Michael Moorcock will be hopping around the globe in celebration of the debut The Metatemporal Detective. First up, he’s doing a signing at Shakespeare & Company, in Paris, France, on November 5th. Then he’ll be at BookPeople in Austin, Texas, at 3pm Saturday on December 8th, where he joins cover illustrator John Picacio.
The Metatemporal Detective: Signings and Launch Parties Read More »
This is a first. And probably a last. John Picacio has posted his preliminary sketch for our upcoming reissue of Robert Silverberg’s Son of Man (due out Spring, 08). Son of Man is one of my all time favorite science fiction works. In a field that ostensibly celebrates mind-expansion, alienation, estrangement, change, the impermanence of any social institution, the wonder and terror of the universe, the fundamental truth that today is not like yesterday and tomorrow will not be like today, Son of Man shines (even and especially today) as the vanguard of that perspective. John and I have been talking a lot about how to convey this in art, as well as how to convey certain other aspects of the book. In a totally unprecedented move, he’s put the work in progress up on his blog, so please – go, see, comment!
John Picacio: Son of Man Sketch Read More »
The Association of Science Fiction & Fantasy Artists has just released their list of the 22nd Annual Chesley Awards Nominees. ASFA members can download the Final Ballot here, and vote by August 10th.
Obviously, I’m thrilled that Stephan Martiniere’s wonderful illustration for the Pyr edition of Ian McDonald’s River of Gods
Meanwhile, my dear friend and illustrator for all five of my own anthologies, John Picacio, is also up twice, for the amazing work he did on the cover of the Eos reissue of A Canticle for Leibowitz
But beyond all that, I’m deeply honored to have shown up on the shortlist myself for Best Art Director. I don’t know if this is the first time someone from editorial has made the shortlist, but it’s got to be a rare occurrence if not a unique one. So I want to say upfront that while I’m very pleased and proud, what this nomination means is that people think our books look really damn good, and that is a credit to a great many people. Beyond the fabulous illustrators we’ve had the privilege to work with — Picacio, Martiniere, Caniglia, Brian W. Dow, Greg Bridges, Bob Eggleton, Jim Burns, Dave Seeley, among others — my parent company Prometheus Books has a fabulous art department, and one that is very patient to put up with me breathing over their shoulders to the degree that I do. Jaqueline Cooke, Grace M. Conti-Zilsberger, and Nicole Sommer-Lecht are all tremendous, very talented, and I am very grateful to them to work so hard and so well in the service of the Pyr line. What’s more, I owe an eternal debt of gratitude to Irene Gallo and John Picacio, who have both been very free with their time and their advice and are much wiser souls than I.
Now, here’s the full list:
Best Cover Illustration — Hardback Book
* Stephan Martiniere, “River of Gods”, by Ian McDonald, Pyr, Mar 2006
* Jon Foster, “The Demon and the City”, by Liz Williams, Night Shade Books, Aug 2006
* Donato Giancola, “The Thirteenth House”, by Sharon Shinn, Ace, Mar 2006
* Todd Lockwood, “Temeraire: In the Service of the King”, by Naomi Novik, SFBC, 2006
* James A. Owen, “Here, There Be Dragons (Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica)” by James A. Owen, Simon & Schuster, Sept 2006
Best Cover Illustration — Paperback Book
* John Picacio, “A Canticle for Leibowitz”, by Walter M. Miller, Eos, May 2006
* Daniel Dos Santos, “Moon Called”, by Patricia Briggs, Ace, Feb 2006
* Vince Natale, “Queen of Attolia”, by Megan Whalen Turner, Eos, Jan 2006
Best Cover Illustration — Magazine
* Steven Gilberts, “Dark Wisdom: the Magazine of Dark Fiction”, Winter 2006
* Renee LeCompte, “Fantasy Magazine”, Summer 2006
* John Picacio, “Interzone” #204, May/June 2006
* r.k.post, “Dragon” #336, January 2006
Best Interior Illustration
* Tony Di Terlizzi, “Care and Feeding of Sprites”, by Holly Black & Tony Di Terlizzi
* Omar Rayyan, “Cricket Magazine”
* Yvonne Gilbert, “The Ice Dragon”, by George R.R. Martin, Starscape, Oct 2006
* Justin Sweet, “Kull: Exile of Atlantis” by Robert E. Howard, Del Rey, Oct 2006
* Ruth Thompson & Lawrence Allen Williams, “The Book Angels” by Todd Jordan, Sterling 2006
* Michael Kaluta, “The Orphan’s Tales: In the Night Garden” by Catherynne M. Valente, Spectra, Oct 2006
* James A. Owen, “Here, There Be Dragons (Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica)”, by James A. Owen, Simon & Schuster, Sept 2006
Best Color Work — Unpublished
* Jim Burns, “Dryad of the Oak”, acrylic
* Donato Giancola, “Tristan and Isolde”, oil
* Stephen Hickman, “Galadriel’s Harp”
* Michael Whelan, “Retrospection”, acrylic
* Benita Winckler, “Changing”, digital
Best Monochrome — Unpublished
* Donato Giancola, “Red Sonya”, pencil & chalk
* Stephanie Pui-Man Law, “Plum Blossoms”, ink
* Alex McVey, “Love Bites”, pencil
* Tom Fleming, “Spring”, pencil
* Joe Bellafatto, “The Great Temptation: Angel of Death”
Best Three Dimensional Art
* Laura Reynolds, “Ice Dragon”, mixed
* Gabriel Marquez, “Cthulhu V2”, porcelain
* Scott Webb, “Head over Heels”, polymert clay
* Forest Rogers, “Sea Maid’s Music”, clay and misc.
* Luke Eldridge, “Gargoyle Descending”, wire
Best Gaming Related Illustration
* Carl Critchlow “An Ill Wind Blows”
* Ralph Horsley “Thri-Keen”
* Todd Lockwood, “Dragons of Fearum”
* Richard Sardinha,”Coils of Set”
* Eva Widerman, “Seed of Undead”
* Paul & Michael Bielaczyc, “Knightly Order of Ansalom”
Best Product Illustration
* Douglas Fitch, production design for LA Opera’s,”Hansel and Gretel”
* Nathan Crowley, architectural design for the movie, “The Lake House”
* Eugenio Caballero and William Stout, production designer and conceptual designer for the movie “Pan’s Labyrinth”
Award for Artistic Achievement
* Stephan Martiniere
* John Jude Palencar
* Kinuko Y. Craft
* John Howe
* Alan Lee
Best Art Director
* Irene Gallo, Tor Books
* Matt Adelsperger, Wizards of the Coast
* Lou Anders, Pyr
* David Stevenson, Del Rey
* Jeremy Jarvis, Wizards of the Coast
* Judith Murello, Berkley Publishing Group
* Nicolas Sica, Bookspan (SFBC)
* Justin Stewart, Apex Magazine
22nd Annual Chesley Awards Final Ballot Read More »
First, a huge congratulations to our frequent cover artist John Picacio, who in one weekend garners an International Horror Guild nomination in the Art category for his Cover Story: The Art of John Picacio,
Second, over on Kay Kenyon’s livejournal, our author tells the story of one baker who was overly concerned about copyright infringement when it comes to cake baking. The baker’s concern was laudable, though as Kay points out the cake in question didn’t survive long enough to pose any serious threat to Stephan Martiniere’s original illustration. And I’m sure that Stephan would be happy to know that his excellent artwork for Bright of the Sky
was so directly and intimately appreciated by this audience. Books You Can Sink Your Teeth Into Read More »
John Picacio, the amazing cover illustrator on Fast Forward 1: Future Fiction from the Cutting Edge,
“Lou and I talked a lot about this one. More than anything, we talked about the editorial direction of the book and what territory he was trying to explore. I read his introduction early in the process. Incredibly inspiring. He and I talked a lot about Richard Powers and his effect on Ballantine’s covers in the ’50s. On Lou’s blog, he mentioned something about the cover ‘approximating some of Powers’ energy for our time.’ I don’t want anyone to think that I equate myself with Powers, so I might clarify that by saying that the thing I love about Powers’ covers is that they challenge their audience. They refuse to be beauty pageant pieces that desparately preen to be liked for their surface polish. I think that’s one of the most powerful lessons in his art….they spoke to the audience of their time, and they did it on their own terms. So I guess if anything, I was attempting (and attempting is the keyword) to do the same with this cover. Lofty as that may sound. Of course, in the end, I look at the FF1 cover and as much as it’s one of my recent favorites, I see my own glaring shortcomings more than anything. I’ve got a long way to go….”
For my two cents, John may be going a long way still – in terms of his evolution and career – but he’s already pretty far ahead of the pack with this and many other pieces!
John Picacio Speaks Read More »