The Lady, cover art for Terry Brooks’ novel – Warrior, 36″ x 24″ Oil on Panel

This past Spring I had the pleasure to work upon another creative project for Grim Oak Press, that of illustrating a new short novel by Terry Brooks – Warrior.

Shawn Speakman, the publisher, was looking for a cover and 3 – 4 interiors.  After my run on Naomi Novik’s Uprooted, I wanted to do more interiors, but due to production issues Shawn needed to keep the number down, thus I had to stick to just four.  There were so many great scenes I had to pass on due to the need to keep the art properly spaced within the novel and tap into the various content and themes.

I had spoiled myself on Uprooted, creating 33 interiors, two spots, and the wrap around cover for that commission.  Plenty of chances to balance out various compositions, elements and contrasts with action & quiet scenes, close ups & landscapes.

Regardless, Warrior was still a fun project, and am happy the way the final cover resolved itself, and the pacing of the four interiors picks up the action and tension as you move deeper into the narrative.  Its fun to work on a series, to develop a unifying theme to be played out over more than one or two images.  Thanks to Shawn for giving me the freedom to pursue these concepts!