Alison Eldred blog

Jim Burns at the Sci-Fi and Comic Extravaganza

admin — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:40:48 +0000

The organisers of the Science Fiction and Comic Extravaganza to be held in Bath, Somerset this weekend were lucky to have Jim Burns close by. He’s designed their flyer and other publicity and he will also take part in the event as Guest of Honour. It’s the first time that this event has been held and it promises quite a collection of art.

Jim will be selling high-quality giclee prints at the show and also will also bring the fine original paintings produced for the first edition hardbacks of George R R Martin’s series, A Song of Ice and Fire. Some people are more likely to recognise the title of the first book in the series, A Game of Thrones, now such a popular TV series. Here are two of the covers. There are four in all.

19th/20th May 2012, 10am to 5pm, The Masonic Hall, Old Orchard Street, Bath.

Turkish Folk Tales

admin — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 10:06:11 +0000

Paul Hess has illustrated a collection of Turkish Folk Tales for Frances Lincoln. Here is the cover plus some of the inside line drawings which demonstrate so well the unusual compositions and minimal line work for which Paul is so well known. More fiction illustration here, and picture books here.

Jim Kay for the Greenaway, and prints for sale

admin — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 20:23:55 +0000

Congratulations to Jim Kay on the nomination of his illustration work for the book, A Monster Calls, for the Kate Greenaway Medal. Already nominated for many other awards and the winner of the Galaxy and Red House awards, this is exciting news. In addition to that, Patrick Ness has been nominated for the Carnegie Medal for this same remarkable book so our congratulations go to him as well. More, from Toby Clements in The Telegraph.

We now have some beautiful giclee prints for sale. Do email me if you’re interested.

New illustration by Gordon Crabb

admin — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 10:09:55 +0000

Gordon’s work for both US and UK book cover publishers in the last year has been diverse and very well received. There’s a good collection of new work in his illustration portfolio now, and we’ve also included some stock imagery as well.

He’s well known for his book cover work for the mass market but there’s also the potential for publishers to take advantage of his imagination when it can run free. See “Literary Fiction” for that. Also the section on Fine Art Prints.

John Harris SF originals for sale

admin — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 18:56:50 +0000

You can now find a collection of the latest science fiction originals by John Harris. There are oil paintings, pastels and charcoal drawings for sale. Some were originally produced for book covers and some are based on his own ideas.

The Red House Children’s Book Award

admin — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 15:09:27 +0000

Nine hundred people, most of whom were children in their book groups, gathered in the Queen Elizabeth Hall yesterday for a very entertaining ceremony for the Red House Children’s Book Award. All the nominated authors were asked various questions and the one which they all had to answer was about what was so important about this award in particular – and they all gave the same answer. That it was a competition judged by children and therefore it meant a lot to them.

It also meant a lot to us that the winner of the category for older readers was won by Patrick Ness and Jim Kay for A Monster Calls. In his acceptance speech Patrick was very generous in his praise of Jim for his illustrations as well as for Siobhan Dowd whose idea for the book he has so movingly brought to life.

We were even more delighted when we found that A Monster Calls had been voted the best overall, from each of the categories. Congratulations to Patrick and to Jim and to Walker Books on the most successful of collaborations. More on the awards here.

Gordon Crabb – and Farseed

admin — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:38:10 +0000

Gordon Crabb worked on a new cover for Earthseed by Pamela Sargent for Tor Books last year, and has now followed up with Farseed.

More of his illustration work here.

John Harris landscape originals

admin — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:01:08 +0000

We’ve added more of John’s landscape paintings. He’s been quietly painting the trees of Devon and we’re going to add these luscious views to the landscapes part of the site. There are also more book cover originals. However highly praised they were when he did them, he was never that careful about relevance to the novel. He was just enjoying himself painting the trees and skies.

John Harris landscape paintings for sale here.

Looking for girls?

admin — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:50:47 +0000

It’s fascinating to see how different people have used Gordon Crabb’s stock photography on their covers. We’ve just added more images to the site, and they’re divided into centuries to make your life slightly easier. Gordon Crabb stock images.

Kindle Christmas

admin — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 15:59:04 +0000

Among my Christmas gifts I found a new spirit and a new appreciation for fantastic illustration. I was given beautiful books (admittedly sometimes ‘given’ to myself) about artists and their work (Harvey Kurtsman, John Burningham, William Steig) and about illustration (All the Art that’s Fit to Print – and Some that Wasn’t, Sketchtravel), and also a copy of A Boy and a Bear in a Boat which is a fine example of the kind of children’s illustrated novel for which publishers are getting an appetite.

This is all very heartening. It seems that far from heralding the doom of the book, the success of the Kindle is opening another door. Perhaps we’ll read more of our novels on the Kindle but I think we’re also going to have more well-produced, beautifully-illustrated books – perhaps even more so than before. They might not be cheap, but some will be for children, some for adults, and some for anyone of any age who likes to relax with a good book and some chocolate on a wet afternoon. In 2012 I shall certainly do my best to help this idea along.