Book Cover Illustrations

The picture above was created for the cover of Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel’s book, The Spiritual Journey of Psalm 23. This is the second cover I’ve done for Samuel. Recently he found one of my illustrations at my web site that he liked, and we built on that concept using his choice of colors and […]

The first half of 2010 has been busy, with many self-publishing authors and small presses realizing that in order to compete with big presses, a quality cover illustration can be key in attracting buyers. On the “established press” side of things, I’ve also been busy, currently finishing up a collection of illustrations for a graphic […]

History suggests that books as we have seen them over the last few hundreds of years might soon become an endangered species, as least as far as the popular best-sellers of the last century are concerned. This is no surprise to those who consider the history of various entertainment media. Just this week, according to […]

Rough sketches can be useful for discovering what works best for the layout of a book or magazine illustration. They can be whipped off in minutes, and quickly show whether or not a layout is likely to look good. Generally artists try to avoid showing uninitiated clients these drawings as they can easily be mistaken […]

Another of the B&W book illustrations created for Victor Thorn’s upcoming book, Reality Bomb. Although this artwork started its “life” as a colored illustration, the translation into black and white worked well, making a powerful picture for Thorn’s book. This B&W book artwork is titled Second Death – Last Rites. ===================== Duncan Long is a […]

I just completed the book cover illustration for Dora Machado’s Stonewiser III, available from Mermaid Press later this year (or possibly early 2011). Machado’s first two book (which I also had the pleasure of creating book cover illustrations for) have garnered a number of awards, and everyone’s hopeful for this third book in the trilogy. […]

From time to time folks ask for advice about getting into the illustration business. I might not be the best person to ask since I sort of came in through the back door, starting as a writer/illustrator who could “package” his own technical books so the publisher didn’t need to hire a photographer or illustrator […]

Another of the B&W book illustrations I created for Victor Thorn’s upcoming book, Reality Bomb. The illustration is titled Forsake All Hope Ye Who Enter Here — with the phrase appearing in tiny print on one of the windows as well. ===================== Duncan Long is a freelance book illustrator who has done work for HarperCollins, […]

Second opinions can be good. They can also be disastrous. When it comes to second opinions, sometimes an illustrator’s clients can be the client’s own worse enemies. That’s the reason I always shudder when I hear a client start a statement with, “I asked my [son, secretary, neighbor] what they thought about the book illustration […]

I had the pleasure of hearing from Victor Thorn (talk show host, reporter, and writer). He wanted to use 32 of my pictures in his upcoming book, Reality Bomb. I was happy to see so many of my illustrations getting exposure in his upcoming book (and a little cash in the exchange didn’t hurt anything, […]