Czech Mates

Just arrived in the mail today from the Czech Republic -- comp copies of the Czech editions of A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ, as well as a Dan Simmons short story collection, both sporting cover illustrations by yours truly. Laser-Books is the publisher, and both printings look great. (Thanks, Martin!) The design for the Simmons collection is especially interesting....they did a little inset of my full illustration and combined it with a detail from the same illustration, along with another detail used as a muted background. Wow -- I've never seen a cover design like that, but it works well. The printing is cool because the big detail of the face and the full inset illustration are both printed gloss, while the background is printed matte. I like it! I'll now proudly shelve these along with my Hungarian edition of CANTICLE. :)

One last note -- sharp-eyed folks might notice that the cover illustration for the Simmons collection originally appeared on the cover of the US edition of George Zebrowski's MACROLIFE, published by Pyr. Laser really wanted to use this illustration, and even though I have the legal copyright to resell the illustration for other foreign usages, I'm really careful about reselling images for books that are in-print elsewhere. I was reluctant to sell the Czech rights for the illustration, but when I ran the notion by Pyr's editorial director Lou Anders, he gave his blessing. So thanks, Lou....if you wouldn't have given the green light, this wouldn't have happened.

CANTICLE in Hungary

Recently arrived -- Maecenas, a first-rate Hungarian publishing house who also happens to be the exclusive Hungarian publisher for heavyweights like Kurt Vonnegut, has just released their edition of Walter M. Miller, Jr's classic A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ. They bought the Hungarian rights for my cover illustration (first appeared on the HarperCollins/Eos American trade edition) and sent me a couple of copies. I was wowed by their edition's foil and matte treatment, with partial embossing. Pazar! Hats off to Maecenas, and many thanks to Gyorgy Tibor Szanto and Eva Bitto for making it happen. :)

CANTICLE in Czechoslovakia

That's what Walter M. Miller Jr's classic A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ looks like in Czechoslovakia, courtesy of Laser Books. I'm not sure when this edition was released, but it was sometime within the last several months. Pleased to see my cover artwork (which first appeared on the USA/Eos trade paperback edition) also make it into the Czech Republic. In addition, Laser bought the one-time right to re-use another of my cover illos for a short story collection by Dan Simmons, which, according to their website, has also been published. I'd love to see what both of these look like in real life, but I haven't received any comp copies yet from the good folks at Laser. I'm sure they're on their way (ahem).

ASFA's 22nd Annual Chesley Awards Final Ballot

The Association of Science Fiction & Fantasy Artists has released their list of the 22nd Annual Chesley Awards Nominees. Current ASFA members can of course download the Final Ballot here, and vote by August 10th. For anyone else who's curious, the whole rundown's posted below. Some really terrific work on the ballot, and I'm honored to have two of my cover illustrations amongst the nominated. These were posted earlier this month when ASFA released their Chesley Preliminary List, but here they are again.

In the Best Cover Illustration -- Paperback Book category, here's my cover for Walter M. Miller, Jr.'s classic A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ (Eos).









And in the Best Cover Illustration -- Magazine category, here's my cover for INTERZONE #204 (May/June 2006).

Special shoutout to Pyr's Lou Anders. His sheer versatility as Pyr's Editorial Director and Jack-of-All-Trades has now been officially exposed to the world, as he's recognized with a Chesley nom for Best Art Director. How many editors have a Chesley nom for Art Director on their resume?? To all of my fellow nominees, I'm honored to be amongst you. 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

Goodbye, 2007

Hey, '07 -- you were a heckuva year. Before you head out forever, a tip of the hat to all my pals and associates who shared the last twelve months with me. Time to wipe the slate clean and start fresh. One final look at a few '07 highlights from this corner of the universe:

January -- COVER STORY: THE ART OF JOHN PICACIO (MonkeyBrain) finishes on several "Best of 2006" lists, including SFSignal and RevSF.

February -- My covers for Rebecca Ore's TIME'S CHILD (Eos) and Lou Anders' FAST FORWARD 1 (Pyr) hit the streets. The STAR TREK/CRUCIBLE trilogy completes with the release of CRUCIBLE: KIRK -- THE STAR TO EVERY WANDERING by David R. George III. COVER STORY: THE ART OF JOHN PICACIO is one of the best art books of 2006, according to Locus Magazine's Recommended Reading List.

March -- Traci and I married on March 17th. Hands-down, one of my favorite days ever. On a sidenote, I'm notified that same day that I'm a finalist for not one, but two Hugo Awards -- Best Professional Artist and Best Related Book. Hard to beat March 17, 2007 as the best day of my entire year. Traci and I begin our double honeymoon in Toronto and following that, I'm the Artist Guest of Honor at the World Horror Convention.

April -- Traci and I finish our honeymoon in Europe. We first travelled to the Netherlands where I was one of the special guests at Elf Fantasy Fair in Utrecht, along with Brian Froud, David Anthony Durham, Chris Geere, Lou Ferrigno, and Prof. Roland Rotherham. Following that episode of the Surreal Life, Traci and I moved on to London where we have a glorious time, despite how badly the American dollar sucked.

May -- Chris Roberson's X-MEN: THE RETURN is in stores everywhere. I grew up on X-MEN comics, so illustrating this cover was a dream come true.

June -- George Alec Effinger's A THOUSAND DEATHS debuts with my wraparound cover illustration. I'm invited to the Seattle to have the great honor of inducting Ed Emshwiller into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. As if that weren't enough, COVER STORY is a finalist for the Locus Award for Best Artbook, and I win the Locus Award for Artist -- something I never dreamed would happen. Wow, wow, wow. (And my San Antonio Spurs win their fourth NBA Championship(!), with mass insanity and partying in the downtown streets, not far from our home....:))

July -- Paul Cornell's BRITISH SUMMERTIME releases from MonkeyBrain. Traci and I travel to Tulsa, Oklahoma where I'm the Artist Guest of Honor at Conestoga 11. Soon after, I discover I'm a finalist for two Chesley Awards -- Best Paperback Cover (A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ) and Best Magazine Cover Illustration (INTERZONE #204).

August -- I attend the always-terrific Armadillocon in Austin, TX, which is close to home here in San Antonio, and then travel the furthest distance of my life two weeks later, when my buddy Lou Anders and I head to Japan for the World Science Fiction Convention. I'm not sure if we were prouder that we were both 2007 Hugo Finalists, or that we both survived the 72-hour blitz through Yokohama. Awesome, unforgettable, and we now have cherished friends in Nippon.



September -- I'm a first-time finalist for the British Fantasy Award for Best Artist, along with Vincent Chong, Les Edwards, Dean Harkness, and Edward Miller. Vinny claims the prize -- congrats, Vin! Sometime during this period, I complete the last of the interior illustrations for the forthcoming (Feb. 2008) release of Michael Moorcock's ELRIC: THE STEALER OF SOULS (Ballantine/Del Rey), a huge ongoing effort which I was working on throughout the twelve prior months, along with my other cover work. More news on this after the New Year....

October -- Michael Moorcock's THE METATEMPORAL DETECTIVE (Pyr) debuts. So does 2007 Hugo nominee Bruce McAllister's collection THE GIRL WHO LOVED ANIMALS AND OTHER STORIES (Golden Gryphon). Traci and I attend my 20-Year high school reunion (Holmes High School, San Antonio, '87), and the utterly surreal occurs when the geeky kid who couldn't get a date (me) is voted "Most Successful." A strange life, no?

November -- World Fantasy Con, Saratoga Springs, NY....I'm a finalist for the World Fantasy Award in the Artist category, along with Shaun Tan (congrats!), Jill Thompson, Jon Foster, and Edward Miller. That same weekend, I win the International Horror Guild Award in the Artist category, becoming the first artist to win the IHG twice.

December -- Traci and I celebrate Michael Moorcock's birthday at his release party/booksigning for THE METATEMPORAL DETECTIVE. Mike Resnick's STARSHIP: MERCENARY debuts. My last finished cover work of the year is one of my most ambitious -- the triptych for Jeffrey Ford's WELL-BUILT CITY trilogy which will release next fall in trade paperback from Golden Gryphon.

Whew -- (deep exhale) yeah, 2007, you were unforgettable. Bring on '08. To everyone out there -- thanks very much and best wishes to you on the other side of the New Year!

ASFA's 2007 Chesley Awards Suggestions List

The Association of Science Fiction & Fantasy Artists (ASFA)'s 2007 Chesley Awards Suggestions List is here. The awards will be handed out in Yokohama, Japan at this year's Worldcon.

Thrilled to see Lou Anders of Pyr listed amongst the possible contenders for Best Art Director, along with Irene Gallo of Tor Books and Matt Adelsperger of Wizards of the Coast. Lou's job title at Pyr is "Editorial Director," but he sheperds the cover art process as well and from the get-go, he's developed a diverse and provocative lineup of cover art for Pyr. Very glad to see him getting some acknowledgement in this department.

Two of my cover illustrations are included on this year's list. In the Best Cover Illustration -- Paperback Book category, there's my cover for Walter M. Miller, Jr.'s classic A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ (Eos).







And in the Best Cover Illustration -- Magazine category, there's my cover for INTERZONE #204 (May/June 2006).

Overall, some outstanding work in all of the Chesley categories this year! Check it out.

Goodbye, 2006

Right now I'm working on a lot of covers for a lot of great books and I'll unveil them here as I'm able. The holidays have flown by. Everyone in the blogosphere is doing their Year-In-Review thing right now. It's the end of 2006 and I'm swamped, but I'd like to step back and offer a huge "thanks" for everything good that's happened to me in 2006. It was a terrific year and I'm grateful to all of the friends and associates out there who made it so, and who shared it with me.
So before bidding adieu to 2006...a few good times from my past 12 months...
* I illustrated covers for two of my childhood favorites, the original STAR TREK franchise, and THE X-MEN. So cool. What made the X-MEN cover opportunity even sweeter was that the book was written by my good pal, Chris Roberson. Jennifer Heddle is the editor of the Marvel line for Simon & Schuster's Pocket division, so it was a great thing to work on a childhood favorite with two of my favorite people.



* In April, Jeffrey Ford's THE EMPIRE OF ICE CREAM was released from Golden Gryphon, and I think this is one of my favorite pieces of cover art to date. On top of that, the book is widely heralded as one of the best of the year, and Jeff deserves every ounce of that spotlight and attention.

* That same month, I was Artist Guest of Honor at Minicon 41 in Bloomington, MN. Harlan Ellison was the Author Guest of Honor and Doug Friauf was the Fan Guest of Honor. My fiancee and I had a brilliant time, thanks to Greg Ketter, Bill Christ, and all of the Minicon crew. I love Minneapolis, I love DreamHaven Books, and hot-damn, I love Hell's Kitchen. Mmmmm.....sausage bread.

* In May, COVER STORY: THE ART OF JOHN PICACIO was released. What can I say? It's my first art book, and I poured my guts into it. I can't thank MonkeyBrain Books enough for publishing a first-class art book of my work. Thanks to them, the book was available in bookstores everywhere. DreamHaven Books hosted a release party upon the book's debut, and so did Borderlands Books in San Francisco. Paul Goat Allen gave the book one of the greatest reviews I've ever seen over at Barnes & Noble.com, and SCI-FI MAGAZINE not only gave it an "A" review, but selected it as one of three recommended art books for the Xmas buying season.


* It's terrific to be associated with some of the best new books in the field, like the aforementioned EMPIRE OF ICE CREAM, but when you occasionally get the opportunity to work on an all-time classic like A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ, you're very fortunate. HarperCollins/Eos released their trade paperback edition of Walter M. Miller, Jr.'s classic in May and it's one of my favorite cover illustrations of the last year or so. Many thanks to Diana Gill and Jennifer Brehl over there at Eos.

* The May/June issue of INTERZONE (#204) featured a cover, gallery and interview with me and I was honored to be a part of this great magazine. Andy Cox, Jetse De Vries, and the IZ crew really do a bang-up job every month and IZ just keeps getting better and better.





* I was a Locus Award finalist for the first time! Wow! The top five artists in this year's Locus Awards Poll were Michael Whelan (who won his 26th Locus Award in the Artist category), Bob Eggleton, me, Dave McKean, and Charles Vess.

* In August, I completed another cover that became a favorite of mine. This one was for Lou Anders' FAST FORWARD 1: FUTURE FICTION FROM THE CUTTING EDGE. The anthology will release from Pyr in February 2007, and I was happy with the way this one turned out. And talk about folks who had a great 2006 -- Pyr had a huge year. Congrats to Lou and all of the Pyr team.

* Worldcon convened in Anaheim this year, and it was one to remember. I participated in the Worldcon Business Meeting for the first time. It likely won't be my last time. I spent a lot of time there with Irene Gallo, Dave Seeley and some of the most dedicated SMoFs in the world, debating the issues of Hugo nominating and voting criteria. I learned a lot.

The 20th Annual Chesley Awards were handed out at this year's Worldcon, and I was fortunate to be nominated for two -- Best Interior Illustration, and Artistic Achievement. Brom won Best Interior for his terrific work on THE PLUCKER, but I was blown away to take home this year's Artistic Achievement Award. Probably one of the greatest honors I could ever receive, and very humbling. Tom Kidd handed the plaque to me, and I think that made it more special because I've long had immense respect for Tom and his paintings. The Hugo Awards Ceremony happened two nights later, and I was nominated for the Hugo for Best Professional Artist for the second year in a row. I didn't win this year, but Donato Giancola did, and that was good to see. He's one of the best in the business and it's good for the field to see his name listed amongst the Hugo winners' roster along with legends like Bob Eggleton and Michael Whelan.

* My cover art for L.E. Modesitt Jr.'s GHOSTS OF COLUMBIA (Tor) was selected for inclusion in SPECTRUM 13: THE BEST IN CONTEMPORARY FANTASTIC ART.

* Austin, Texas hosted the World Fantasy Convention this year. The art show featured one of the best selections of artwork in years, including John Jude Palencar, Greg Manchess, Charles Vess, Gary Gianni, Mike Dringenberg, and many more. Because I won the World Fantasy Award in 2005, I was ineligible to win it in 2006, so I got to kick back and root for my friends! I was thrilled to see Chris Roberson, Lou Anders, and Jess Nevins nominated for the WFs this year. Hey, they didn't win this time, but I suspect their years are coming.

Like I said, it's been quite a year, and I've been very fortunate. Between now and March 17th, 2007, I've got a lot of fresh new cover work to accomplish, and then on St. Patrick's Day, I get to take a break and marry the wonderful Traci Ogden. So I'll see you on the other side in 2007. :)

Happy New Year to all!

Bookpeople's December Top Shelf Pick

Nice way to kick off December! (Or technically, finish November.) COVER STORY: THE ART OF JOHN PICACIO is Bookpeople's Top Shelf Pick for the month of December. BookPeople is three stories of literary retail goodness located in the heart of Austin, Texas, and it's the state's largest independent bookstore. All of their copies of the book are signed, so if you're making holiday shopping decisions for literary or art lovers in your life, you might keep that in mind. :)

In-store, they've got the book displayed on an endcap in the sf/f section, ground level. The majority of stores stock the book in this section, which makes perfect sense. However, BookPeople's smart. They ALSO stock the book upstairs in their general art book section. Hey, it's a real kick to see my art book displayed next to Picasso's books. OK, it's more good fortune than anything since the store alphabetizes all of their artist monographs by last name, but nevertheless, I enjoyed that. The store prints up a nice newsletter booklet every month and the following review by Revolution SF Books Editor Peggy Hailey will be included in their December issue. I don't think this review will be on the store's website, so I'm taking the liberty to run it here, for the benefit of online readers and shoppers.

From Peggy Hailey: "John Picacio is one of my favorite cover artist/book designers working today. In fact, if you know me at all, I'm sure I've pointed out my many favorites to you a time or two. He's creative, talented, a real stand-up guy, and, as it happens, a darned good-looking man to boot. But even if he weren't all those things, it wouldn't matter, because John's work speaks for itself.

On a purely aesthetic level, COVER STORY: THE ART OF JOHN PICACIO is a beautiful book. The cover is gorgeous, featuring a triptych of book covers wildly divergent in style but connected by Picacio's rich palette of colors. Everything comes together with a feel that's both functional and artistic, from the typeface to the richly colored endpapers to the glossy pages. You can literally feel the quality.

But let's be honest -- pretty covers and a smart layout will only take you so far. What really counts is the content, right?

Luckily the content is top-notch, too. Along with full-page, full-color reproductions of the covers we get sketches and background info about the creation of each cover. This insight into the creative process sets the book apart for me. Knowing that, say, the wings from John's cover to DANGEROUS VISIONS were actually built and existed in the real world adds to my appreciation of the picture. But the book would be well worth the cover price for the pictures alone. Just pick up the book and thumb through it for a while.

Go on; I'll wait.

Now I ask you, how can you possibly resist? I love that trenchcoated gorilla on GEEK CONFIDENTIAL. I adore those fantastic tripods hiding out on the back cover of A BLAZING WORLD. I can't stop looking at the flaming monk on A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ. I am fascinated by the man in homemade wings about to take flight on DANGEROUS VISIONS. And I am transfixed by the sleeping face on GHOSTS OF COLUMBIA.

Each of the covers is an evocative piece of art in and of itself, but once you've read the book in question you discover just how well the cover complements the content. It's clear that John actually reads the books he's working on, God bless him, and if you ask me, that's why the covers work so well.

Still unconvinced? Really? Well how about this: every single copy we have of COVER STORY is signed by the artist. Surely you know someone who would appreciate a beautiful book full of gorgeous pictures signed by an up-and-coming Texas artist. MonkeyBrain Books has put together a fabulous package to show off Picacio's talent that has substance (including an introduction by Michael Moorcock and a lengthy interview with the artist) as well as style. John Picacio is a rising talent in his chosen field, and he's only going to get better. COVER STORY: THE ART OF JOHN PICACIO lays a beautiful foundation for the amazing work I know is still to come."