Book Cover Illustrations

For a very limited time, author R.S. Guthrie is giving away free ebook copies novel Black Beast as a way of promoting his title. (And, yes, I painted the cover illustration for the book — shown above.) You can receive a copy by sending him an email request for Black Beast. Here’s his email: rsguthrie@gmail.com. […]

I recently landed a contract to do the book cover illustrations for a YA trilogy from Enslow Publishers, Inc. Written by Paul B. Thompson, the series is “The Brightstone Saga,” with the first book titled The Brightworking. The final cover is shown above. But it took three stabs before we arrived at it. The basic […]

Over the last week one of my book cover projects has been creating the cover for Joan of Arc: The Mystic Legacy by Marcia Quinn Noren. This carefully documented non-fiction book takes a new look at some of the history and experiences behind Joan of Arc. As such, it was important to take pains in […]

Working with an illustrator or artist for your book cover is a big deal! From my own experience, a book’s cover is a buy or not-buy scenario. Book covers attract buyers or give off a ho-hum vibe. The book cover is the first thing a reader sees — and can be the last if it […]

Here’s the book cover for Carol Jackson’s Angel Unawares, A Novel. Carol works in a TV studio, and part of her story takes place in a studio, giving the reader some behind-the-scenes insights into the workings and politics of a station. The story is based in 1983, so with Carol’s guidance and excellent suggestions, I […]

The illustration above is for one of the projects we’ve been working this week. As you can see, this is the book cover artwork (with lettering) created for Lawrence P. White’s Spirit of Empire. series, this one titled Knights of the Chosen.. Here’s one of the early sketches which established the sky/ground pattern that would […]

Questions: How on earth do you get the intricacy of detail in your artwork? I understand how you could manage it with a fine brush or in pen-and-ink but how do you manipulate lines and curves? How do you get the gradations of color? I’m astonished, impressed, and intrigued simultaneously. Answers: All my illustrations are […]

Generally book covers result from a sketch or two, one of which strikes the publisher’s fancy, and from there the illustrator starts polishing the idea, working his magic to create the final book cover artwork. But there are projects where an seemingly endless number of ideas get tossed around before finally reaching the finish line. […]

I received word that Linda Franklin’s Rainbow In the Flames is now available at the author’s web site. Rainbow in the Flames is not only the touching survival story of young Jed Franklin’s courageous uphill battle, physically and emotionally, from a severe burn injury, but it also includes the struggle of his parents to relate […]

Here’s the book cover illustration I recently finished for The Adventures of Dod by Thomas R. Williams. One of the key features we aimed for from the start was to have a sword glistening in the moonlight. Toward that end the positioning of the castle, figure, sword, and moon became very critical, especially if the […]