Book Cover Illustrations

The “Ghost Train” illustration (shown above) will be featured in the upcoming “Nightmare on Maniac Station” presented by the Railway Museum (in the Netherlands). This will be part of the Museum Night 2011 in which seven museums in Utrecht will participate. According to the organizers, my illustration “captures the mood perfectly” for the Railway Museum’s plans.

The “Ghost Train” will be employed for promotional purposes in the museum’s press release and program leaflet.

Perhaps the irony here is that my artwork will thus first appear in a railway museum rather than an art museum.

One might hope that one day, an art museum.

In the meantime, this situation perhaps reflects the low esteem the art community has for those in the illustration business. Those overseeing art museums want only “serious artwork” to enter hallowed halls. (Of course some critics might argue that perhaps artwork comprised of an unmade bed, stacked cans, or chunks of animals in formaldehyde jars aren’t all that “serious” as artwork.)

Perhaps my chances would improve if only I were more into building statues from swine entrails — but that’s another story.

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Duncan Long has been black listed by many museums around the world, with one art dealer having placed a price on his head. Long has more success creating book cover illustrations, with his work appearing on covers from HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Fort Ross, and many other publishers and self-publishing authors. See his book cover illustrations at: http://DuncanLong.com/art.html
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