A few months ago, I took on a large painting commission in an effort to try to loosen up as a painter.
The job in question was Kalimpura, the third installment in Jay Lake’s “Green” series. In this volume, the antagonist packs up everything, including her two children, and ventures back to her home country.
The idea of a single mother, with all of this burden quite literally placed upon her, really struck a chord with me. Given that she is an assassin, I immediately had visions of Lone Wolf and Cub. I knew I had to show her as a Warrior Mother, protecting all that was precious to her.
In mid-2010, Irene Gallo of Tor Books commissioned me to paint Honeyed Words by J. A. Pitts, the sequel to Black Blade Blues. My schedule was pretty full, and so even though I couldn’t get the final painting done in time for the catalog, I did have enough time to do a really refined sketch. (The catalog, by the way, is what the publisher sends out to bookstore buyers to facilitate them in ordering upcoming books.) The images within are usually black and white and just a few inches tall. However, to list a title without an image is sales suicide, which is why art directors often need covers painted way before a book is released, or sometimes even written.
