Book Cover Illustrations

To celebrate Halloween, I’ve offering a free copy of my illustrated version of Edgar Allan Poe’s “Eleonora” again this year.

The story is one of Poe’s lesser-known works, and it somewhat autobiographical in nature, though with the same dark mystery the author is best known for.

The illustration above is one of a number appearing in this version of the story. Below is a two-page spread from this free book along with several other original pictures appearing in this PDF.

The PDF comes in part thanks to the generosity of Amazing Stories Magazine (thank you Amazing Stories!).

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See more of Duncan Long’s book illustrations and magazine artwork at Duncan Long’s Portfolio.

Robots are always fascinating to view — and to paint. And they can be key to setting the stage for a science fiction novel or magazine story.

Over the last year, I’ve been perfecting my skills at creating these creatures and have had the pleasure of seeing some of my efforts appear in print.

One cool thing about robots is the wide variety of configurations they can have. Just about any “part” from legs to head is optional with these critters. And they can be “skinned” with a mirror finish (or rusting exterior), be part human cyborgs, be cute or terrifying — all depending on the story and the mood that’s needed.

Here are a few more examples of the work I’ve been doing over the last few months:

If you need a robot, cyborg, or android for your science fiction tale, I’m hoping you’ll let me create it for you. You can see more of my artwork at Duncan Long’s Book Illustration Gallery.

Gregory Eaves’ Curious Stories is now available from Amazon.com. It contains a diverse collection of mystery stories, ranging from the noir detective to supernatural suspense.

Yes, that’s my cover illustration. I did this artwork some time back, and was a bit surprised that there were no “takers” for it as I felt it would be the perfect cover for a crime novel.

The picture started as just the feet and legs — which while nice for a hyper-realistic painting didn’t work as a cover. So the hand was painted in followed by the blood stains, increasing the implied violence.

I am glad the illustration finally has a “home” (thank you Gregory!).

If you enjoy mysteries, be sure to check out Curious Stories at Amazon.com.

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See more book cover artwork and illustrations at Duncan Long’s Book Covers Gallery.

I’m happy to announce that I’ve now officially painted Roger Rabbit — well, sort of. Actually just the ears.

I created the illustration above for an excerpt from the 3rd book in the series written by the original Roger Rabbit creator, Gary K. Wolf. The excerpt appears in Amazing Stories Magazine and you can go directly to it here: “Who Whacked Roger Rabbit?”

Creating the picture was a little tricky since the likenesses of the three main characters are trademarks. Rather than try to cut through loads of red tape the editor and I decided to create new characters. And since I’m no cartoonist, the rabbit was in the hole where he first appears in the story.

Yes, I also did a separate picture of Jessica Rabbit — but she wasn’t used in this final version that appears at Amazing Stories Magazine.

Here are a couple of other illustrations that weren’t used:

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When not painting cartoon rabbit ears, Duncan Long works as a writer/illustrator. You can see more of his artwork at Duncan Long’s Online Gallery.

As a science fiction fan from way back, I’ve always loved robots. And I’ve been drawing them from about the time I could hold a pencil.

The nice thing about robots (from an artistic standpoint) is that they can have an almost infinite variety from one to the next (think R2D2 to a CP3O). They can look like human androids. Or totally mechanical “things.” Or part-human cyborgs.

And robots can be drawn to appear friendly — or nightmarishly menacing.

Lately I’ve been playing around with painting several designs for various stories (as well as for the sheer fun of creating these guys).

So if you have a science fiction book cover or short story that needs a robot illustration, please consider my services.

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You can see more of my book illustrations and other artwork at Duncan Long’s Online Gallery.

A. Martin’s novel Ouija is now in print.

I went round and round with the cat’s fur. I eventually painted and layered so it looked right. The problem is that white hair needs to be defined by shadows. So what seems like a simple task becomes a major job in juggling levels of gray and black with minimal white.

Obviously the front leg is enlarged to make it appear the cat is emerging from the capital “O.” Not so obvious is the shadowing over the title to add to that illusion. I think this is the first cover I’ve ever done where shadowing was added over the lettering.

From Canada’s #1 Master of Suspense. If you were plagued with troubling questions…would you try contacting the dead through a Ouija board? Even if that meant giving up your soul…and your sanity?

TREVOR BREWER is still haunted by Carrie’s tragic death two years ago in a kayak-accident. But when the new woman in his life — Heather, Carrie’s best friend — urges him to finally put the past behind him, Trevor starts sifting through a secret stash of Carrie’s belongings — hoping he’ll find the closure he needs once and for all.

What really happened on the Birch River the day Carrie died? And why does Heather have an outdated bottle of ZenFren — a powerful new sleep-aid — in her purse? Trevor soon realizes he must find the answers he’s desperately searching for before a rein of terror from a Ouija board he accidentally unleashes consumes the small quiet Californian town of Sunnyville — and before, it can ultimately consume him in uncountable horror.

Can Trevor save the town — and his soul, before the dark forces of a Ouija ultimately takes over Sunnyville — and him? Or will he find himself — and the town, in the clutches of awaiting evil he could have never possibly imagined ever existed?

Ouija is available at Amazon in Kindle as well as hard cover and paperback.

Jimm Grogan’s science fiction novel Negative Zero is now in print and available at Amazon.com. The print and iBook versions of it should be out next week.

Creating the illustration for Grogan’s book was a lot of fun because one of the characters is a lot like an Earth octopus — with hair and the ability to talk and operate equipment. Plus he is linked via holographic communicator. How much fun is that?

Here’s my concept artwork for the character:

Our original concept had a more distant view of the bridge of the spaceship. “Zooming in” brought more detail and more connection with the characters. (I have come to believe that you can almost never get “too close” to a character with a book cover illustration.) We also got rid of the base of the holograph projector since it looked like another chair with problems of some sort.

The final version is above… Here’s the earlier version of the cover:

If you enjoy a great science fiction adventure, check out Negative Zero.

I just got word today that P.J.O’Dwyer is launching her new young adult novel Claimed today in Kindle format.

To celebrate, she’s giving aways some FREE prizes to go with the book’s launch. So you might want to head over to check them out at RaffleCopter.

The Kindle version of the book is available at Amazon here: Claimed.

The author has also created some interesting advertising and promotional pieces using the cover artwork I created. Here’s one of them:

The author has also created a line of beautiful jewelry (which she makes) to go with the story, and interesting tie-in that should bring joy to many readers.

And be sure to check out P. J. O’Dwyer’s web site for more about her and her books.

John Chadwell recently interviewed me for an article in Amazing Stories Magazine. You can read it here: The Long Road to Digital Illustration: Profile of Duncan Long

Chadwell is a long-time writer who was a co-writer on several scripts with Ron Shusett (one of the writers of Alien and the original Total Recall). Chadwell also has several science fiction and action/adventure books of his own; you can learn more about his novels at Amazon.com.

Recently Amazing Stories Magazine celebrated its 88th anniversary with its first official new issue of the publication that has been revived (mostly through the efforts of editor Steve Davidson). As acting art director for Amazing Stories Magazine, I have on occasion sneaked some of my own artwork into the publication. So I thought I’d collect my work that went into the 88th issue with the hope that it might be of interest to science fiction fans. The picture above was an early version of the illustration I created for the short story “Finity” by Felicity Savage (which is now also available for the Kindle at Amazon.com).

Here’s the final version of the picture that appears with “Finity,” with the character’s face changed to fit the details in the story — which include a “mishap” at a futuristic tattoo parlor and a trip to the polar icecap of Mars.

I created this digital painting for “Tool Dresser’s Law” by Jack Clemon. This story deals with a mining ship that makes a strange trip to an asteroid where gravity has run amuck.

This illustration for my short story “Lightning War” (with the same picture on my book collection of short stories by the same title):

This was created for “I, Rocket,” an early story by Ray Bradbury that has now been reprinted in Amazing Stories:

This is the illustration I created for “Virtually Yours” by Nina Munteanu, a story where everything is not what it seems:

This one was for “The Geno Virus” by R. K. Troughton:

Finally, I painted this moon buggy and astronaut for “Customer Service” by John Purcel. This tale considers what life might be like for an insurance claims agent on the Moon.

All these pictures (plus others by other artists) appear with a rich variety of short stories that can currently be read for free at Amazing Stories Issue #610. Present plans are for an ebook version of Issue 610, with the possibility of a print version down the road.

It’s thrilling to be a part of Amazing Stories Magazine which traces its history back to the very beginning of the modern science fiction movement, with most of the great writers getting their start there. This magazine has lived up to its name and continues to offer readers a variety of science fiction and fantasy stories.