Book Cover Illustrations

We live, the old Chinese curse supposedly goes, in “interesting times.” As is often the case in turbulent times, Christians tend to watch the skies wondering if perhaps, just perhaps, the End Times outlined in Revelation might be almost upon us. Some of my illustrations over the last decade involve scenes from the Bible, and […]

Back in the Dark Ages when I got into the publishing business as a writer/illustrator (here’s a list of the books I put into print), a writer with any talent could send in a manuscript plunked out on a manual typewriter, full of corrections, mistakes, and perhaps bread crumbs, and stand a good chance of […]

Most illustrators creating genre book covers know Frank Frazetta and his beautiful artwork. More than a few book cover artists have been influenced to at least some extent by his work. Born in Brooklyn in 1928, Frazetta started his art career at the ripe old age of 16, illustrating comic books, eventually working for a […]

I recently had a student artist ask about the basic information needed to create a book cover illustration. The answer isn’t quite as simple as it might appear to be on the surface. There’s a lot that can go wrong in the process of creating a cover. The basics I need to know: cover size, […]

Over my years working in the publishing industry (wearing writer, editor, or artist hat depending on the job), I’ve discovered that problems which seem insurmountable can often be corrected with what I jokingly refer to as the no-problem-is-too-big-to-run-away-from fix. I just toss out the problem. For example, have you ever started a sentence that sort […]

Over the last 24 hours I’ve been contacted several times by illustrators just starting in the illustration business asking me for tips for beginners. So here’s another blog with a few tips for intrepid book cover illustrators, with the caveat that my guidance is akin to the blind leading the blind: 1) Keep on keeping […]

I’ve been in the publishing industry for several decades now, and have seen some amazing changes. When I started, anyone with reasonable talent could get into print with a big publisher. Not so anymore. Another change is the lack of promotion new books now get today. Most publishers — big and small — budget little […]

Many illustrators start with pencil sketches that are scanned and then used in a digital environment to be fleshed out for the final book illustration. Back in days of yore, I loved working with pencils. Today I find it much faster to start with the digital tablet (Wacom) rather than pad and pencil, entering the […]

This illustration is a “closeup” of some of the detail in “Midday Dream” (posted a few days ago). Displaying book illustrations on the web is a little frustrating. First of all, the finer details of pictures are lost due to the lower resolution of a screen as compared to print (about a third to a […]

Another illustration that does not yet have a home… Needless to say, all book cover, magazine, CD, poster, and other rights are available for this illustration (on a first-come, first-served basis). Art critics and teachers often claim that good artwork should avoid being symmetrical and that off-balanced pictures are more interesting to the eye. I […]