Book Cover Illustrations

Space surfing… Riding the wake of energy released from a ship dropping out of hyperspace… Doubtful physics, but fun to think about what such a surf board might look and how it would need to have its own (here invisible) bubble of gravity and atmosphere. I went ahead and gave it the ability to conform […]

At least in the US, the “book return” policy of most large publishers is unlike anything in most other industries. The practice started in the Great Depression here in the US and made it possible for book sellers to sell books without fear of losing their money. It worked well in the 1930s, but has […]

My home town of Alden, Kansas, was a village with a total population under 300 (and that may have been counting a few dogs and cats). My high school had a grand total of 40 students in it. Two classes ahead of me was a kid named Norman Small, a farm kid who was quiet, […]

It’s funny how sometimes a picture can spring into an artist’s mind fully finished (for all practical purposes); no question about the layout, how the character will hold his arms, what colors to use. The vision appears full grown, like armored Athena springing from the head of Zeus. Sometimes such illustrations are triggered by a […]

Texture can be important in achieving realism in artwork. It can also be a bear to paint if it has a regular, repeating surface. Chainmail is a good example of this. The rings of iron were meticulously made, often with each being riveted into place. And the pattern in which the links of chain were […]

Sometimes a dream will inspire an illustration. But for me, more often than not, my artwork starts as a waking idea that is pursued, sometimes sparked by another painting, something seen, or the suggestion of a client. That said, the most powerful images often key into the emotions, taping into the subconscious where dreams happen. […]

Color illustrations on the inner pages of books can be expensive. Consequently, many inner illustrations for books are black and white (actually “gray scale” the two terms are interchangeable for most users today). Black and white pictures can be tricky because there are no longer colors to separate objects in the picture from the background […]

Several more characters created for for John Chadwell’s book Werewolves of New Idria (which is also becoming a screenplay that Chadwell is coauthoring with Ron Shusett, the writer/creator of the Alien franchise as well as Total Recall). ============ Duncan Long is a freelance magazine and book cover illustrator for HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon […]

Preliminary design for Richard Thieme’s upcoming Mind Games. In laying out this book, I employed a playful typeface I’d designed for Critica Grafica magazine and coupled that with a floating statue head as the cover illustration. ===================== Duncan Long is a freelance magazine and book cover illustrator for HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, […]

Mariah Aceves, another concept illustration for John Chadwell’s book Werewolves of New Idria (which is also becoming a screenplay that Chadwell is coauthoring with Ron Shusett, the writer/creator of the Alien franchise as well as Total Recall). ============ Duncan Long is a freelance magazine and book cover illustrator for HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon […]