The frontispiece (the illustration right inside the front cover) is arguably the most important drawing in the entire book. It is often the first image a reader experiences and sets the tone for the story to come. When brainstorming The Maelstrom's frontispiece, I wanted to create something that had an epic feel and would really showcase the book's central theme; namely the threat posed to Rowan by the forces of Prusias. Hopefully the image of Max astride YaYa is a fun teaser for readers who have never yet beheld such a sight. I wouldn't want to be that ogre!

At long last, here is the latest cover illustration for The Maelstrom. Cory Godbey has done a wonderful job once again and I think the drawing hints at some intriguing developments in the story. The central figure (and indeed this book's central threat) is our old friend, Prusias. The latest I've heard is that the book will be released in October 2012. I hope you're excited as I am!

As I've been working on character studies for various illustrations, it occurred to me that we needed one for the mysterious, mercurial David Menlo. Here is our favorite one-handed Sorcerer looking intently at something unnameable while holding an antique thurible (a device for burning incense and used in many holy — or unholy! — ceremonies.... We'll be spending lots of time with David in The Maelstrom and I think readers will be pleased to get to know David a little better and to see his and Max's friendship grow. David might even find himself a girlfriend....

Still working on illustrations and recently did this character study of Max for one of the interior plates. We haven't scene an entire drawing of Max like this in quite some time and thus it was fun to do. I'm working on one of David at the moment (as part of another, larger drawing) and will post it shortly. The Maelstrom is really coming together nicely - can't wait to see the finished product and share it with you!

Working in pen and ink requires a commitment - after all, there's no erasing a mistake on the final art and it's always been important to me that I have a finished piece of art (as opposed to simply a computer file). It's truly a headache to have to start all over due to a silly mistake or not having thought through my composition and thus I spend some time working out the larger illustrations before diving right in.

This is a good example of how I might work - a combination of sketching, manipulating my own drawings to create something like this palanquin, and using objects such as the chairs and rug to help give me the sense of of how to balance the room. While I'm sure there are Photoshop gurus who use things like perspective grids, I'm hardly a guru and thus I do much of the per [...]
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