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Showing posts by: Dan Dos Santos click to see Dan Dos Santos's profile
Mon
Jul 23 2012 10:00am

A Mother, An Assassin, and How the Two Were CombinedA 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.

[How the cover was made]

Wed
Aug 24 2011 11:31am

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.

[Read more]

Tue
Jun 14 2011 5:31pm

DAW Books, for whom I’ve been doing a lot of covers for this past year, contacted me about this job. Unfortunately, my schedule was booked totally solid (mostly with their titles), so I had to decline. Fortunately, the Art Director being wiser than I, decided to try again anyways and called to see if I would change my mind. When the words “zombie romance” came out of her mouth, I knew I had to take it.

Because the deadline was so tight, I had to come up with a particularly simple piece. I also would likely only have time to come up with a single sketch, two at the most. I explained this to the AD, and she agreed.

[The particulars of the process]