Book Cover Illustrations

This is the original background concept art for the final Tree Clan painting (mentioned previously in this blog). Actually, this is several concept art paintings overlaid. The back layer is the “starscape” of major stars and stellar dust, another the trees and bridges, one of the small figures, another of the distant monolithic structures, and […]

Two nice things about digital illustrations are that the artwork can be stored easily, and that it can also be reworked very easily. For someone who’s going through a decade-long “learning curve” (like — uh, ME!) this makes it possible to go back to concepts that were good, but not executed too well, and revise […]

Occasionally I see a writer agonize over which of two proposed book cover illustrations to place on his book. His fear is that one picture might be much better than the other for their title. And since there’s no way to know (short of trying both), it is a decision that’s hard to make. Or […]

“Rich Young Ruler” is another reworked “golden older” I did some years back. I know he doesn’t look young. But the intriguing thing about the story of the Rich Young Ruler (who rejected salvation to keep his riches) is that eventually, barring accident or other early demise, he grew old. Did he die old and […]

This is the concept art I did to create the background for my Tree Clan illustration. Actually, it’s two or three sketches combines… First, I got the sky figured out, then a separate layer forming the tree-like structures and bridges, another for the small figures standing on the structure (useful for giving it some “scale” […]

Concept art can take a variety of forms, but basically it’s a sketch an artist creates to give a customer (or 3D designer) an idea of what is needed in the final product, be it book cover, game character, or movie scene (or character). Concept art is of necessity quickly done. And that rapid turnaround […]

As can likely be seen by studying some of my previous posts, I’ve been working on creating “starscapes” of cultures that might (in a science fiction sort of way) exist far from Earth. This is my latest exercise (and another book cover illustration without a home) that I hope will eventually be employed for a […]

Another digital watercolor of a previous realistic book cover illustration I did. (The original is displayed and discussed here.) The change in feel between this and the realistic book illustration is not quite as profound as the watercolor sketch in my previous blog entry, but it still conveys a slightly different feel. =================== Duncan Long […]

It is often fun to play around with the media styles of artwork (well, I find it fun). In previous blogs I’ve displayed some of my digital “pen and pencil sketches.” Now a “watercolor.” It’s actually a version of the photo-realistic painting I did a few days ago (you can see it here). And I […]

For fun I often create book cover illustrations – without an actual story to illustrate. Oddly enough, these often eventually find a home or attract attention of a publisher or author needing a similar book cover illustration. Plus they’re fun to do. Here’s the latest, a science fiction book cover illustration, presently without a home. […]