25 years ago this month, Michael Moorcock’s Behold The Man: The 30th Anniversary Edition was published by Mojo Press, featuring my cover artwork. At the time, I was self-publishing my own comics stories in a book called Words & Pictures. My dream was to work in comics, not to become a professional illustrator in the realms of science fiction and fantasy. But when I was offered the gig, I fell in love with the process of making the cover art and designing the book, and 25 years later, I’m still in love with that process.
That cover looks nothing like my work these days. Thankfully, those Behold The Man books are hard-to-find. Since then, I’ve illustrated works by authors such as George R. R. Martin, Neil Gaiman, Leigh Bardugo, Frederik Pohl, Rebecca Roanhorse, Harlan Ellison, Mark Chadbourn, Joe R. Lansdale, Jeffrey Ford, Lauren Beukes, James Tiptree Jr., Lauren Beukes, Marjorie Liu, Sheri S. Tepper, and more. I’ve illustrated a best-selling calendar for GRRM’s A Song of Ice and Fire literary franchise. I’ve done major cover art for Star Trek and X-Men book releases — and if you would’ve told 12-year-old me that would happen someday — I would’ve signed on for that life in a heartbeat.
I’ve also founded my own publishing imprint called Lone Boy, which is the home for my Loteria Grande Card series, an ongoing series that features some of my favorite works of recent years. I’ve lost track of how many hundreds of covers and artworks I’ve done over the years. I’m grateful when I see my covers for books like Frederik Pohl’s Gateway, Walter M. Miller Jr.’s A Canticle for Leibowitz, or Michael Moorcock’s Elric continue to connect with audiences as the years stack up. You never know which ones will endure.
This year will be a pivotal one for me, as I’m creating work for a couple of new projects that I hope will resonate for a long time. And yes, there will be more Loteria Grande Cards before year’s end. 🙂
This is the best job in the world, and I’m appreciative of all the friends and fans worldwide who have been a part of this ride so far. Much, much more to come. And oh yeah — stay tuned for a fun announcement I’ll share at the end of this week. (Hint: Save some wall space for me. ;))
