The Star Wars franchise has often displayed a lack of shame when it comes to its own merchandising (Jar Jar inflatable chair, anyone?), but the new coffeetable book out now from Abrams, Star Wars Art: Visions, is emphatically not one of those missteps.

We recently received this at the Tor.com office and spent a good amount of time doing nothing but flipping through. The book is enormous and features a huge array of artists, many of whom you’ve seen here on the site. The art ranges from hilarious re-imaginings (Boba Fett really knows how to ride a dragon), to epic vistas to, yes, naked Twi’leks. It’s out this week from Abrams and is a really beautiful piece.

As we continue our journey through the alphabet some of you may have noticed a slight itching in the back of your eyes. Maybe you’ve felt hunger pains, not in your belly, but at the midpoint of your head. That’s where your visual cortex is found and that hunger signals the beginning stages of art addiction. Other symptoms include a compulsive need to discover all the names of teachers and friends of a particular well-known artist, exploding bookcases due to the weight of too many art books, and a deep knowledge of auction houses and their scheduled public viewings. Lastly, hives.

Don’t worry, the addiction is relatively benign and plenty of support groups exist. Just remember, it’s a scavenger hunt which has no list and never ends.

[Read more]

Chuck Forsman has summed up Raiders of the Lost Ark (the only Indian Jones movie) drawn in the style of Popeye. My morning is made.

Now I want to run home and play with my Raiders cards.

And watch the movie.

But not in 3D. Why, George, why! Weren’t those other two movies travesty enough against the Jones name? I’m not against 3D on principle, but I am against revisionist filmmaking.

[Chuck Forsman link via Drawn]

As we continue our journey through the alphabet some of you may have noticed a slight itching in the back of your eyes. Maybe you’ve felt hunger pains, not in your belly, but at the midpoint of your head. That’s where your visual cortex is found and that hunger signals the beginning stages of art addiction. Other symptoms include a compulsive need to discover all the names of teachers and friends of a particular well-known artist, exploding bookcases due to the weight of too many art books, and a deep knowledge of auction houses and their scheduled public viewings. Lastly, hives.

Don’t worry, the addiction is relatively benign and plenty of support groups exist. Just remember, it’s a scavenger hunt which has no list and never ends.

[Read more]

As we continue our journey through the alphabet some of you may have noticed a slight itching in the back of your eyes. Maybe you’ve felt hunger pains, not in your belly, but at the midpoint of your head. That’s where your visual cortex is found and that hunger signals the beginning stages of art addiction. Other symptoms include a compulsive need to discover all the names of teachers and friends of a particular well-known artist, exploding bookcases due to the weight of too many art books, and a deep knowledge of auction houses and their scheduled public viewings. Lastly, hives.

Don’t worry, the addiction is relatively benign and plenty of support groups exist. Just remember, it’s a scavenger hunt which has no list and never ends.

[Read more. One image somewhat NSFW]

A gorgeous new book about the movie poster work of Drew Struzan The Art of Drew Struzan, has just been released by Titan Books. It’s written by David J. Schow, book and film writer, and Struzan himself. It’s visual chocolate for every lover of movie posters, and every type of working and wannabe illustrator.

[Read more]

Far as I can tell, authors should be to cover art as cheerleaders are to a football game. Lemme ’splain. Just as cheerleaders might inspire their team by throwing each other around, so authors might inspire their art directors and artists by submitting various passages, describing a feel for the book, and advising how the cover might improve the reading experience. This general lack of control is a large source of anxiety for many authors. We had control of every single letter inside, but now that we’re on the outside…well…we have only metaphorical pompoms.

So, if we’re smart, we jump about with inspiration for our art department, and try to shake off any bad-cover nightmares that (if one writes epic fantasy) include metal bikinis or other artistic no-nos. Fortunately for me, my team is one of the best: Tordot’s own brilliant Irene Gallo carries the art director’s whistle and clipboard; fantasy-art-minor-deity Todd Lockwood plays starting pigment slinger. After the beautiful art they produced for my first novel, Spellwright, I had been eagerly waiting for their art for the sequel, Spellbound, due out Summer 2011. They’ve exceeded my every expectation.

[Read more]

“First of all, it was October. A rare month for boys.”

Every October I ritually watch Something Wicked This Way Comes as a way of ringing in the Halloween spirit that pervades the month. It’s not the best film, but over the years, despite it’s stilted and cliched dialog delivered by two twelve-year-olds trying to act, I’ve come to adore it.

The flavor of the story is beautifully captured in the movie poster by my once teacher, once mentor, and long-time friend, David Grove. Its near magical method of loose paint flows into rich, saturated runs of color, giving the illusion that it was painted in a quick, haphazard session. Besides those passages that underly the delicately rendered focal points that bleed light and life into the entire composition, the painting and I have a bit of a special connection: it haunts me.

[Read more]

Comics writer Paul Tobin (several Marvel Adventures books, Age of the Sentry, Models Inc, and more) is in the midst of a 40-part series on the greatest comic book cover artists ever. Why? In his words:

Recently, on a trip to a comic store, I was DISGUSTED by the overall lack of design on covers. Most covers were nothing more than two or three characters punching each other and snarling, the exact kind of design that I would have worked out when I was eight years old, and spat on by the time I was ten. So, why do such covers proliferate the shelves? One reason is for trade dressing… so that any cover can be put upon almost any trade compilation, which is one of the reasons behind the other Far Too Common cover design… that of the character or team standing at attention, looking tough, staring at the viewer. Fuck that. I’m lucky enough to work largely with editor Nate Cosby, who does very good work at hiring talented cover artists and creating covers that don’t piss me off, but in consideration of my other less lucky friends, and the industry as a whole, I’m going to spend the next few weeks counting down my own personal Top 40 Comic Book Cover Artists… the ones who got it right.

So far, Tobin is up to #23 (Syd Shores, if you’re curious). He’s already featured such luminaries as Brian Bolland, Frank Quitely, Frank Frazetta, Jaime Hernandez, Darwyn Cooke, Mike Mignola, Charles Burns, and many, many more. Don’t be mad if you’re favorite artist isn’t up there, he urges. Some of his aren’t up there either. (The series is evaluating for cover work only.)

Check it out for some instant eye candy and a great basic understanding of the difference between comics work as art and comics work as product packaging.

Chris Greenland finds the above Animal Man cover deeply, thoughtfully terrifying.

As we journey past the quarter mark of the alphabet some of you may have noticed a slight itching in the back of your eyes. Maybe you’ve felt hunger pains, not in your belly, but at the midpoint of your head. That’s where your visual cortex is found and that hunger signals the beginning stages of art addiction. Other symptoms include: a compulsive need to discover all the names of teachers and friends of a particular well known artist, exploding bookcases due to the weight of too many art books, a deep knowledge of auction houses and their scheduled public viewings. Lastly, hives.

Don’t worry, the addiction is relatively benign and plenty of support groups exist. Just remember, it’s a scavenger hunt which has no list and never ends.

[Read more]

Normally I don’t show off sketches without having the finals to back them, but when your inbox contains ten Charles Vess sketches for the Wheel of Time, it’s hard not to crow.

Charles Vess, artist for the New York Times-bestselling Instructions, Sandman, and countless other glorious drawings (yes! I’m a fan-girl) is creating the cover plus ten interior drawings for our young adult e-edition of the first part of the Wheel of Time, From the Two Rivers. Above are two sketches. The book will be available March 2011. 

If, like me, you are finding it hard to wait, check out Drawing Down the Moon, Charles’s art book from Dark Horse, in the meantime.

Irene Gallo is the Art Director for Tor Books and Tor.com.

As we journey past the quarter mark of the alphabet some of you may have noticed a slight itching in the back of your eyes. Maybe you’ve felt hunger pains, not in your belly, but at the midpoint of your head. That’s where your visual cortex is found and that hunger signals the beginning stages of art addiction. Other symptoms include: a compulsive need to discover all the names of teachers and friends of a particular well known artist, exploding bookcases due to the weight of too many art books, a deep knowledge of auction houses and their scheduled public viewings. Lastly, hives.

Don’t worry, the addiction is relatively benign and plenty of support groups exist. Just remember, it’s a scavenger hunt which has no list and never ends.

[Read more. Some NSFW]

A second trailer went up today for “Better Things: Life and Choices of Jeffrey Jones.” It’s a treasure all on its own, with eight minutes of substantive interviews with Jeff Jones, Rick Berry, Rebecca Guay, Moebius , Dave McKean, Paul Pope, Mark Chiarello, Mike Kaluta, and publisher Robert Wiener.

I’ve been watching this documentry evolve from afar—I’m looking forward to seeing it comepleted now more than ever.

It is an honor, and more than a little bit sad, to pass on the news that Al Williamson is the recipient of the 2010 Spectrum Grand Master Award. As a member of the advisory board I can say Mr. Williamson was an easy choice for the award and we all deeply regretted hearing of his passing.

The Grand Master Award is presented annually to a living artist whose career excellence has proven to be an influence on both readers and fellow artists; sadly, Al Williamson passed away on June 12^th of this year. “The Advisory Board selected Al for this honor back in February,” Cathy Fenner, co-director of Spectrum Fantastic Art notes. “So while this announcement is being made several months after Al’s death, he was very much with us when the decision was made that he be this year’s honoree. It’s appropriate that his award be both a recognition and a remembrance of an important artist and member of the arts community.”

[Read more about Al’s career]

Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier challenged a number of young adult writers to the ultimate throwdown, Zombies vs Unicorns—a collection of short stories deciding once and for all, which rulz.

The title is an art director’s dream. So many possibilities, how can you go wrong? And yet, so many choices can be paralyzing. Simon and Schuster decided to go with Josh Cochran—a bold and unexpected choice. His zombiepocalypse perfectly pays tribute to the uncountable hours young teens spend engaged in drawing their own epic landscapes and battles without being patronizing to them or overly coy.

The art is printed on the boards of the book with a black jacket wrapping around two-thirds of the book—it does everything it can to make itself an object, short of literally begging to be picked up and played with.

I asked Josh to share his process with us.

[Read more]

As we journey past the quarter mark of the alphabet some of you may have noticed a slight itching in the back of your eyes. Maybe you’ve felt hunger pains, not in your belly, but at the midpoint of your head. That’s where your visual cortex is found and that hunger signals the beginning stages of art addiction. Other symptoms include: a compulsive need to discover all the names of teachers and friends of a particular well known artist, exploding bookcases due to the weight of too many art books, a deep knowledge of auction houses and their scheduled public viewings. Lastly, hives.

Don’t worry, the addiction is relatively benign and plenty of support groups exist. Just remember, it’s a scavenger hunt which has no list and never ends.

[Read more. Mild NSFW]

As we journey past the quarter mark of the alphabet some of you may have noticed a slight itching in the back of your eyes. Maybe you’ve felt hunger pains, not in your belly, but at the midpoint of your head. That’s where your visual cortex is found and that hunger signals the beginning stages of art addiction. Other symptoms include: a compulsive need to discover all the names of teachers and friends of a particular well known artist, exploding bookcases due to the weight of too many art books, a deep knowledge of auction houses and their scheduled public viewings. Lastly, hives.

Don’t worry, the addiction is relatively benign and plenty of support groups exist. Just remember, it’s a scavenger hunt which has no list and never ends.

[Read more]

The Gathering Storm, volume twelve in Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time, will be available in ebook form on Spetember 28^th. In celebration of Jordan’s work, we have commissioned fourteen artists to interpret one of the Wheel of Time books in their own style. (Previous editions can be seen here. The first eleven ebooks can be purchased at the Sony eReader Store.)

Todd Lockwood had to be in this series. No doubt. He is the master of flying creatures and great with action. When Leigh Butler threatened bodily harm suggested this sequence, I knew it would be a cover that would come together smoothly, and it did. 

[Read more...]

In the 60’s, Boy’s Life Magazine was my window into adventure. Nothing was a bigger adventure then than going to the moon. To me, the space race was the pinnacle of what we could achieve as human beings.

[Read more]

Over at Whitechapel, comic creator Warren Ellis has thrown down the gauntlet to his community: Design the 13^th (and final) incarnation of The Doctor. No Photoshop hacks, no pen-portraits, but actual drawings.

The challenge was issued on August 29^th but the results are starting to trickle in now, including efforts from Pia Guerra (Y: The Last Man, Doctor Who: The Forgotten), Ben Templesmith (30 Days of Night, Fell), Annie Wu, and more. Check out Guerra’s rendition of the 13^th Doctor with Sally Sparrow.

Exciting, no? Any Whitechapel forum member is free to post their own illustration. I salivate (in private, of course) to think what some of Tor.com’s featured artists could do in this challenge...

Chris Greenland always seems to get stuck writing the posts where The Doctor is someone else.