GRRM Calendar Update

Just a quick update here for the curious.

Earlier this month, Bantam notified me that my illustration work for a forthcoming George R. R. Martin calendar for A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE will be released as a 2012 calendar, not a 2011, as first announced.

The good news is I'm cranking away on the work and it's coming along. As GRRM fans know, HBO is producing a TV series based on the ASOIAF books. Basically, I was assigned a deadline and was rushing to get the calendar work done by that date. When the HBO series became official, Bantam decided they wanted a 2011 calendar even earlier than first assigned. They decided they now want the fans to have a calendar in time for San Diego Comic Con in July, which seems to make business sense, considering the new TV buzz, but I'm not sure that release date was their intention when they first hired me in late 2009.

So Bantam made a smart move and said "take your time and do a great calendar for 2012." Ted Naismith had painted a set of illustrations that were waiting for a forthcoming GRRM project. My understanding is that those have been waiting to be officially published for a while. So Bantam has made the 2011 calendar a Naismith calendar that allows those illos to see the light of day, which is a good thing for Ted, I would think.

So in summary -- Ted's illos will be the 2011 calendar. Mine will be unveiled for the 2012 calendar. Bantam wins. The fans win. It's good all around.

Now back to work on my 2012 calendar illos. :)

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THE DEVIL IN GREEN

Here's my final cover illustration for the forthcoming Pyr edition of Mark Chadbourn's THE DARK AGE: BOOK 1 / THE DEVIL IN GREEN. It's the first book of the trilogy that follows Chadbourn's AGE OF MISRULE. The nice thing about THE DARK AGE is that the trilogy can be read as a standalone and doesn't require reading AGE OF MISRULE in order to follow the story. However, reading MISRULE certainly enhances the experience. :) I'm glad I was able to improve the cover art from its initial catalog version. And below, you can see how the finished cover will look when it hits US shelves later this summer.

Dragon*Con 2010: Good News!

The folks at Dragon*Con have made the official 2010 Art Show announcement, so I can now share it here. Donato Giancola, Vincent Villafranca, and myself have been invited to be the Guest Jurors for the 2010 Dragon*Con Art Show.

Feel free to spread the word: Dragon*Con is now accepting applications and images for their Art Show and cordially invites all artists to participate. Dragon*Con is a massive event, and according to their website, it's "the largest science fiction, fantasy, and pop-culture convention of its type in the world, with an attendance of over 35,000 people." The buzz for this convention is extraordinary, and I've noticed the literary and art world flocking to this convention in the last couple of years. I suspect this year's attendance might end up being their biggest ever. The Art Show, headed by John and Anne Parise, is reputed as a "hugely diverse event with thousands of art buyers from around the world coming to the show every year to purchase many of the great works exhibited."

I'm honored to be a part of the process, and really looking forward to the experience! :)

Full entry details here.