2012 ASOIAF Calendar / Melisandre Preview

Melisandre fans -- today's your lucky day. Here's a cropped, closeup detail from my 2012 A Song of Ice and Fire calendar art featuring the priestess of R'hllor.

And for those who missed the previous ones, here's a detail from the Arya Stark art. Here's a cropped detail of Bran Stark. And The Hound. And of course, the cover features Ned Stark. Only three more weeks 'til the calendar releases! It'll be available the week of San Diego Comic Con.

George R. R. Martin and I will be signing calendars at SDCC. I've heard rumor that we might both be signing Friday in the autograph area, but I haven't heard confirmation yet. I'll have calendars for sale at my own booth (#4600) that I'll be sharing with Star Wars artist Dave Seeley. If you can't make it to SDCC, no problem -- Amazon is already taking preorders.

Alright, Melisandre fans -- what do you think?

Artists: Don't Miss This Year's Worldcon

(Art by Worldcon Artist GoH Boris Vallejo.)

I'm stoked about this year's World Science Fiction Convention in Reno. Kudos to Colin Harris, Anne Gray, Laurie Mann, Jannie Shea, Laura Domitz, Joni Dashoff, Patti Wells and company for working overtime to make this the best Worldcon for sf/f artists in years.

If you're an established pro, an aspiring pro, or anywhere in between, this is the year to do Worldcon. Don't wait 'til next year. Don't wait 'til the year after. This one. Why? Because Worldcon is offering new opportunities for registered, participating Worldcon artists and there's zero guarantee these features will be carried on in future years.

Check 'em out:

1. FREE Artist Tables in the Dealers' Room: Worldcon has reserved two free tables in the Dealer's Room for artists to interact with fans and the con at-large. Artists can chat, sign and sell artwork (other than what has been placed in the Art Show), sculpt, sketch, or whatever. This space will be in the section of the Dealers' Room closest to the Art Show, which will be set up as an Artist Alley. Boris Vallejo, Julie Bell and others will have tables there; details here. ONLY Art Show participants are being offered this opportunity to reserve an Artist Alley table for two hours at a time to promote their work - at no cost to the artists (although Nevada sales tax rules apply). Email art@renovationsf.org to schedule a time slot or two at these special tables in Artist Alley.

2. 'Meet the Artist' Events: There will be two Meet The Artist events in the Art Show during the convention. The first is part of Art Night and runs from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM on Thursday. Some artists will be scheduled to do demos and panels at 8:00 PM. The second event will be Saturday morning at 11:00 AM. Should be a lot of fun as it gives Art Show artists and art lovers a chance to visit and hang out.

3. Artist Showcase Booklet: For the first time, Worldcon will print a full-color collectible booklet for sale at the convention, featuring artist info and galleries. Only registered Art Show artists will be featured. Brilliant move by this year's Worldcon art committee folks. I'm really looking forward to seeing this.

4. Illustration Masterclass taught by Richard Hescox: Learn from a Chesley Award-winning painting master. This opportunity is worth the price of admission by itself for aspiring artists. Spread the word about this one. I think this is a very cool opportunity on the part of Richard and Worldcon. Space is limited. Don't miss out!

5. Art Portfolio Reviews: Another invaluable opportunity for all job-seeking artists. Portfolio reviews by Guest of Honor Boris Vallejo and a range of industry Art Directors including Jon Schindehette, Lou Anders and David Palumbo. Again, space is limited. Tell your friends, but if I were you, I'd apply as soon as possible.

6. The Chesley Awards: Of course, the Chesleys are not new to the Worldcon effort. They're a tradition, especially when Worldcon is stateside. And they'll be the highlight of Worldcon's Art Night festivities on Thursday evening. The Chesleys are the awards administered by the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists and ASFA will again host the Chesleys this year.

I love what Worldcon is doing this year. Amongst the art stars attending: Boris Vallejo, Julie Bell, Dave Palumbo, Bob Eggleton, Richard Hescox, Lee Moyer, Vincent Villafranca, Martina Pilcerova, Alan Beck, Anthony Palumbo, Winona Nelson, Irene Gallo, Lou Anders, and Jon Schindehette. And many more besides them. Not too late to join the fun. This is gonna be an amazing show. :)

Original ELRIC Artwork / For Sale

(pictured: ELRIC AND STORMBRINGER: REVENGE / full-page interior illustration for Michael Moorcock's ELRIC: SWORDS AND ROSES. Pencil, acrylic and wash on illustration board. 11"x17". $1000.)

My pal Sean Lackey has been kind enough to help me post some of my original Elric artwork available for sale. These are my original interior drawings for Michael Moorcock's ELRIC: THE STEALER OF SOULS and ELRIC: SWORDS AND ROSES. Thanks to all at Moorcock's Miscellany and elsewhere who have already inquired about, and acquired, pieces. Feel free to comment here if you're interested or send me an email directly. Thanks very much!

2012 ASOIAF Calendar / Arya Stark Preview

Arya fans -- you've been clamoring for this. Here you go. You're looking at a closeup detail from my 2012 A Song of Ice and Fire calendar art featuring Arya Stark.

And for those who missed the previous sneak peeks, here's a cropped detail of Bran Stark. And The Hound. And of course, the cover features Ned Stark. The calendar will be available the week of San Diego Comic Con. George R. R. Martin and I will be signing calendars at SDCC and I'll have some for sale at my own booth (#4600) that I'll be sharing with Star Wars artist Dave Seeley. If you can't make it to SDCC, no problem -- Amazon is already taking preorders for it.

Alright, Arya Stark fans -- let me know what you think. :)

DANGEROUS VISIONS / For Sale

Was cleaning up the studio and sorting through some Elric artworks for future sale, and found this.

My artwork for Harlan Ellison's 35th Anniversary of DANGEROUS VISIONS first appeared way back in 2002. Seems like a lifetime ago. Back then, I was still experimenting with photography and collage combinations for my final illustration results. These days, I don't use photography in my finals but instead rely on drawings and paintings for all of my work.

The piece was selected for inclusion in SPECTRUM: THE BEST IN CONTEMPORARY FANTASTIC ART #10, and in fact was included in the first Spectrum Exhibition. The framed print you're looking at it here was a one-of-a-kind that was exhibited in that show.

It's an archival print, professionally framed with UV-resistant museum glass. Signed and dated on the back, with the SPECTRUM Exhibition tag still attached.

I don't really have a use for this piece as it doesn't even feel like what I do anymore. Willing to part with it for a mere $325 to the first taker, shipping included if you live in the continental United States. Either email me or comment here. Have at it. :)

MASTERS OF SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY ART

Attention sf/f art lovers: there's a new feast of fabulous art for you in stores now. It's called MASTERS OF SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY ART by Hugo-nominated sf/f art critic, journalist and author Karen Haber. It's loaded cover to cover with amazing artists, genius art tips, techniques, insights, and of course, brilliant artwork. Here's the list of artists featured inside:

Combined Traditional & Digital Tools (Hybrids)

Jim Burns
Shaun Tan
Dave Seeley
Avi Katz
John Picacio
Pavel Mikhailenko
Ken Wong
Brom
Greg Spalenka
Bruce Jensen
Scott M. Fischer
Todd Lockwood

Digital Tools and Techniques

Stephan Martiniere
Tomasz Maronski
Camille Kuo
Galan Pang
Marta Dahlig

Traditional Tools and Techniques

James Gurney
Kinuko Y. Craft
Charles Vess
Donato Giancola
Rebecca Guay
Dan Dos Santos
Petar Meseldzija
Terese Nielsen
Bob Eggleton
Don Maitz
Gregory Manchess

There's a lot to love, but one of my favorite things is that this book's perhaps the first sf/f art volume to cohesively document the dynamic combinations of traditional and digital methods. It doesn't treat them as an 'either/or' proposition. Some of the most fertile ground in today's art is found in those combinations and experiments.

This is a book to savor slowly page by page. Very honored to be one of the twenty-eight featured, and especially honored that my artwork was chosen for the cover. :)

2012 ASOIAF Calendar / The Hound Preview

Behold Sandor Clegane -- the Hound! You're looking at a closeup detail from my 2012 A Song of Ice and Fire calendar art featuring him with Sansa Stark (not pictured here). This sneak peek's for the legions of rabid Sandor Clegane fans. The Hound beat out Arya and Melisandre in this past weekend's fan poll, but fans of the latter shouldn't fret. I think there's an excellent chance you may see sneak peeks of both before the end of June. Keep your eyes peeled to my Twitter feed for when that might happen.

And for those who missed last week's preview of Bran Stark, here it is. And of course, the cover features Ned Stark. The calendar will be available the week of San Diego Comic Con. George R. R. Martin and I will be signing calendars at the Bantam booth at SDCC and I'll have some for sale at my own booth (#4600) that I'll be sharing with Star Wars artist Dave Seeley. If you can't make it to SDCC, no problem -- Amazon is already taking preorders for it.

Can anyone guess what month Sansa and the Hound will be in the calendar?

Can anyone guess why the green and orange light on his face?

Lemme know what you think of Sandor here!

BayCon, Leprecon, Capricon....oh my!

Wanted to give a belated shoutout to a few cons, and hard-working con teams. I've been the Artist GoH at all three of these this year. While I've been able to thank each of them privately, I haven't had a chance to thank them publicly (thanks to tiny pesky things like Juggling Multiple Major Deadlines, Putting Out Fires, and Working 18-Hour Days). ;) LOL

CAPRICON 2011

Back in February, I was Artist GoH at Capricon, which was chaired by Erik Olson. John Scalzi was Author Guest of Honor and packed the rooms wherever he went. Janice Gelb and Stephen Boucher are two of the coolest fans you will ever meet. Helen Montgomery ran a phenomenal slate of programming for all of us. Panels were well-attended and well-executed. Tammy Coxen ran the Green Room like a four-star gourmet kitchen (not kidding). I regret not spending more time there. Steven Silver and Samantha King took care of me as Guest Liaisons. Dave McCarty was terrific and turned me on to the greatness of Chicago-style Italian roast beef sandwiches. He'll also be chairing the 2012 Worldcon. I have very high hopes for that show because of Big Dave's enthusiasm and fresh ideas, and because of Helen. I signed up for that Worldcon onsite, almost purely because I believe in them.

And last but not least, I am a Kerry Kuhn fan. She ran the Art Show at Capricon, and took care of her artists as well as any Art Show director I've ever seen. When Kerry runs an Art Show, the show scratches the Artists' checks onsite, and the artists are handed their check as they walk out the door. Brilliant. Kerry is amongst the few that manages this detail perfectly. Capricon's Art Show was a big success. She ensured that traffic kept pouring through the doors and that big money was spent. Big applause for her, and for all of the Capricon team.

LEPRECON 2011

I was Artist GoH at Leprecon one month ago, and it was located at one of my favorite con hotels ever, the Tempe Mission Palms. It's very hard to have a bad con when you have a great locale like this one. Lee Whiteside chaired. Mike Willmoth was Treasurer and Guest Liaison. There seemed to always be 17 Mike Willmoths doing 17 jobs simultaneously. He's very good at that. So is Lee. Kate Moor looked out for me as well, while Cathy Book ran programming. Had a blast with the Darrell K. Sweet family, Ellen Klages, Chris Merle, Glenn Glazer, and Tina Worley. Mad shoutout to the hard-working Dave Gish and Niels McLellan. Both were terrific and took good care of the artists in the Art Show. Dave's father Ray Gish was a long-time beloved Art Show director in the Southwest and Dave continues the tradition of excellence. Very grateful for everyone's efforts and hard work.

BAYCON 2011

Just got back yesterday from BayCon in Santa Clara, CA. The printing on their program book cover may be amongst the finest I've ever seen. Made me do a double-take when I first saw it. I think chairman Robert Toland had a big hand in this, and that was one of many things he got right. He's also hilarious. Wish we would've had more time to hang out, but we both had our duties and they were many. Big thanks to Michael Siladi, Alison Stern, Tycho Petersen, Cruz Arellanes, Albert Baker, Sally Rose, and all of the Art Show and Tech heads and teams that worked with me.

When I walked into the Art Show room, there was a super-high ceiling that would've defeated most cons, but not Baycon. Thanks to the Art Show and Tech teams combined efforts, they rigged a drop ceiling grid of lights that was genius and well-done. Big applause to all of them and the gofers for pulling that off. It was literally the difference between night and day.

BayCon also had one of the coolest con t-shirts I've yet seen using my artwork. Very well done, thanks to Scott Dennis.

I loved the bar area at this con, and the way it circulated into an outer seating area toward the pool. It's a near-perfect diagram for a social bar, and again, Tycho was brilliant as Hotel Liaison.

2011 Hugo nominee Christopher J. Garcia was in the house and is quite frankly one of my favorite people on the planet. The big family-style Chinese dinner we had with his girlfriend Linda, Author Guest of Honor Mary Robinette Kowal, Sandra Tayler, Marty & Diane Halpern, and Jacob & Rina Weisman was one of my con highlights.

I previewed some sneak peeks of a few 2012 A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE Calendar artworks and was gratified to hear cheers and applause from the audiences that got to see them. Thanks, folks!

Shoutouts to Dani and Eytan Kollin, Jaym Gates, Josephine Gray, Glen Barrett, Kent Brewster, Anders Hudson, Jeremy Lassen, and Francesca Myman.

Last but not least though -- mad shoutout to Tobi Schneider who completely rocked this con. She was the MVP because she joined as Guest Liaison less than a month before con, and worked tirelessly to make everything right. There was nothing she couldn't do, and she never lost her cool. Her hard work and efforts will be one of my enduring memories of this con. Tobi -- take a bow!!

Bay Area science fiction/fantasy fans have the reputation of being amongst the sharpest and most literate sf/f fans anywhere in the US. They are. They know their stuff backwards and forwards, and it was an honor to be amongst them. Bartenders extraordinaire Kevin Roche and Andy Trembley invited Mary and I to a BASFA meeting on the last night of the con, and it was a good cap to the weekend. Thanks to the BASFAns for their kindness and hospitality.

Back home now and time to get back to work. And again -- huge thanks to all at Capricon, Leprecon and BayCon for their hard work and great efforts. Very honored and grateful that we're all in this community together. Looking forward to seeing many of the above at Worldcon in Reno.:)