editorial agendas
In an earlier installment, I mentioned that I’ve been visiting schools throughout the Granite State over the last mumblety-mumble years on behalf of the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts. When I show one of my books or selected issues of this fine publication to a class, the question kids most often ask is not "Where do you get your ideas from?" or "How much did you get paid?" No, the inevitable inquiry is "Did you do the cover art?" To which I reply, "Nope. I can’t even draw a straight line."
Although writers usually–but not always–generate the source material for SF illustration, we have precious little control over the images that appear alongside our words. This has led to a long-standing tension between artists and writers, arising largely out of the writers’ misunderstanding of what SF art is for and how it gets done. How often have I heard my fellow scribes bemoaning "tacky" covers, which either have absolutely nothing to do with the story or else give away major plot points? Some believe that Asimov’s would reach a wider audience if dinosaurs and space ships were banned from the covers. But what would replace them? Quiet alien pastorals? Babes in peekaboo VR suits?
What writers fail to realize is that editors and art directors are pursuing their own agendas with regard to illustration. Cover art, for example, must accommodate the title and the name of an author (or several authors, in the case of Asimov’s). Thus every good illustration needs "dead space" in which the words can live. Imagine, if you will, Mona Lisa <http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/vinci/joconde> as cover art for an alternate history novel by the up-and-coming Renaissancepunk Leonardo da Vinci and you’ll see the problem. Should the art director plunk the "Mona" and the "Lisa" on either side of that famous face? And then maybe she could squeeze the author’s name beneath La Gioconda’s wonderful hands, aglow in the master’s sfumato.
Yo, Leo, you’ve got a helluva lot of name there. Ever think about a pseudonym?
But put design issues aside, and consider that many people do, in fact, judge a book by its cover, and you’ll begin to understand the curse of the SF artist. Would putting the Mona Lisa on the da Vinci book move product at the WorldCon? Afraid not. The history of our genre is replete with examples of wonderful fiction that failed to find an audience because the art didn’t help readers see the story. While artistic quality and commercial appeal are not mutually exclusive, the artist is charged to create an image that will encourage folks to dip into their wallets. Now it is true that science fiction publishing has long grappled with received notions of what kind of art attracts readers. Perhaps radical experimentation with cover illustration might grow our audience?
Alas, many editors’ and writers’ first reaction would be, "You go first!"
our artists
In 2001, eight accomplished artists graced the covers of Asimov’s. In the annual Readers’ Poll, announced last April, you voted Michael Carroll your favorite cover artist of the year. Let’s stop in on Mike and some of his colleagues, shall we?
Michael Carroll’s Space and Dinosaur Art <http://www.spacedinoart.com> showcases the many interests of this thoughtful artist. Based in Littleton, Colorado, his work has appeared in several hundred magazines around the world. He has made a specialty of astronomical art and helped found the International Association for the Astronomical Arts <http://www.iaaa.org>, to which he was elected a Fellow in 2000. Check out his How to Paint page for a quick jaunt to Jupiter’s moon Io. Mike has even tried his hand at writing SF, and his "The Terrible Lizards of Luna," complete with artwork (by guess who?), is reprinted here from the June 2000 issue of Asimov’s. There is also a spirited essay claiming that Christianity is "observable, consistent, and available for testing on scientific and historic grounds."
Arthur Roberg <http://www.knotworks.net/arthur.htm> is an artist who lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. He writes that his "continuing goal is to communicate the sensual spirituality of the human form." Fantasy and mythology are continuing themes in his often surreal work, as in his haunting cover illustration for Jim Grimsley’s <http://literati.net/Grimsley> "Into Greenwood."Black Cat Studios <http://www.black-cat-studios.com/Page_1x.html> is the digital home of artist and writer Ron Miller. He specializes in astronomical and astronautical art. I kept a copy of his book The Grand Tour, written with astronomer William K. Hartman, on my reference shelf all through the nineties. He worked as production illustrator for Dune (the David Lynch version) and Total Recall. Ron is a Jules Verne aficionado and has translated the master from the French. In addition to his award winning non-fiction, he has also written several novels.Electron Dreams, The Fantastic Art of Dominic Harman <http://www.dominic-harman.com> is an extremely user-friendly site. It’s divided into two strands: the Gallery shows original artwork and the Portfolio shows how the artwork was used in publication. Dominic is particularly forthcoming in describing the media in which he works, so we discover that, for his striking cover for Robert Reed’s "Hero," he used "Pencil, Photography, 3D Designed Elements, (and) finished on a Mac." He is somewhat less forthcoming with biographical information. His site tells us only that "Dominic Harman is young and talented and lives on the South Coast of England."Cosmographica <http://www.cosmographica.com/gallery> is the site of Don Dixon, who lives in Long Beach, California, and is currently art director of Griffin Observatory in Los Angeles. Definitely check out Don’s Introductions, both for the "normal people" and "art critics." Here’s an excerpt from the art critic side: "The viewer can gaze upon airless landscapes that are bereft of any earthly softness as an artist might contemplate a bare canvas: a place of potential, waiting patiently to be shaped or explored by human hands and minds." Perhaps the most spectacular feature of this site is the movies created by Don and his cosmographica team. Dive through the cloud deck of Titan to zoom along its surface or sail alongside the icy rings of Saturn.
While not a personal webpage as such, there is an extensive spread of Michael Koelsch’s work and a short bio at <http://www.shannonassociates.com/artists/index.cfm?artist_name=michaelkoelsch>, where we learn that Michael is a Californian. According to the site, "Although styles may change, emphasis on strong design and composition, texture, and color are always key to the success of his illustrations." He has won many awards, including a Silver Medal at the Society of Illustrators.
Ground Zero <http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~fredgamb> is the website of British artist Fred Gambino. I suppose I should confess a bias when it comes to Fred’s work, since, although I have lusted after all the illustrations of stories of mine that have made Asimov’s covers, his is the only art I’ve been able to acquire. That’s it right over there (pointing with pride), hanging on the wall of my office. Fred’s website is packed with thumbnails organized into five categories: aliens, hardware, robots, heroes and heroines, and other genres. Although he started his career in acrylics, much of his recent work is in digital applications. In addition to his illustrations, he worked on the CGI for Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius.
Alas, I couldn’t find a website for Aldo Spadoni, who is President of Aerospace Imagineering, a consulting firm specializing in advanced technology conceptual design and visualization for the aerospace, publishing, television, and motion picture industries. If anyone knows of one, please pass the URL along. In the meantime, check out his cool drawings of the battleship Michael <http://www.up-ship.com/apr/michael.htm> from Larry Niven <http://www.larryniven.org> and Jerry Pournelle’s <http://www.jerrypournelle.com> novel Footfall.
site chat
Like many holders of intellectual property, artists must strike a balance between making their work available on the web and discouraging unauthorized use. I interviewed both Michael Carroll and Fred Gambino for this column. I was interested in how they decided to put their art on their websites.
Jim: I’m wondering how concerned you are about people downloading your art?Michael: I do worry a bit about people using my stuff without me knowing, and so I keep digital images fairly low (usually 72dpi). However, my wonderful webmeister is helping me put together a new site, and on it we will have clickable art that can be seen in more detail than the thumbnails I currently have. I want people to be able to enjoy the stuff.Fred: The thing is that the images on the site are still too small to be useful for anything commercial. I have a lot of images in print in various books, including my own (Jim’s note: Ground Zero by Fred Gambino, Collins & Brown; ISBN: 1855858916). As you probably know, these images are a lot more useful for people to use as they can scan them in at higher resolutions. But I don’t believe that there are hundreds of people out there making vast incomes out of my images. If only that were true!
Someone recently e-mailed me a flyer he found on a New York sidewalk that used one of my images to promote a rave. What am I going to do? It would be a waste of time trying to sue them. No, I’m flattered that they chose my image. This doesn’t mean that it is OK and of course if I ever saw one being used to promote a real commercial concern, it would be a different matter. I’m just trying to be realistic.
Jim: Can people buy your work at your site?Fred: No. I enjoy selling them at conventions, where they will go for higher individual prices and the buyer is happy because he is truly getting something unique. It’s unlikely that any more than half a dozen prints of any one image will ever be made or sold, so the high price they can fetch at con auctions, sometimes as much as $250, is much more justifiable. Obviously I’m not going to get rich doing this, it’s just a bit of fun and, as I say, hopefully the buyer will feel he is getting something of real worthMichael: Yes, but for me, e-business has been quite slow. I prefer to let my favorite gallery, Novaspace <http://www.novaspace.com> in Tucson, sell my originals. My own website has been a great tool for getting exposure–although one must be careful: dozens of people in Colorado die of exposure every year! The best thing about my website is that I can use it as an electronic portfolio, so that prospective clients can log on and see my style.
Exit
For all that we writers whine about science fiction art, I’m here to tell you that getting the cover of Asimov’s, or any other magazine, has to rank as a career highlight. And it’s a difficult trick to turn. How difficult? Well, consider the career of one James Patrick Kelly–as we seem to do so often in this space. By my count I’ve published thirty-one stories in this magazine over the last mumblety-mumble years. Of those, just five have made the cover. That means I’m batting a paltry .161.
Hey Gardner, I’m due! C’mon, Sheila, what do you say?
