Periodically I make the choice to lean in heavily on a commission, dramatically increasing the amount of labor, focus, and intent I wish to bring to a painting. This bar is raised by myself, never by my client, as the desire is to create a portfolio piece I can leverage for broader use, benefiting my client, and hopefully my career.
This is one such instance.
When Shawn Speakman of Grim Oak Press asked if I would like to illustrate a new covers (and interiors) for Tad William’s epic trilogy, I knew I was in for a challenge. The original series was published with covers by Michael Whelan, one of the greatest cover artists to work in the genre of Fantasy and Science Fiction and his cover for Tad’s third novel, To Green Angel Tower, stands as one of his greatest career masterpieces.
To Green Angel Tower, Michael Whelan
I knew I was going to be working in one of the largest, and strongest, cast artistic shadows in my professional career.
Dialing back time, during the 80’s and 90’s I had grown up reading scores of science fiction and fantasy novels and unknowingly purchased many novels based upon the cover artists work, not so much by name of the authors.
How do I know?
About fifteen years ago while at my parents home I unpacked a box of paperbacks purchased from that time period, a kind of time capsule for my buying habits. There laid out were novel illustrations by Michael Whelan, Darrell Sweet, and Kieth Parkinson across a bounty of various authors.
Unknowingly I was buying books by the artists, for I did not have recommendations coming in from a club or other readers to point me towards specific authors or trends. It was quite funny to reflect upon those purchases, and not too surprising to see so many covers by artists I now recognize as formative in my development as a professional illustrator.
The power of marketing!
To Green Angel Tower, abstracts for interior illustrations and cover
Having to create a new work for Tad William’s novel in that immense Whelan shadow meant I needed to step outside of the aesthetics Whelan would use for cover art and embrace a visual language I call my own.
What would Whelan not do? A massive multi-figural cavalry ride.
Had I ever done one? No. I hate painting horses!
Should I do this? Yes?
Am I crazy? YES!
My God, what have I done?
To top it off, Shawn made a request hoping I could compose the art so that it could be flipped, just like Whelan’s original, to work as a front cover for both published volumes of the ‘third’ book in the trilogy.
There was no getting out from under Whelan’s impressive shadow!
Preliminary Drawing, 30″ x 40″ Graphite on Paper
The final preliminary drawing alone took nearly a full week to finish after compiling all of my references, and the oil painting over two months of work (color by number!)
Initial Acrylic wash-in, 24″ x 40″
Thank you to Shawn, Jeff Lawson, and Grim Oak Press for providing me the opportunity to create this work, and to Tad Williams and Michael Whelan for fueling the fires of inspiration to get me through those two months of constant labor!
To order the illustrated novel, you can visit Grim Oak Press at:
https://grimoakpress.com/products/to-green-angel-tower-siege-and-storm-limited-edition
To Green Angel Tower, 24″ x 40″, Oil on Panel
The movie Excaliber from 1981 has deep heartstrings in me. I hear Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana everytime I worked on this passage!
Details of the Sithi. Tad Williams described them as very colorful and each a uniquely armored!
When I was younger, artistically speaking, when I didn’t know what I was looking at or where I was looking, guys like Donato and Keith – just to name a few who are in this article – caused me intense frustration. As time went by, as I kept moving forward, as I learned to see and found myself, these moments of frustration disappeared completely and left only complete admiration to flow. Of course, this has to do with a whole journey of study, but within this journey there is Muddy Colors. And here we have the opportunity to have contact with artists we love on another level. Reading this type of article is like accompanying a friend in arms on the battlefield, it’s knowing that we are in the same war. And so, your success is our success. And that’s why I try even harder, because my joys are our joys too. As always, thank you for everything MC.
Very kind comments João, thank you for sharing your thoughts and journey. Best of Luck in all your artistic pursuits!
very detailed drawing
Wow! That is just epic!..Amazing work Donato! Now I want to read the books!
very nice
Wow. I am always impressed when you go out of your way, and push yourself even harder. It really shows. Great work Donato. One day I hope to wield the patience, and resolve to paint something as complex as this.
Thank you for the comments Jacob. I do not always work like this, rash path is trodden one incremental step at a time. The preliminary drawing phase really opens up my possibilities.
Holy hairbrushes, Batman. What an EPIC scope of work, for an undeniably EPIC result.
It’s funny how cover artists are the ones we trust when it comes to “will I like this book”? Having seen yours and Michael Whelan’s covers, well, now I have to read this one.
Such a BEAUTIFUL, COMPLICATED illustration–like a full choral piece with melodies and harmonies and sound effects–thank you so much for sharing, Donato!