Mary's Hope-002

I can remember as a kid pouring for what seemed hours (and possibly was for hours) over the cover illustration from a science fiction pulp magazine. I am uncertain now what magazine it was – it had a monstrous cat-like creature, and 1950s-style spaceship, and men in tight silver suits with a moonscape. And for a grade school kid, there was a whole world of adventure captured in that one cover illustration.

Not surprisingly then, one of my long-held dreams has been to see my own artwork on a science fiction magazine like that one I’d seen so long ago. And with the December 2009 issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, that dream has finally been realized. (And a big “thank you” to Vicki Green, Asimov’s at director, for making my dream finally come true.)

I’ve posted both the original artwork along with a smaller version of the cover to show how the final illustration and lettering turned out. AsimovDec09

Science fiction cover illustrations are strange things to market. Science fiction stories can take place at any time and anywhere. So what may seem an unlikely subject as science fiction can prove appropriate for a specific story. One illustration might be in deep space, the next might feature a Western scene. Just depends on where and when the author has set the story.

That said, this cover artwork was not created with an eye toward it becoming a science fiction cover. Yet it fit one of the upcoming stories, and thus was chosen for the cover illustration on the December 2009 issue.

And a dream came true for me.

You can see more of my book and magazine cover illustrations at DuncanLong.com

POSTSCRIPT:  It was recently brought to my attention that Nick Wolven, the author of the story I illustrated for Asimov’s, also had a childhood dream: To have one of his stories illustrated by a professional artist. Now I don’t know what the chances are of one illustration bringing about two people’s childhood dreams might be (perhaps not as high as one might think), but this is one such case.

You can read more about Nick Wolven at his site: NickWolven.com.