thing you can count on is they’re extremely visually sophisticated, and probably more so than most of us adults.:) Best wishes to all at Aladdin and to Mr. Dashner himself, who seems to be having a heckuva year thanks to THE MAZE RUNNER‘s steamrolling success.

Time to wrap some presents over here. Happy Holidays to all!

That’s what LOCUS MAGAZINE‘s masthead says at the top of every issue. Over the last year or so, I’ve been wondering if that’s really true. Or should the word “Field” be replaced with the word “Writer”? Reason: virtually every LOCUS interview for the past decade has been writer-centric. I mentioned on Twitter and Facebook today that I wondered if subscribers would stop buying if LOCUS did full-length interviews with illustrators as frequently as they do with writers. There’s already been several comments and I thought I’d bring the discussion over here where it’s open to everyone and comments don’t have to be limited. A few points:

1. I’m currently a subscriber to LOCUS MAGAZINE. Have been for the last several years.

2. The people that publish LOCUS are amongst my favorites in this business. They’re fun, smart, insightful, and amongst the hardest-working folks in our field.

3. They’ve had a tough year with the death of LOCUS founder Charles N. Brown. It’s a credit to Liza, Amelia, Kirsten, Tim and everyone over there that the magazine has not missed a beat. LOCUS is clearly in the best hands possible.

4. Here’s what bothers me though — if LOCUS is indeed the magazine of our field (the sf/f field), then why do virtually all of its regular interviews focus on writers? Doesn’t “the field” encompass more than just writers? What about illustrators, editors, and art directors as well? Aren’t their processes and opinions also an integral part of what advances our field? And if so, then why don’t we see more interviews with those folks in LOCUS? In the last decade, to the best of my recollection, the only illustrators interviewed for LOCUS are Shaun Tan, Bob Eggleton, and Kinuko Craft. If LOCUS runs two full-length interviews per issue, then that’s 240 interviews over a decade, and only three artists (or so) represented in the last ten years. Fair to say that those are three excellent choices, but three out of 240 possible interviews is a staggeringly low figure, to say the least.

5. In fairness, I’ve spoken to editor-in-chief Liza Trombi twice this year about this very subject, and without disclosing private details, I think it’s fair to say that LOCUS is in a tough position. Think about this question from their standpoint — they’re a business, and quite frankly, these tough financial times aren’t easy for ANY print magazine business. Change is especially risky right now. LOCUS only has so many pages and adding page count is expensive, if not prohibitively so. They’re used to being a writer-centric magazine and have been lauded for it time after time (see their 29 Hugo Awards). Under those circumstances, I think I can understand their position to “hold the line” and not change their formula. At the same time, they are a print magazine that (like all print magazines) is always looking to increase its subscription base, especially in these challenging times.

6. Thus my question — if LOCUS were to publish more full-length interviews with illustrators, editors, and art directors in addition to their already-outstanding writer interviews, would they diminish their base? Or possibly grow it?

7. Here’s another question — I wonder if perhaps LOCUS is completely justified to continue as they have (except perhaps change their masthead to “The Magazine of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writer”). Perhaps I’ve been slow to understand that I’m NOT the audience for this mag because I’m not a writer? Perhaps their magazine is purely a magazine about the sf/f writer and for the fans of those writers, and that’s the way it always has been and should be? Maybe LOCUS and I disagree that the art of sf/f is a significant part of “the field” and therefore of genuine interview interest to its readers? If so, then I’d have no problem wishing them continued success, and subscribing instead to another magazine like ImagineFX, where I would learn more about my sf/f art peers and their craft, in the same way that writers learn the same from LOCUS’ interviews.

Last thought — LOCUS doesn’t exist to make artists, editors, or art directors happy. They’re a business, and if indeed their audience doesn’t want interview coverage of those communities, I’m fine with that. But I’m curious to hear people say that’s true or not. For LOCUS’ sake, please keep comments productive here. If you’re getting ready to launch slings and arrows at them, don’t even think about it. I don’t have time for that. This post is not about that. For the time being though — I’m just curious if I’m alone in my observations. Remember — it’s their magazine. They’re the ones doing the heavy lifting. 🙂

Subterranean Press has announced that their limited edition of Dan Simmons’ epic novel THE TERROR is all done and ready to ship. I did the cover art for this one. It’s my third Simmons limited edition cover. The first two Simmons books that I cover-illustrated sold out their first editions (MUSE OF FIRE and DROOD). Here’s what awaits readers in THE TERROR (text courtesy of Sub Press’ website):

In the spring of 1845, Sir John Franklin leads a company of two ships and 130 men on a hazardous voyage to the remote, uncharted Arctic. His goal: to locate and map the legendary Northwest Passage. Two years later, the expedition, which began in a spirit of optimism and high purpose, faces disaster. Franklin is dead. The two ships — the Erebus and the Terror — are hopelessly trapped by gigantic, shifting ice floes. Supplies are dwindling, and the crews struggle daily against lethal, unimaginably frigid conditions. And something — some Thing — is stalking the survivors, spreading death, suffering, and chaos in its remorseless wake.

THE TERROR is both a rigorously researched historical novel and a compelling homage to one of the seminal SF/Horror films of the 1950s. It is popular fiction of the highest order, the kind of intense, wholly absorbing epic only Dan Simmons could have written.

Subterranean still has copies available, but I don’t know how much longer they will. If you’re interested, you might want to order very soon. 🙂