Cover artists/fantasy artists

[stacer]

I searched for the thread in which EUOL posted links to artists Tor was considering for his cover, but now I can't find it. And I don't want to confine it to just those few anyway, so I thought I'd throw it out there.

For my publishing class project, I need to find an artist whose style would work well for a contemporary publishing of Wizard of Earthsea (if you haven't heard me talk about it before, I'm pretending as if it's a manuscript that has just come to me, and we're publishing it at the same point in the career of the artist as it was originally, only in 2004). I've got a number of books I've been looking at for their cover art, but was thinking of looking at some fine artists who haven't necessarily done book covers, or who might have done book covers I've never seen before.

So, favorite artists, anyone? If you have links, too, that would help me out a lot.

As a side note, I'm pretending to be Arthur Levine. As in, of Harry Potter fame. He's got a whole list of really great YA fantasy.

Edit: I guess he didn't publish HDM here in the states, but some other books by Philip Pullman. Something like that.

[EUOL]

Biggest three:

Michael Whelan
Keith Parkinson
Darell K. Sweet (sp?)

My cover artist:
Stephen Martiniere

None of these seem right for Earthsea, though.  Maybe Richard Bober?

[Spriggan]

you mean this thread?
http://www.timewastersguide.com/boards/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=other;action=display;num=1080291076

my favorite is Yoshitaka Amano

http://www.so-net.ne.jp/amano/

or the english site (it dosen't look as nice and the Japanese site has english links)
www.amanosworld.com

[42]

I would search epililogue.net

It has a really good database of sf&f artists and is where a lot of sf&f art directors do their shopping.

I would suggest Leonid Kozienko or Stephanie Law.

For a Wizard of Earthsea, I think I would avoid the really oranate/glossy styles and go for something a little more minimalistic, well-composed and crafted.

Also, I would be careful about what kind of mediums you choose. For example: oils are closely related with the adult market, particularly romance. Oil paints have almost always been considered to be more sensual then other mediums, at least among artists. Watercolors get closely associated with young adult and children as does pastels and collage. Photography is the choice of contemporary, historical, and non-fiction.

[stacer]

None of these seem right for Earthsea, though.

I couldn't remember what any of the art looked like, so I figured it was a good place to start. Thanks for the suggestions, guys. Anybody else have a favorite?

[stacer]

So, I like Leonid Kozienko:

http://www.epilogue.net/cgi/database/art/view.pl?id=14060

Only, set at sea, with Ged's face a little more visible, maybe a little closer view. I like the mood it creates, though, and the darkness it invokes. Nice simple composition.

Or, there's this Matt Manley. Who did this cover.

Or there's the more contemporary look of the artists who did the covers of Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorson. Who are, surprisingly, Leo and Diane Dillon. Whoa! That's a big surprise. They're children's book illustrators. They've won the Caldecott, and their range is amazing, while still holding a recognizable style.

[42]

See I think the work by Leonid works better as a depiction of the creature that is hunting Ged.

[stacer]

Yeah, I was thinking of the dark side--perhaps it hints too much? At any rate, it's an intriguing picture.