358. Black ink and black color pencil on 11 x 14 size coquille board. The title seems to contradiction the accepted theory in physics, that nothing can exceed the speed of light, which is approximately 300,000 miles per second in empty space. And that is the problem dealt with in the article I illustrated. If we are ever going to reach the stars we have to deal with the fact that they are so very far away that we can't even talk about the distances being in \"miles,\" the numbers would have too many zeros, it would be unprintably long. So we use the term, \"Light-years'\" instead, and to understand what a Light-year is you have to imagine this; You are in a spaceship capable of moving at the speed of light and you have just taken off from Earth. In just one second you have traveled 300,000 miles, and after one full day you have ventured 10.4 billion miles into space. You then occupy yourself aboard that ship traveling at that speed, and one full year later you have traveled 3,800 billion miles, or One Light-year.

","358. FasterThanLight.8d8a509e-e727-40e1-99c6-1e96b029565c.jpg","\\artwork\\358. FasterThanLight.8d8a509e-e727-40e1-99c6-1e96b029565c.jpg",360,"Acute Triangle 1","357. ACUTE TRIANGLE 1 - A black ink and gray color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the paperback, \"Proteus\".

Sometimes a painting is more than just an impressive and expensive work of art, sometimes it has a value not measured in dollars. In August, 1814 the portrait of George Washington, painted by Gilbert Stuart in 1796, hung in the dining room of the White House. The War of 1812 was going on, the sound of canon fire could be heard from inside the White House, a British regiment was ascending on the district of Columbia . . .

The roads leading out of Washington, DC. Were filled with fleeing soldiers, citizens on carts filled with their belongings, and statesmen in coaches containing important papers, including the Declaration of Independence.

Back at the White House, Mr. Carroll, a friend of President Madison was begging Dolly Madison to leave, the British were only minutes away! Dolly had been directing the evacuation of the White House and just about everything of value was stacked on wagons ready to leave. But Dolly now stood in the dining room looking at the huge portrait of Washington. It would be an unbearable disgrace if it fell into the hands of the British, especially if they destroyed it.

She ordered the painting to be removed but the frame was screwed to the wall, it would take too long to unscrew. She ordered the men to destroy the frame and one of them ran out of the room and returned quickly with an axe. He whacked at the frame, breaking it apart. The canvas was removed, rolled up, wrapped in a cloth and placed in one of the wagons. Soon after their escape the British came and burned down the Capitol and the White House.

Dolly Madison risked her life, or perhaps being captured by the British, to rescue the painting. That full length portrait of George Washington now hangs in the East room of the present White House.","357. Proteus Pb-Acute Triangle 1.5e3f6a92-3e1f-4723-b23c-32534fbf4705.jpg","\\artwork\\357. Proteus Pb-Acute Triangle 1.5e3f6a92-3e1f-4723-b23c-32534fbf4705.jpg",359,"The Vultures - Endpaper","356. THE VULTURES: Endpaper -A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size poster board. It appears on the endpapers of the book, \"The Vultures,\" by Robert E. Howard, published by Fictioneer Books, 2nd edition, 1974. The 1st edition in 1973 did not feature this endpaper drawing.

In 1949 I was in the United States Army Air Force, taking my basic training at an Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas. I didn't see any of those rocky formations that you see in this endpaper drawing.

One week-end a bunch of us recruits got enough guys together to play a soft-ball game out near the air field. The Air Base was in the middle of nowhere, at any point outside the base proper you could look in any direction and see nothing; no mountains, no trees, nothing but flat earth. An amazing sight for me to see, coming from New Jersey.

One of the guys came up to me and said, \"Hey, Fabian, bet you Ten Dollars I can knock you down right where you stand without touching you.\" Knowing it's got to be some kind of trick I said, \"Forget the bet, what's the trick?\"

\"Just stand there and concentrate looking at the horizon line,\" he said. So I did.

Within a minute I fell down on my back, grabbing at grass, trying to keep from falling off the earth. That was my first and only experience with, \"Vertigo,\" a truly frightening feeling.

It took me about ten minutes to recover from it. Everybody laughed, and then we chose sides and played the game.","356. Vultures EP.f05fbfa0-b388-4718-b612-b0a8c5f9eb4b.jpg","\\artwork\\356. Vultures EP.f05fbfa0-b388-4718-b612-b0a8c5f9eb4b.jpg",358,"The Last Night of the Festival","355. THE LAST NIGHT OF THE FESTIVAL - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It illustrates the story, \"On the Last Night of the Festival of the Dead\" by Darrell Schweitzer, in \"Weird Tales, Sum.1998

I consider story illustrations to have two purposes; the first of course is to represent a part of the narrative, the second is to be an independent work of art.

Incredibly, during the 1920s-1950s Golden Age of illustration, book and magazine cover paintings and story illustrations were not considered to be \"art,\" most of the original artwork was discarded after publication, thrown into the trash-bin. How sad.

But around 1965, just about the time I started getting interested in the illustration profession, fans of comic books and science fiction began to seriously collect the original artwork of their favorite illustrators. And that of course created a monetary value for illustration art where once it had none, or was at best a minimal amount.

By the time my artwork started getting into print lady luck had managed to create a substantial market for original illustrations, and when I went into it full time, the sale of my original drawings made up the greater percentage of my income. Without those lucrative sales I doubt that my income from the publishers alone, would have been enough to sustain me as a freelance illustrator..

So, while I have \"accentuated the positive, eliminated the negative, and not messed with Mr. In-between,\" it is amazing how the direction of my life has been mostly governed by factors over which I had no control.","Plate 11.d2b942a5-25a2-415d-8f93-7a27c663b1a8.jpg","\\artwork\\Plate 11.d2b942a5-25a2-415d-8f93-7a27c663b1a8.jpg",357,"Shadowings","354. SHADOWINGS - A black ink and gray color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears on the cover of \"Shadowings,\" by Douglas Winter, published by Starmont House in 1983. The subtitle reads: The Reader's Guide to Horror Fiction: 1981-82.

I really hate the Grim Reaper, the fact that I have to meet him some day soon really bugs me. But oddly, he reminds me of a funny story I once read about a man who found himself facing death, and the Savior . . .

While hiking in the wilderness along the edge of a cliff, this man stumbled over an exposed root and as he fell over the edge he managed to grab onto a bush growing just below the top. As he dangled a thousand feet above the canyon floor, unable to pull himself up without dislodging the bush, he called out in desperation, \"Is anybody there?\"

After a few moments the incredible voice of the Lord echoed throughout the cavern, \"YES, I AM HERE, WHAT DO YOU WANT?'

The man pleaded, \"Please save me! I can't hold on much longer!\"

A moment later THE voice said, \"OK, I WILL SAVE YOU. TURN LOOSE OF THE BUSH, TRUST ME TO CATCH YOU, MY HANDS WILL BE UNDER YOU.\"

The dangling man peered down over his shoulder at the valley floor so far down, thought about it a bit . . and called out, \"Is anybody ELSE there?\"

Faith and Reality . . . If you \"BELIEVE,\" then your Faith IS your Reality.","354. Shadowings.7e385edf-1d5e-45d6-9498-04ab3d3b29e5.jpg","\\artwork\\354. Shadowings.7e385edf-1d5e-45d6-9498-04ab3d3b29e5.jpg",356,"The Elvin Gypsy","353. THE ELFIN GYPSY - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears on the back cover of, \"WEIRDBOOK 27\".

The German poet, Schiller wrote, \"Deeper meaning resides in the fairy tales told to me in my childhood than in the truth that is taught by life\".

I suppose he refers to the guiding tenet in all fairy tales; that to be a human being means having to accept difficult challenges, and encountering the most awesome adventures that life offers.

In fairy tales, good always defeats evil, but we know that in the real world that's not always so. In real life, when Americans fought the British Army to gain freedom from England's rule, the British captured Patrick Henry. You know his famous words, \"I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death\". They hung him. He died a free man and inspired other Americans to continue the fight for freedom.

Fairy tales are metaphors that reinforce our belief that there is no alternative; good must defeat evil, now and for all time. And though, for every evil person, evil organization, or evil nation that goes down, it seems there is another that rises in its place. So it is that heroes must always rise to fight them, with a battle hymn like;

\" Lift ev'ry voice and sing
Till earth and heaven ring
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty . . . \"

- from the Negro national anthem,

. . . And that's no fairy tale.","Plate 13.62bb44a4-0d62-46f9-8a4f-b885e7cdca5e.jpg","\\artwork\\Plate 13.62bb44a4-0d62-46f9-8a4f-b885e7cdca5e.jpg",355,"The Raven","352. THE RAVEN - A 9 x 12 scratchboard drawing. It appears in the book, \"The Fire-Fiend and The Raven, by Charles D. Gardette and Edgar Allan Poe, published by de la Ree in 1973.

Edgar Allan Poe (1809 - 1849) - A major writer in American literature as a poet, a short story writer, and a critic. He is also credited with being a pioneer of Horror, science fiction, and the detective story.

He was a uniquely talented man, but a sadly troubled man. He lived for only 40 years. 164 years have passed since he died and still his haunting works continue to be published. And as long as that remains so, we will always have the pleasure of reading the works of Edgar Allan Poe.","352. The Raven.7059f6f5-eb00-406b-acf9-363b9285a026.jpg","\\artwork\\352. The Raven.7059f6f5-eb00-406b-acf9-363b9285a026.jpg",354,"ISMET","351. Black and white drawing on 11 x 14 size coquille board. Appears in the book, \"Alien Flesh\" by Seabury Quinn, published by Train, 1977, used as Frontispiece.

You have heard the saying, \"Beauty fades but stupid lasts forever\". How much better life would be if we could reverse that saying to, \"Stupid fades and beauty lasts forever\".

I received an email recently from a woman who wrote to tell me how much she liked this drawing of Ismet, and included this sensitive poem that she wrote about the fleeting nature of \"beauty\" . . .

\"Time, that insidious thief,
robs me of my precious youth,
etching his lines on my canvas
as he quickly passes.
An unappreciated masterpiece
in a gallery of modern art.\"
- by Kathleen Robson","351. Ismet.f14ee8fa-3ec1-42aa-82f3-5c314d381a88.jpg","\\artwork\\351. Ismet.f14ee8fa-3ec1-42aa-82f3-5c314d381a88.jpg",353,"The Shattered Goddess 1","350. THE SHATTERED GODDESS 1 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the softcover book, \"The Shattered Goddess,\" by Darrell Schweitzer, published by Donning Books.

Most of the time, when I sat down to plan on how I would illustrate a book, I came up with a picture design that included a complicated border, like the one you see here. The borders would add a lot of time to the project, but I never let \"time\" be a factor in how I approached a drawing assignment.

My approach to illustration is founded on the principle that my effort should be aimed at satisfying myself. If I liked what I did then I could assume that others would also like it. No guarantee of that, of course.

Although I'm aware that no picture can be \"perfect,\" I had to be convinced that the drawing I just finished was the best I could do at the time. Sometimes, I looked at a finished drawing and sadly thought, \"You can do better than that! So, painfully, I discarded the drawing and started over, looking for a new idea to pop up in my mind. And it always did. And I was always pleased with myself that I took the time to do it over and create a picture that satisfied my need to do a good drawing.","350. Shattered Goddess 1.242570bc-19ec-4125-a250-6c005bd2856a.jpg","\\artwork\\350. Shattered Goddess 1.242570bc-19ec-4125-a250-6c005bd2856a.jpg",352,"The Shattered Goddess - Cover","349. THE SHATTERED GODDESS - An acrylic painting on a 14 x 18 size poster board. It appears on the cover of the softcover book, \"The Shattered Goddess,\" by Darrell Schweitzer, published by Donning Books.

My nephew Steven Brizek recently drove me to Chads Ford, Pennsylvania, to visit the art museums of N.C. Wyeth and his son Andrew Wyeth. Newell Converse Wyeth's paintings were exciting to look at, many were scenes he painted for classic adventure books, while others were early American historical scenes that appeared in magazines like \"Scribners\" and \"Century\" during the early 1900s. All of them were fine examples of the golden age of illustration, filled with life, action, and emotion

How odd then, that his son's paintings are so strikingly different from his father's paintings. Andrew is credited with being a superior painter compared to his father, but Andrew's work, though rendered masterfully, appeared static. My nephew, Steven used a kinder term, he described them as being \"melancholy\". Andrew Wyeth had the entire world including the American landscape from which he might have chosen wonderful scenes to paint, as well as painting portraits of famous people, past and present, to immortalize on canvas, but he limited himself to painting commonplace things in his own back yard. I glanced from N.C. Wyeth's painting of Lincoln giving his 2nd inaugural address, to Andrew's painting of an old, dented, rusty pail near a cobwebbed shed window, and wondered how this could be?

Andrew Wyeth also painted portraits of two visiting women that appear just as \"melancholy\" as his other paintings. He was of course, free to paint whatever he wanted, but it seems sad to me that his \"vision\" and \"imagination\" were so incredibly limited. Perhaps it was because he was born and raised in a country home, was educated at home, never went to a public school, that his \"world\" did not extend beyond the trees that surrounded his home.

As we drove home I felt grateful that I had the pleasure of looking at the works of two truly outstanding American artists.","349. Shattered Goddess.8ff08b94-c5e8-450d-b1a7-a646fd0050cc.jpg","\\artwork\\349. Shattered Goddess.8ff08b94-c5e8-450d-b1a7-a646fd0050cc.jpg",351,"Letterhead - Cushway","348. LETTERHEAD: Cushway - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board.

This letterhead design was commissioned by Peter Cushway. In the actual drawing the border line on the right side is extended much further out to the right allowing for Cushing's name and business address.

When I did this drawing I used a \"fine\" coquille board paper. The paper came in three textures; fine, medium, and coarse. As my supply of this \"fine\" textured paper diminished I went to buy some more and found out that both \"fine\" and \"medium\" textures would no longer be produced, only the coarse textured paper would be manufactured.

The art store clerk suggested that if I intended to work with the \"fine\" textured paper for an extended time I should buy up the entire supply they had in stock.

I went home, called up the manufacturer and asked if what the art store clerk told me was true. It was, the manufacturer told me that the \"fine\" and \"medium\" metal rollers used to make the textures wore out, and to make new rollers was not financially practical.

So I went back to the art store and bought all the fine and medium coquille board paper he had in stock. The supply lasted me for my entire career as an illustrator. The \"fine\" textured paper lasted for about five more years, after which I began using the \"medium\" textured paper. I still have some left, enough to draw about a 100 pictures.

I remember sending some of the fine and medium textured paper to a few other artists in the field who contacted me. They had also used coquille board and could no longer find it in any art supply stores.","348. Letterhead-Cushway.71715e00-06e1-40e8-8221-ff2da40ef006.jpg","\\artwork\\348. Letterhead-Cushway.71715e00-06e1-40e8-8221-ff2da40ef006.jpg",350,"The Black Flame 3","347. THE BLACK FLAME 3 - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in \"The Black Flame,\" by Lynn Abbey, published by Ace Pb in 1985

This novel contains a major flaw that I would have pointed out to the editor, but having done so with another story and another editor, I learned my lesson and kept my opinion to myself.

But I decided to reveal that flaw in the story, here, where it can do no harm to the author, or me, at this late date. The flaw is in the omnipotent mental power the author gives to the heroic young lady in the story; whatever the danger, whatever the threat, she can \"think\" her way out of it . . .

She gets trapped in a dead-end mountain pass by several mad barbarians who are about to hack her to pieces, and she just thinks of herself standing on the other side of the mountain, and whoops!, there she is, standing on the other side of the mountain, out of the trap! . . .

A small village she is in is about to be attacked by a barbarian horde coming through the pass eager to wreck havoc on the villagers. Our heroic young lady warrior sees the eminent disaster coming and just \"thinks\" of the mountains on both sides of the pass breaking up into boulders and crashing down on the barbarian army, and that's what happens, the village is saved!

It seems to me that in any legitimate story, dangerous situations must appear to be real, and the \"possibility\" for evil forces to prevail must exist. In this story the young lady's mental power negates any threats that may come her way. So, if she can just \"think\" away any danger that threatens, then where is the danger?. Where is the drama?","347. Black Flame 3.e23df177-1495-469e-ab78-d723caffb37c.jpg","\\artwork\\347. Black Flame 3.e23df177-1495-469e-ab78-d723caffb37c.jpg",349,"The Black Flame 2","346. THE BLACK FLAME 2 - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in, \"The Black Flame,\" by Lynn Abbey, published by Ace Pb in 1985.

Women warriors . . .

There was a time when I thought that women were our treasures; they are the objects of our love, they bring into life our children, they are the reason the human race continues to endure from generation to generation. \"Women and children first\" is what you hear when life-boats are lowered from a sinking ship . . .

I used to think that there could never be a time when men would allow women to fight in a war, to have to face an enemy in battle, to take a bullet and die, for whatever the cause . . .

But now, I see them in battle fatigues and backpacks, holding deadly weapons, fighting the enemy in Afghanistan, and elsewhere . . .

I see them on television in hospitals, recovering from wounds, trying on prosthetic legs or arms, or both, lost in battle.

I see them coming home in body-bags . . .

Yes, whatever men can do, women can do, and that incudes fighting side by side with men in battle . . .

But what I used to think, I still do. Women can fight as well as men, but that does not mean that they should. We men diminish ourselves when we allow women to go in harm's way.","346. Daughter of the Bright Moon - 3.b3fef13a-3285-4726-a535-dbc17b12b5ee.jpg","\\artwork\\346. Daughter of the Bright Moon - 3.b3fef13a-3285-4726-a535-dbc17b12b5ee.jpg",348,"The Black Flame 1","345. THE BLACK FLAME 1 - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the Pb, \"The Black Flame,\" by Lynn Abbey, Ace Pb, 1985

The year was 1933, the place was Main avenue in Passaic, NJ. The event was the Veteran's Day parade. I was 3 years old and still remember sitting on the shoulders of my father, feeling his hands holding my feet. We came early to get a good spot on the sidewalk, right at the curb. It seemed as if the entire city was there, it was hard to find a good place to stand. And after a time I heard voices shouting, \"Here they come!\" And then in the distance I heard the sound of, \"Tum Ditty Tum, Ditty Tum Tum Tum . . .

And boy! Did they come! At that young age I was in awe of the crowds, of the many loud bands, of the seemingly endless ranks of World War one veterans, horses, rolling canons, armored trucks, flags and banners. And when the last of them had passed by, the crowds remained, waiting . . .

And then, again; \"Tum Ditty Tum, Ditty tum tum tum\". And I saw two soldiers on horseback coming slowly down the street. Two old men, one dressed in blue, and the other in gray. Behind them came more old soldiers, on foot, in blue and in gray, some in full uniform, some partly in uniform, some using canes to walk, a few in wheelchairs. And instead of cheers people yelled slogans and hosannas, and battle cries! And I saw some people with tears in their eyes! - One long-bearded soldier dressed in gray passed by so close to me that I leaned forward to try to touch him, but he was a bit too far. He smiled at me as he marched by . . .

I used to think of THE CIVIL WAR as early American history, an important event that happened a long time ago. But now, when I realize that I almost touched one of the soldiers who fought in the war . . . then, didn't it happen just yesterday?","345. Black Flame 1.7b52ee0d-d770-491e-b0e1-a3812a2670e7.jpg","\\artwork\\345. Black Flame 1.7b52ee0d-d770-491e-b0e1-a3812a2670e7.jpg",347,"Elysia 9","344. ELYSIA 9 - A black ink and gray color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the book, \"Elysia: the Coming of Cthulhu,\" by Brian Lumley, published by Ganley in 1989.

What you see here is an alien from outer space. He is fictional, of course, but what are the chances of there being real aliens in outer space?

These are the facts as I have come to know them from all the reading I have done on the subject; Our planet circles a star that is one of many that form a shape in outer space that is called the Milky Way Galaxy. There are an estimated 100 to 400 billion stars in the galaxy with probably as many planets orbiting around many of them. Our scientists have estimated that at least 1,000 of those planets may support highly intelligent life forms capable of technologies equal to or greater than ours. If any of them exist and have sent signals into space, as we have, our computerized-radio telescopes have not heard a beep out of them.

But there are billions of galaxies in the universe, each with billions of stars, so the mathematical estimate of possible planets with intelligent life forms in the universe is in the billions! - so why is it that not one of those intelligent races has acquired advanced technologically to the point of being capable of sending signals into outer space? Like we have, in search of other life forms in the universe?

The universe is so immense, the distances are so vast, that a million alien races existing on planets in various parts of deep space may, in fact be sending us those signals we are listening for. But even traveling at the speed of light, those signals may not appear within our area of space for some time to come.

And if some day our astronomers begin hearing . . . Beep . . . Beep, Beep . . . Beep, Bee, Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep, Beep . . . Beep, Beep, Beep . . .

Our lives will change. Completely . . .","344. Elysia 9.bb09810d-b179-4b20-8c97-2cb8b4b174c9.jpg","\\artwork\\344. Elysia 9.bb09810d-b179-4b20-8c97-2cb8b4b174c9.jpg",346,"Elysia 8","343. ELYSIA 8 - A black ink and gray color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the book, \"Elysia: the Coming of Cthulhu,\" by Brian Lumley, published by Ganley in 1989.

A man's spirit should guide him to do work that gives meaning to his existence . . .

Artist Eugene Delacroix wrote; the virtue of a painting is to be not only a feast for the eyes, but also a bridge connecting the painter's mind with that of a viewer.

Applying that same reasoning to a book; it's virtue should be as food for thought, linking the writer's mind to that of the reader.

I suppose you can say that about every art form.","343. Elysia 8.fbabfc6f-7c86-4d1a-b3a5-c9dbd84284fe.jpg","\\artwork\\343. Elysia 8.fbabfc6f-7c86-4d1a-b3a5-c9dbd84284fe.jpg",345,"Elysia 7","342. ELYSIA 7 - A black ink and gray color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the book, \"Elysia: the Coming of Cthulhu,\" by Brian Lumley, published by Ganley in 1989.

My mother and father came to America from Czechoslovakia in the early 1920s. I was born in 1930 and most of the men I came to know while growing up were cousins or friends of the family who also came from Czechoslovakia. They all spoke the Czech language and eventually l learned to understand what they were saying. In their conversations the word, \"robotnic\" came up often, it meant, \"worker,\" and I put no other meaning to it until years later . . .

In 1950 I began reading science fiction stories, some of which featured, \"robots,\" like Isaac Asimov's magazine series of robot stories that were later collected in book form as, \"I, Robot\". At that time I made no connection between those SF robots and my Czech \"robotnic\" relations. Until I came across a Czech writer, Karel Capek who wrote a stage play in 1921, \"R.U.R.\" (Rossum's Universal Robots). It was this Czech writer who first came up with the word,\"robot\" so undoubtedly, the word \"robotnic\" as used by my Czech relatives and friends was an extension of that word.

However, robots in American science fiction were typically mechanical men like the one you see in my drawing, or others with a more modern metallic design. But the robots in R.U.R. are \"humans\" created artificially in bio-chemical vats, and they are so accurately reproduced, that they even have souls. Rossum produces them to serve as workers so that \"real\" humans no longer have to work. But his \"robots\" revolt and defeat their masters, thereby winning their freedom to be human beings.

So, though my Czech dad and his friends and relatives may have referred to themselves as \"robotnics,\" I don't think they all came out of chemical vats! I was a robotnic once, until I became an illustrator.","342. Elysia 7.48860d1f-7e7b-4eba-b759-8e79250bef93.jpg","\\artwork\\342. Elysia 7.48860d1f-7e7b-4eba-b759-8e79250bef93.jpg",344,"Elysia 6","341. ELYSIA 6 - A black ink and gray color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the book, \"Elysia: the Coming of Cthulhu,\" by Brian Lumley, published by Ganley in 1989.

There is a very large building in Paris, France that holds \"The Museum of Man\". Inside you can see the remains of a two-hundred-thousand year old creature called, \"Homo habilis\" found in East Africa. When alive, it was about four feet tall, walked upright, and compared with every other creature on earth, it had a much larger brain. It made tools by chipping away at stones, and because of \"him\" and others like him, you and I are here. . .

The museum is a vast array of large and small rooms, some open for public viewing, others are used for current research. But there is one large room located in a remote area of the museum that contains disturbing collections that make this museum, in my mind, a \"House of Horrors\" . . .

In the dark recesses of that remote room you will find shrunken heads with leathery lips pulled back over tiny grimacing teeth, a large number of Jars containing human fetuses floating in greenish liquids, long dead Siamese twins joined at the sternum, and a large array of bottles on shelf after shelf containing perfectly preserved human heads of men, women and children of all races. Heads that were decapitated and sent to this museum a long time ago for study. Among them a young mustachioed man, a pretty girl of about four wearing coral ear rings, three infant heads sharing one wide bottle . . . So many human heads with sightless eyes peering out of their bottles . . .

And in another dim part of that awful room you will find shelf after shelf of bottled human brains preserved in formalin. The horror is that whatever \"studies\" were done on these human remains has long been abandoned. It is time to pay them respect, and bury them.","341. Elysia 6.9ce71146-331f-427e-a2f4-70fc082a5da7.jpg","\\artwork\\341. Elysia 6.9ce71146-331f-427e-a2f4-70fc082a5da7.jpg",343,"Elysia 5","340. ELYSIA 5 - A black ink and gray color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the book, \"Elysia: the Coming of Cthulhu,\" by Brian Lumley, published by Ganley in 1989.

May I present to you, The Hustlers . . .

The worshippers approached the citizen and said,
\"May your house be safe from tigers\".

The citizen responded,
\"Thanks, but there are no tigers around here\".

The worshippers replied,
\"Not any more, of course . . . Would you like to donate
a few pasadas as a token of your appreciation?","340. Elysia 5.32a305f3-5208-4cfa-a478-4dbff3031d13.jpg","\\artwork\\340. Elysia 5.32a305f3-5208-4cfa-a478-4dbff3031d13.jpg",342,"Elysia 4","339. ELYSIA 4 - .A black ink and gray color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the book, \"Elysia: the Coming of Cthulhu,\" by Brian Lumley, published by Ganley in 1989.

Behind those dark sultry eyes there is an unmistakable aura of sensuous attractiveness that men find impossible to deny . . .

Reading about imaginary people doing courageous things sometimes fills me with gratitude to those writers whose works convey man's great potential, and for giving us wonderful adventures that we readers can only dream about, tales for our heart's delight.

Some of the writers who spin these tales are often dismissed by critics, even considered as failures by the way the world measures success. But the significance of their continued publication remains to reproach those critics who make contemptuous judgments against them. By what values do you determine whether a mans work is a success, or a failure?

While criticism based on valid scholarship is important to literature, it is also important to be aware of pretentious criticism based on false scholarship.","339. Elysia 4.e2dde0b1-1c07-4d37-9fb3-ca490eb77a87.jpg","\\artwork\\339. Elysia 4.e2dde0b1-1c07-4d37-9fb3-ca490eb77a87.jpg",341,"Elysia 3","338. ELYSIA 3 - A black ink and gray color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the book, \"Elysia: the Coming of Cthulhu,\" by Brian Lumley, published by Ganley in 1989.

Jane Yolen wrote a story in which a prophet tells the king that if a single ray of sunlight should strike the eyes of the son he is expecting to be born soon, his son will die. And so the king has a castle built inside a mountain where the son is born and raised, never seeing daylight . . .

Until he reaches the age of manhood and meets a beautiful girl who comes to his birthday party inside the mountain castle. They fall in love and set a date to be married. But she doesn't want to live inside a mountain for the rest of her life, so she tries to convince the prince that the prophecy is false, that sunlight cannot kill him. And even though he was raised to believe in the prophecy, he decides to take her hand on the night before their wedding, and go outside beneath the stars and wait for the sun to rise. . .

And when the first ray of light strikes the prince's eyes, he falls back and dies.

Sometimes, what we believe, though it may be false, is stronger than the truth.

In my illustration, the young man (according to the story) is having nightmares, and the girl is trying to help him cope with them, she is trying to convince him that his fears are imaginary . . .","338. Elysia 3.11c0996d-4b12-4696-99d9-e64526d3e535.jpg","\\artwork\\338. Elysia 3.11c0996d-4b12-4696-99d9-e64526d3e535.jpg",340,"Elysia 2","337. ELYSIA 2 - A black ink and gray color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the book, \"Elysia: the Coming of Cthulhu,\" by Brian Lumley, Published by Ganley in 1989.

\"Art is a universal language,\" is a statement I've often read in books about art, and it seems like an obvious concept because no matter what country you are from, no matter what language you speak, the \"picture\" is the same to all.

But wait a minute . . . each object in a picture will be recorded with a different word in the minds of people in different countries with different languages. And each language may not have the exact same meaning for each of the words. For example; To a person in one country the \"snake-woman\" in my drawing (whatever the word for her is in that particular language) may represent someone \"evil,\" while in another country she may represent a mother-goddess, someone holy.

And that makes me doubt that \"Art is a universal language\".","337. Elysia 2.e2809a5a-b0aa-4e29-9d22-151cd0cd9fe3.jpg","\\artwork\\337. Elysia 2.e2809a5a-b0aa-4e29-9d22-151cd0cd9fe3.jpg",339,"Elysia 1","336. ELYSIA 1 - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears as the frontispiece in the book, \"Elysia, the Coming of Cthulhu,\" by Brian Lumley, published by Ganley in 1989.

When you look at this picture you need to imagine the sound of romantic music in the background of your mind, because music will help you experience the emotion going on between these two lovers.

Music is one of the primary arts, it expresses man's consciousness, it stirs our emotions; it can be inspirational, soothing, wistful, melancholy, wild and insane. It can put you down on your knees and make you shout, Hallelujah! It can make you jump up and stomp your feet to the whirling bow of a mad fiddler. It can move you to make love to the love of your life.

Nobody knows why the sound of music has such an effect on us, but I'm sure glad it does. Especially when I turn my CD player on and listen to Ella Fitzgerald sing . . \"You do something to me, something that simply mystifies me. . . Tell me what can it be, you have the power to hypnotize me . . . Let me live neath your spell . . . Do do, that voodoo, that you do, so well . . .

Music . . . It has given me more pleasure than all the other arts combined.","336. Elysia 1.feb06136-9b54-4716-9022-a2f40953975e.jpg","\\artwork\\336. Elysia 1.feb06136-9b54-4716-9022-a2f40953975e.jpg",338,"Moon Rider","335. MOON RIDER - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears as Plate 9 in my art folio, \"Fabian in Color,\" published by Starmont House in 1980. The art folio was published in a softcover and a hardcover edition. This drawing was included only in the signed hardcover edition.

I am a moon rider, a science fiction fan. On occasion though, I read historical, western, mystery, or adventure novels. And when a biography comes along about a person I think is interesting, I read that too . . .

I just finished reading, \"Killing Jesus,\" by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard. The book was written as a slice of history, covering the events of the Roman Empire leading up to, and including the Crucifixion of the man known as Jesus Christ.

What is astonishing is that the man did not travel far and wide and preach to large masses of people, he spoke locally, to relatively small groups, he had no organization at all, only a handful of followers who scattered after his death and tried to spread his message of love, hope, and truth. And for that, they also met ugly deaths.

And yet, the teachings of Jesus spread far and wide, and in time he became the most famous man on earth. The existence of God, or the truth about the man called Jesus does not depend on our believing in them. What really matters is knowing that without them nothing matters except what happens to us only while we are alive on this planet. And then, when we die, as Peggy Lee once sang so long ago, so hauntingly . . . IS THAT ALL THERE IS?

Believing in God may be difficult, but \"hoping\" He exists is not.
I hope so. Otherwise, it's Yes, Peggy, THAT . . . IS ALL THERE IS!","335. Ruins.bcaea807-a970-413f-a1ac-3c8932eefc94.jpg","\\artwork\\335. Ruins.bcaea807-a970-413f-a1ac-3c8932eefc94.jpg",337,"Morreion 6","334. MORREION 6 - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the book, \"Morreion,\" by Jack Vance, published by Underwood-Miller in 1979.

\"Volition\" is the act of making choices, making decisions. It is a fundamental attribute all artists must have because that is what art is all about; the constant making of decisions while in the process of doing the artwork. If for nothing else, an artist can be credited for having volition, for trying.

The world is over-populated with people having little or poor volition, and no wonder, making good choices and important decisions, especially at critical times, is often very difficult.

I don't know what they teach in our schools nowadays, I'm so far removed from it for so many years, but none of the schools I ever went to even mentioned \"volition\" and I doubt that they bring it up today. And yet it's so important to your life.

The thing about making decisions is that even though you make a proper one based on good information and reasoned logic, the result may be negative, failure. A good decision does not guarantee a good result.

And that's what every writer and artist faces when they start out trying to make their mark in the world of art and entertainment. Even having \"talent\" does not guarantee success. But unless you have volition, to make that decision to try, you will never realize your dream of success.","334. Morreion 6.42fa6719-31f2-4e15-a915-5579cd66898c.jpg","\\artwork\\334. Morreion 6.42fa6719-31f2-4e15-a915-5579cd66898c.jpg",336,"Morreion 5","333. MORREION 5 - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the book, \"Morreion,\" by Jack Vance, published by Underwood-Miller in 1979.

Style is an important element in an artist's work, it comes from deep inside an artist's subconscious mind where the mysteries lie, where his comprehension of reality may be flawed a little, or a lot.

Style reveals just how an artist sees life, some artists see life as real and their work mirrors what they see with the nuances of how they see it. Other artists are influenced by a deeply confused subconscious mind that gives them a view of life that is unreal, and their work shows it.

Style identifies one artist from another the way their faces do.","333. Morreion 5.186ad2f2-77c4-4c10-9456-2e52904e089d.jpg","\\artwork\\333. Morreion 5.186ad2f2-77c4-4c10-9456-2e52904e089d.jpg",335,"Morreion 4","332. MORREION 4 - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the book, \"Morreion,\" by Jack Vance, published by Underwood-Miller, 1979.

When publisher Tim Underwood received all my drawings for this book he phoned to tell me that this particular drawing had an odd problem; the girl looked as though she had three breasts! So he returned it to me for a fixup. When I got the drawing back I looked at it and could not see what Tim was talking about, the girl had two breasts!!!

So I put the drawing aside and went back to work on a drawing I had been working on for another assignment. About ten minutes later, I glanced over at that picture and I couldn't believe my eyes, the girl looked as though she had three breasts! It was some kind of optical illusion! I was able to fix it, but I'm still amazed that I did not see the optical illusion when I first finished the drawing.

But that's OK, Norman Rockwell once painted a cover for, \"The Saturday Evening Post\" and unknowingly painted three legs on a man. ","Morreion 3.04f8c602-ebe3-4a68-a7a9-e904fbcb3dde.jpg","\\artwork\\Morreion 3.04f8c602-ebe3-4a68-a7a9-e904fbcb3dde.jpg",334,"Morreion 3","331. MORREION 3 - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the book, \"Morreion,\" by Jack Vance, published by Underwood-Miller in 1979.

A writer's comprehension of life influences the nature of his work. As a reader, my comprehension of life influences how I respond to that work.

When Jack Vance wrote this story, how accurately was he able to put into written words the \"story\" he had conjured up in his mind; all the alien scenes, the emotions of his strange characters, the drama and sense of wonder of the tale? I asked him once, during a telephone conversation, if he was ever completely satisfied with a story he had written. He answered that he was often satisfied, but never \"completely\".

When I read this story, how accurately did I see, in my mind, the unique scenes, the strange characters, the other-worldly drama and sense of wonder that was in Jack Vance's mind when he wrote the story? - During that conversation with Jack Vance, I asked him if my illustrations did any justice to his creation? He answered, \"Yes, I'm very happy with them\". But I noticed that he did not add, \"completely\".

The fact is, we are all different, we see things differently, we all have different emotions about the things we see and hear. Sometimes our differences are huge and we don't get along, and sometimes they are so close we become kindred souls.

As an illustrator, I try to look into a writer's mind and draw what I see there. But every other artist who read the same story would do the same thing . . . and all of them would produce pictures different from mine, and from each other. In the end it is your comprehension of life that will determine which writers and artists you like.","331. Morreion 3.cc5464c9-bada-4b7e-a10a-3928212a0111.jpg","\\artwork\\331. Morreion 3.cc5464c9-bada-4b7e-a10a-3928212a0111.jpg",333,"Morreion 2","330. MORREION 2 - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the book, \"Morreion,\" by Jack Vance, published by Underwood-Miller in 1979.

There are mysteries that we encounter from the amazing things we uncover from the past that present us with questions for which we can find no answers. \"Stonehenge\" is one of those mysteries; On the plain of Salisbury, England, stands an arrangement of gigantic stones dating back to prehistoric times. How long have they been there? Who put them there?

The people who lived at that time only had tools made of stone, bone, and sticks! Those people, who had not yet invented the wheel somehow managed to transport over 40 monstrous boulders of stone some 20 miles from their original site at Marlborough Downs, to the plain at Salisbury. Some of the stones stand 20 feet high, weighing over 30 tons!

Incredibly, at Salisbury, those people managed to lift some of those stones in an upright position, arranging them in a circle. And by some unknown method they actually managed to raise other stones weighing tons, and placed them horizontally on top of the standing stones, forming a ring on top of the circular design. By what primitive ingenuity did they manage to do all this?

It must have taken thousands of people, struggling for many years to transport the stones and to build \"Stonehenge,\" and today, thousands of years later, most of them are still standing!

We don't know who these people were, where they came from, where they went . . . We can only look at what they did, and wonder . . . How did they do it? . . . And why?","330. Morreion 2.a1dc5a06-7cea-4476-9fd7-d843741cc8b3.jpg","\\artwork\\330. Morreion 2.a1dc5a06-7cea-4476-9fd7-d843741cc8b3.jpg",332,"Morreion 1","329. MORREION 1 - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the book, \"Morreion,\" by Jack Vance, published by Underwood-Miller in 1979.

You would think that the worse thing that can happen to a writer, even an established one, is having his work rejected, or what can happen to his work in the hands of a bad editor. But really, what's worse is what can happen to him inside his head when his mind goes blank. When the thing he wants most in life lies dormant inside his mind, and he can't get it out . . .

There's a short story about a such writer that briefly, goes like this . . .
\"Henry Dorn sat very still in front of his typewriter, his hands folded in his lap, shoulders hunched forward, seeing nothing, unable to think of anything. He sat like that for hours . . . Finally, he pushed the typewriter aside and reached for the Times' \"Help Wanted\" ads.\"
- from a short story by Ayn Rand -

There is no doubt in my mind that this sad Henry Dorn story has been played out in real life by a million writers, or would-be writers, since the printing press was invented. Even now, as you read this, there is a writer somewhere looking at those \"Help Wanted\" ads.

If you are thinking of being a writer, be prepared to persevere.","329. Morreion 1.234629a8-407d-4fa5-86b4-636423d7ab86.jpg","\\artwork\\329. Morreion 1.234629a8-407d-4fa5-86b4-636423d7ab86.jpg",331,"Refugees - Icons","328. REFUGEES: icons - Six pen and ink drawings on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. They are letter icons used in the book, \"Refugees From An Imaginary Country,\" by Darrell Schweitzer, published by Ganley-Owlswick in 1999.

Icons are small drawngs, I usually drew four of them on an 11 x 14 size drawing paper, they were abou 2.5 wide x 5 inches high. My full page drawings usually occupied a 9 x 12 inch space on the 11 x 14 size paper.

For book and magazine illustrations I typically earned $100 for a full page drawing, and $25 for an icon. For my TSR illustrations the rates were double that amount.

It often happened that I spent just as much time on an icon that I did on a full page drawing, but I never allowed the amount that I got paid for a drawing determine the time and effort I spent working on it.","182. Icons 1.cf6262ec-437c-4c41-a8ee-1d51187528a5.jpg","\\artwork\\182. Icons 1.cf6262ec-437c-4c41-a8ee-1d51187528a5.jpg",330,"The Sorcerer Evoragdou","327. THE SORCERER EVORAGDOU - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in a book, \"Refugees From An Imaginary Country,\" by Darrell Schweitzer, published by Ganley-Owlswick in 1999.

Every story presents challenges to an illustrator; one can play it safe and select simple or common things to draw like character portraits, or one can decide to illustrate unique scenes requiring some invention and creative innovation.

That is what I liked about being a science fiction and fantasy illustrator, the challenges I was confronted with, like the one I faced when I decided to illustrate a scene in the story in which a house with gables and balconies, and spires, starts chasing a young man . . .

The SF artists who inspired me to become an illustrator were those who were inventive and creative in their approach to illustration; beginning with Alex Raymond who drew Flash Gordon in the Sunday Newspaper Comics Section in 1939, when I was a kid. Later came Virgil Finlay, Edd Cartier, Hannes Bok, Hubert Rogers, Lawrence Stevens, Frank Frazetta, and many others whose artwork moved something inside my soul that made me want to be one of them.

The young boys and girls growing up today are not being inspired to draw and paint by the artists who inspired me, they have the outstanding artists of today who are giving them their dreams. That's the way the \"dream\" moves on from one generation to the next.","327. Refugees 6.3ecdf406-b09e-4815-90a6-da21cd1b8b46.jpg","\\artwork\\327. Refugees 6.3ecdf406-b09e-4815-90a6-da21cd1b8b46.jpg",329,"Malevendra's Pool","326. MALEVENDRA'S POOL - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in a book, \"Refuges From An Imaginary Country,\" by Darrell Schweitzer, published by Ganley-Owlswick in 1999.

I went to my local library book sale recently and was surprised to find a book titled, \"Haunted Jersey Shore,\" by Charles Stansfield, Jr. I've lived near the NJ shore for most of my life and I find it strange that I never heard of, or read about any beach-combing ghosts in NJ before. The book is sub-titled, \"Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Garden State Coast\". The contents page lists 80 weird sightings, and one sighting in particular caught my eye, \"The Ghost of Mary Rogers\". . .

On July 28, 1841, the body of pretty Mary Rogers was found floating just off shore in the Hudson River along a Hoboken riverfront resort where the first-ever baseball game was played. She had been sexually abused and beaten to death.

Mary Rogers had worked at a newspaper stand near several NY newspaper offices and all the reporters new her. They made her murder a sensational daily headline story. Her boyfriend, Donald Payne was arrested and grilled, and when he was released for lack of evidence that he was the murderer, he committed suicide near the area where Mary's body had been found. The man who murdered Mary Rogers was never found.

An obscure writer living in the area wrote a fictionalized version of the murder, but he changed the locale to Paris, France, changed her name to Mary Roget, and titled the story, \"The Mystery of Mary Roget\". It has been called the first modern mystery story and it made the writer famous. His name was Edgar Allan Poe.

According to the book, the ghost of Mary Rogers still haunts the Hoboken riverfront.","326. Refugees 5.5e781568-5588-4546-9961-8954bf8b0461.jpg","\\artwork\\326. Refugees 5.5e781568-5588-4546-9961-8954bf8b0461.jpg",328,"The Last Dangerous Lunacy","325. THE LAST DANGEROUS LUNACY - black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in a book, \"Refugees From An Imaginary Country,\" by Darrell Schweitzer, published by Ganley-Owlswick in 1999.

Most people think of art as something to enjoy but not as something necessary for their survival the way a job is, or a home, and it has no practical, material life-sustaining purpose the way food does.

And yet . . . at the dawn of the human race, when the first men on earth huddled in caves with only thoughts of surviving one day at a time, they managed, out of necessity, to invent spears and stone axes to kill the beasts who wanted to kill them. They discovered how to build a fire, to chip away at a rock to make it a sharp-edged tool that they used to cut away the meat from the beasts, to eat and to remove the hides to make cloaks to keep themselves warm . . . And for some mysterious reason they drew pictures on the walls of their caves, artwork that was apparently an important factor in their struggle to survive.

To the extent that a man is motivated to learn, and to understand the world around him, his ability to have control of his life is improved.

The world of art is an important motivator and a showcase of who we are and what we understand about our mysterious existence in time and space.

\"Of all human products, art is, perhaps, the most personally important to man and the least understood.\" - Ayn Rand ","325. Refugees 4.b5c89436-4fde-4fe2-b8b2-b6b9f11189c0.jpg","\\artwork\\325. Refugees 4.b5c89436-4fde-4fe2-b8b2-b6b9f11189c0.jpg",327,"Minotauress","324. MINOTAURESS - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in a book, \"Refugees From An Imaginary Country,\" by Darrell Schweitzer, published by Ganley-Owlswick in 1999.

Evolution occurs because life forms change as time goes by. I have seen animated films showing how man evolved over the millennia from being a blob in the ocean to being the human he is today. Here is one change that happened not too long ago . . .

About 200,000 years ago a band of apes began to get restless; some of them began swaying and grunting in anger, while others began thumping their knuckles against the ground and shrieking, they didn't like this odd looking young male among them who had been born with legs that were not like theirs. They watched as he stood upright and walked towards one of the females. He grasped her by the arm and pulled her out of the cave . . . it was the dawn of mankind . . .

Here is the next step in the evolution of mankind . . . It will take place in the near future, in a hospital delivery room where a human baby is about to be born. The final stage is taking place in the mother's womb; what was normally a dormant section of the human brain has become activated in this baby, and it has been copying the data in it's mother's brain and storing it into its own brain.

The storing is complete, the birthing begins . . .

The baby's father watches the doctor reach in and take the baby out of the mother's womb. It's a girl! As the father moves closer to see his newborn child something \"historical\" happens; the baby recognizes him, and to the shock and amazement of everyone in the delivery room, the baby smiles and says to him . . . \"Hello father\".

Actually, the nature of the next step in mankind's evolution is unknown, but it will probably take place in the far future, in deep space, somewhere among the blazing stars . . .","324. Refugees 3.cd8fc56d-71e7-4261-9034-99235afc10a6.jpg","\\artwork\\324. Refugees 3.cd8fc56d-71e7-4261-9034-99235afc10a6.jpg",326,"The Knight of Pale Countenance","323. THE KNIGHT OF PALE COUNTENANCE - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in a book, \"Refugees From An Imaginary Country,\" by Darrell Schweitzer, published by Ganley-Owlswick in 1999.

I consider \"fantasy\" fiction to be stories of pure imagination, tales created out of dreamland. They never happened, and they never will . . . Like Tolkien's, \"The Lord of the Rings\".

I consider science fiction to be stories that are directly related to the real world, what they are about falls within the realms of possibility . . . Like Heinlein's, \"Universe\".

But many \"imaginative\" stories include both fantasy and science fiction elements, like many of Ray Bradbury's stories.

So I tried to draw realistically when I illustrated a science fiction story, but in many of my fantasy drawings I combined realistic forms with highly stylized imaginary forms to blend the world of reality with the land of make-believe. In this picture you can see that I drew the Knight realistically, but I drew the water he is standing in un-realistically, using stylized decorated waves.","323. Refugees 2.23a12168-aefb-4519-acd9-fa30db37c498.jpg","\\artwork\\323. Refugees 2.23a12168-aefb-4519-acd9-fa30db37c498.jpg",325,"Refugees 1","322. refugees 1 - A black ink and black and gray color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears on the dust jacket of the book, \"Refugees From An Imaginary Country,\" by Darrell Schweitzer, published by Ganley-Owlswick in 1999.

In this real world there really are people who are, \"Refugees from an imaginary country,\" people who believe in the utter nonsense perpetrated by psychic frauds and phoney mystics who speak with the dead. And sadly, these refugees will not accept proof that what they believe in is a scam . . .

A long time ago, in NY, two little girls, the Fox sisters, were able to communicate with the spirit world; just ask the spirit any question and it answered, one rap for \"no,\" three raps for \"yes\". Several psychic-fraud detectives checked them out and could not discover how this \"miracle\" was accomplished, the rapping sounds seem to come from nowhere. The girls said they came from the spirit of the dead . . .

And so the two little girls from NY became celebrities, made a lot of money traveling all over the country and Europe, giving seances to \"believers,\" who had a need to \"contact\" their dearly departed.

They continued providing these lucrative \"messages from the dead\" for 40 years until their older sister, who managed the tours, had an attack of guilt and signed a confession; The girls had an uncanny knack of cracking their toes, like the cracking of knuckles, without showing any movement, a soft rapping sound whose point of origin was hard to determine . . .

And yet, many of the \"believers\" refused to accept the confession, claiming it was coerced by the authorities. They refused to believe that the sacred messages they had received from their dearly departed came from the girls, cracking their toes.","322. Refugees 1.932ba290-ce86-4853-bd6c-6adb9690d4ec.jpg","\\artwork\\322. Refugees 1.932ba290-ce86-4853-bd6c-6adb9690d4ec.jpg",324,"Final Destination","321. FINAL DESTINATION - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"Whispers in the Night,\" by Basil Copper.

About 200,000 years of human history has passed on this planet and from the very beginning each succeeding generation of people has had to deal with the acquisition of more new knowledge.

Our generation of scientists and explorers have learned more and made more technical progress than all previous generations combined.

Ours has truly been an age of wonder. I cannot image the extent of new knowledge or the kinds of technical advances future generations will acquire. And, can you imagine \"knowledge\" and \"technical advances\" having no end?

In his story, The Man Who Could Work Miracles, H.G. Wells wrote, referring to mankind, \"and to think, only yesterday, they were apes\".","321. Whispers in the Night 4.86a8e3d7-84e2-474d-b876-ccef9e2fba41.jpg","\\artwork\\321. Whispers in the Night 4.86a8e3d7-84e2-474d-b876-ccef9e2fba41.jpg",323,"Better Dead","320. BETTER DEAD - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"Whispers in the Night,\" by Basil Copper.

I don't like stories, or movies, about \"the living dead\". In 1934 when I was 4 years old I was among a bunch of neighborhood kids sitting on the wooden floor of the nearby YMCA auditorium watching a free, scary movie, \"Frankenstein,\" made in 1931, starring Boris Karloff.

When the movie started all the kids were excited and nervous, we were all anticipating the horrible sight of Frankenstein, and when he was just about to appear on screen a number of kids screamed, jumped up and began running out of the auditorium, and so did I, scared as hell! In fact, I passed them all as I ran home.

Compared to scary movies that they make today, Boris Karloff's 1931 \"Frankenstein\" is a pussy-cat! But back in the 1930s, people were not accustomed to seeing the kind of horror that we see nowadays on TV and in the movies. Several people died of heart attacks watching Franky in 1931.

It didn't take long before I mustered up the courage to watch scary movies, but ever since that early \"Frankenstein\" experience I have disliked horror movies that feature \"Dead Men Walking,\" I am not entertained by the animated dead. And I am surprised that so many people do enjoy books and movies about vampires and zombies.

To illustrate this story, I had to read it. Here is my presentation of dead Franky and his dead bride. Ugh!","320. Whispers in the Night 3.eabca915-4a15-46db-a496-f708ca277ad5.jpg","\\artwork\\320. Whispers in the Night 3.eabca915-4a15-46db-a496-f708ca277ad5.jpg",322,"Out There","319. OUT THERE - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"Whispers in the Night,\" by basil Copper.

It's quite frightening to think about what's, \"Out there\". According to my recent readings in astronomy, our latest electron-telescopes have been able to look far deeper into space than ever before and discovered new galaxies of stars where once that particular area of space was assumed to be empty. Our universe is much larger than we had thought it to be, an uncountable number of galaxies has now been added to what was once already a universe of uncountable numbers of galaxies! Keep in mind that each galaxy contains billions of stars. It's mind-boggling!

But so is this . . According to scientist, Carl Sagan, a grain of salt just barely large enough to see without a microscope, contains 10 million billion sodium and chlorine atoms. That also boggles my mind!

And so does this . . . Again, according to Carl, the human brain is capable of knowing one hundred trillion bits of information. And that's only one percent of the number of atoms in a grain of salt!

So, after being mind-boggled by Carl Sagan's revelations into the wonders of the universe, I went outside one night to look at the stars . . .

And as I looked at them I wondered if, right then, there were any other thinking creatures standing on planets circling suns in remote galaxies, looking at stars in their night skies and wondering, like I am . . . if there are any other thinking creatures out there . . .

After that I came in and took an Advil . . .","319. Whispers in the Night 2.dbf65a23-9d22-44e8-826b-591482fa7218.jpg","\\artwork\\319. Whispers in the Night 2.dbf65a23-9d22-44e8-826b-591482fa7218.jpg",321,"Riding the Chariot","318. RIDING THE CHARIOT - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"Whispers in the Night,\" by Basil Copper.

As I mentioned in the commentary of an earlier drawing, artists have to learn when to stop, to decide when a drawing or a painting is \"done\". I was surprised when I read in a book, \"Trivia for Reading While Sitting On a Toilet Seat,\" that Leonardo da Vinci was one of those artists who was never able to \"stop\" painting a picture.

His famous painting, \"Mona Lisa\" was not finished. (Mona means \"Lady\". The painting is also known as \"La Giaconda\". \"Giaconda\" is her married last name). Near the end of his life da Vinci told a friend that he regretted never having finished any of his paintings.

By the way, that trivia book also included this statement about the famous artist, Michelangelo; \"During the four years that it took him to paint the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, 1508 - 1512, he never took a bath\" - Now how would anyone know that? And why would Michelangelo tell that to anyone? And why would anyone back then record that bit of trivia for future generations to know?

However, I have read in several history books that people in those days did not bathe very often. So . . .","318. Whispers in the Night 1.9409fbb8-8b9d-42a6-8221-baa0dd72a519.jpg","\\artwork\\318. Whispers in the Night 1.9409fbb8-8b9d-42a6-8221-baa0dd72a519.jpg",320,"Whispers in the Night"," 317. WHISPERS IN THE NIGHT: frontispiece - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears as the frontispiece in the book, \"Whispers in the Night,\" by basil Copper.

Most of us have an optimistic faith in man's creative ability to invent machines to triumph over our problems, we have invented all kinds of electro-mechanical-optical devices to take care of us in every way. There seems to be no challenge that we cannot overcome through the invention and use of machines, they will eventually take us to the stars, which is our destiny.

But we also have problems to solve that lie deep inside our minds where demons abide tearing at our souls. Psychiatrists of course have a pill that blocks those demons, acting like a jailor keeping them locked in their brain cells. But the pill needs to be taken regularly, for without it the cell door opens, and the demons return. We need a machine like the one in this drawing; it is pulling those monsters out of the woman's brain, completely.

And maybe we also need to invent a pocket sized machine, or perhaps modify our cell phones so that they BEEP whenever someone is lying to us. Can you imagine all the beeping that would start going on all over the world? On the other hand, wouldn't the beeping silence the liars and bring a welcome quietness to our lives? Wouldn't that be wonderful?

Machines! They are now as important to us as is the air we breathe. ","317. Whispers in the Night-Frontis.478baf06-690a-4923-8061-243d5dbd7fc7.jpg","\\artwork\\317. Whispers in the Night-Frontis.478baf06-690a-4923-8061-243d5dbd7fc7.jpg",319,"Whispers in the Night - Icon","316. WHISPERS IN THE NIGHT: Icon - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears as an icon in the book, \"Whispers in the Night,\" by Basil Copper.

While reading a book on \"how to write\" I came across this bit of advice; \"practice writing sentences that have unusual concepts, like this one; \"to make an apple pie, You first have to make a universe.\"

That unusual concept implies a time before the existence of the universe, when an unknown entity is instructing God on how to make an apple pie! Outrageous!

Nevertheless, I want to learn how to write so I thought a bit and wrote, \"Nothing\" became \"Everything\" when \"Time\" allowed \"space\" to exist.

That sentence came out of my thinking about what existed before the universe was created. Nothing! And when the universe was created it became Everything! And it takes Time to allow Space to expand so the universe can grow and expand with it.

Try it, try writing a sentence with an unusual concept. It challenges your mind to think creatively, something that most of us are not called upon to do very often. But thinking creatively is what writing is all about.","316. Whispers in the Night-Icon.22c80367-f0ad-48e4-8481-c9f0969891cb.jpg","\\artwork\\316. Whispers in the Night-Icon.22c80367-f0ad-48e4-8481-c9f0969891cb.jpg",318,"The Crying Clown - 4","315. THE CRYING CLOWN: 4 - A black ink and black pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. It was originally scheduled to appear in a book titled, \"The Crying Clown Celebration,\" by John F. Carr, but it was published in 2013 as, \"A Certain Flair For Death\".

Usually, when I'm in the final inking and shading stage of a drawing my mind often wanders a bit while I'm finishing the drawing. In the story I was illustrating here, the lady is imagining herself to be the famous Russian ballet dancer, \"Pavlova\".

While inking the drawing I started to think about how common that sort of thing is, practically everyone who ever lived has at some time or other pretended to be someone they admired. When I was a kid playing baseball with other kids in the neighborhood, I used to pretend I was Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox. Even though I was a Yankee fan! And though I was right-handed, I switched over and learned to bat left-handed, like Ted.

When football season came I pretended I was Glen Davis, the star running back at West Point. If by chance I was chosen to be the quarterback, I pretended to be Johnny Lujack of Notre Dame. And, if we played cowboys and Indians, I was The Lone Ranger.

So, who were you when you were a kid?","Pavlova.961e2d81-eceb-4180-a004-7fa42d303b3b.jpg","\\artwork\\Pavlova.961e2d81-eceb-4180-a004-7fa42d303b3b.jpg",317,"The Crying Clown - 3","314. THE CRYING CLOWN 3 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It was originally scheduled to appear in a book titled, \"The Crying Clown Celebration,\" by John F. Carr, but it was published in 2013 as, \"A Certain Flair For Death\".

- continued from No. 313 -
I'm \"crying\" because in my opinion the politically correct editors at Doubleday Books have censored their latest editions of Ray Bradbury's famous book, \"The Martian Chronicles\". They deleted the story, \"Way in the Middle of the Air,\" and this is why I believe they did it; The story takes place in the future when spaceships are available to all black people. They are no longer willing to suffer the indignity of racism on Earth and have decided to leave the planet to find a world where they can live with dignity.
This is how Bradbury begins his story;
\"Did you hear about it?\"
\"About what?\"
\"The niggers, the niggers!\"
\"What about 'em?\"
\"Them leaving, pulling out, going away; did you hear?\"

I can think of no other word that is so truly representative of the hateful language used by bigots and racists against black people. Bradbury uses that ugly word in this story to expose them, to shame them , it is what makes the story so powerful. No one should be offended, or object to the use of \"that\" word as used in this story. You cannot be afraid of \"words,\" you have to expose them for what they are.

Beware of those who would \"cleanse\" our society, those who profess to know what is best for us . After they rid us of \"bad words,\" what next, Bad Books? - Will they become the book burners in Bradbury's classic novel, \"Fahrenheit 451\"? Doubleday, Doubleday, What are you doing?","314. The Crying Clown 3.17071f22-b191-4904-9635-cdcdb79c7988.jpg","\\artwork\\314. The Crying Clown 3.17071f22-b191-4904-9635-cdcdb79c7988.jpg",316,"The Crying Clown - 2","313. THE CRYING CLOWN 2 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It was originally scheduled to appear in a book titled, \"The Crying Clown Celebration,\" by John F. Carr, but the book was published in 2013 as, \"A Certain Flair for Death\".

For several decades now, publishers who are driven to be politically correct have been censoring both the new books they are publishing and books by famous authors they are reprinting. Case in point; \"The Martian Chronicles\" by Ray Bradbury. I came across a 2001 Doubleday edition of the book and on the copyright page it states, \"This edition of The Martian Chronicles has been updated and revised\". So I looked to see what sort of revisions were made to my favorite book . . .

The first revision they made was changing the dates for each story; In my 1951 edition of the book the first story begins January, 1999 with \"Rocket Summer,\" and the last story ends October, 2026 with \"The Million Year Picnic\". Doubleday has changed those dates to span from January, 2030 to October 2057. But that change doesn't bother me as much as the next one; the editors deleted the story, \"Way in the Middle of the Air\" from the book, no doubt because the word, \"niggers\" appears in the story. So now, the new editions of The Martian Chronicles contain 27 stories instead of 28 as in earlier editions.

Now, anyone who uses that awful word when refering to a black person, or to the entire black race, deserves a hard whack across the mouth, it is unjustly demeaning , hurtful, and insulting to black people and reveals the user of the word to be woefully ignorant and shamefully biased. But in this story, Bradbury does not use the word to insult black people, he uses it to expose the white racist characters in the story who do use it . . . Continued in No. 314 . . .","313. The Crying Clown 2.0005d218-759e-41b7-a0d8-1f942038a193.jpg","\\artwork\\313. The Crying Clown 2.0005d218-759e-41b7-a0d8-1f942038a193.jpg",315,"The Crying Clown - 1","312. THE CRYING CLOWN 1 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board.

This drawing was done for a book to be titled, \"The Crying Clown Celebration,\" according to the manuscript that I received from the author, John F. Carr. It is the 2nd book in a trilogy being written by Carr. The first book in the trilogy, \"Carnifex Mardi Gras,\" had been published by Pequod Press in 1982. This 2nd book was just published in 2013, but the title was changed to, \"A Certain Flair for Death\".

However, this drawing with the original title is not in the new book and I don't know why because changing the title at the top of the drawing is a simple matter. You can see how disappointed the clown is not to be included in the new book!

There is something odd about clowns, they have created a unique \"aura,\" for themselves; behind the funny face make-up, and the hilarious antics, hides a very sad man;

\"And if I laugh at any mortal thing,
Tis that I may not weep\"
Lord Byron","312. The Crying Clown 1.e81879f7-7d6e-4df4-8304-89306b002de3.jpg","\\artwork\\312. The Crying Clown 1.e81879f7-7d6e-4df4-8304-89306b002de3.jpg",314,"In Lovecraft's Shadow - Icons","311. IN LOVECRAFT'S SHADOW: Icons - Four spot drawings in black ink and black color pencil on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. They appear in \"In Lovecraft's Shadow,\" by August Derleth.

Icons, or \"spot drawings\" as they are also called, can be used to enhance the esthetic appeal of a book. Editor Joe Wrzos did a good job of distributing these icons on pages that had empty spaces.","311. In Lovecraft's Shadow-Icons.7ff9e14a-c11d-4307-ac90-da04f48ed6e2.jpg","\\artwork\\311. In Lovecraft's Shadow-Icons.7ff9e14a-c11d-4307-ac90-da04f48ed6e2.jpg",313,"In Lovecraft's Shadow, 3","310. IN LOVECRAFT'S SHADOW 3 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"In Lovecraft's Shadow,\" by August Derleth.

Whenever I drew a picture that is essentially a dark composition, it was important to keep the highlights to a minimum, placing them on just a few objects in the picture to which I wanted to direct the viewers attention.

Too many highlights would diffuse the viewer's attention from the important elements in the scene. Most art teachers whose books I've read considered the over-application of \"details\" and \"highlights\" as being the ruination of an artist's work. It was not always easy for me to control those two elements.","310. In Lovecraft's Shadow 3.264bbc79-5d29-4245-893f-f878b95f41a2.jpg","\\artwork\\310. In Lovecraft's Shadow 3.264bbc79-5d29-4245-893f-f878b95f41a2.jpg",312,"In Lovecraft's Shadow, 2","309. IN LOVECRAFT'S SHADOW 2 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"In Lovecraft's Shadow,\" by August Derleth.

Although there are a few exceptions, I placed my initials, \"SF\" in my drawings, and some times I tried to find a place where they would not be conspicuous.

Some fans tell me that whenever they looked at one of my drawings, they had fun trying to find where I hid my initials.","309. In Lovecraft's Shadow 2.30d1e1ae-2a0a-4f0c-9641-846594ebb98f.jpg","\\artwork\\309. In Lovecraft's Shadow 2.30d1e1ae-2a0a-4f0c-9641-846594ebb98f.jpg",311,"In Lovecraft's Shadow - Endpaper","308. IN LOVECRAFT'S SHADOW: Endpaper - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears on the endpapers of the book, \"In Lovecraft's Shadow,\" by August Derleth.

I have always been disappointed in fantasy and science fiction fans for not supporting the few small press publishers, like August Derleth, whose bust I featured on the endpaper design that you see here. He established Arkham House and was the first to publish the works of H.P. Lovecraft in hardcovers. He also published Ray Bradbury's first book, \"Dark Carnival\". All the books he published in the 1940s and 1950s are now collector's items that sell at high prices.

Although all the other small presses, like Gnome Press, Fantasy Press, FPCI, Prime Press, and Shasta, are long gone, went out of business for lack of sales, only Arkham House still remains, publishing books now and then in small editions.","308. In Lovecraft's Shadow-EP.ac473a0d-07b8-446c-8e27-77a23d0a84e0.jpg","\\artwork\\308. In Lovecraft's Shadow-EP.ac473a0d-07b8-446c-8e27-77a23d0a84e0.jpg",310,"In Lovecraft's Shadow, 1","307. IN LOVECRAFT'S SHADOW, 1 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"In Lovecraft's Shadow,\" by August Derleth, published by Vanderburgh in 1998, under the Mycroft & Moran imprint.

This commission was unique in that I met periodically with the editor Joe Wrzos and project consultant Helen de la Ree to discuss how I would go about illustrating this book. Since we are good friends, I've known Helen for over 50 years, and Joe for about 30 years, it was fun discussing with them the design of endpapers, title page, full pagers, story headings and a variety of icons that would be used throughout the book.

Normally, I would not even accept an assignment if an editor wanted to get that involved with the artwork, but this job was different because the publisher was a minor private enterprize individual who was not paying much for the effort that Joe was going to put into producing this book, and since Joe was a friend I decided to do it.

When we got together to talk about it, the expectation was that I would do perhaps two or three illustrations for the book, but the more we talked the more artwork was required and it just grew and grew into the large project that it became. We decided to do it as a fun project in spite of a lack of funds from the publisher.

And that is how this large book got produced. The publisher was pleased with our effort, but would you believe it, he tried to get me to illustrate another book for him, expecting me to do the artwork for nothing again!

I did this artwork for Joe because I expected I would be able to sell my originals to art collectors, but editor Wrzos purchased it all from me when the project was done.","Lovecraft-Cthulhu.8124f948-8c87-429a-b76b-c79716206914.jpg","\\artwork\\Lovecraft-Cthulhu.8124f948-8c87-429a-b76b-c79716206914.jpg",309,"The Old Ways Are Best","306. THE OLD WAYS ARE BEST - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on a 12 x 16 size poster board. It illustrates the story, \"The Old Ways Are Best,\" published in \"Dragon Magazine, Jan.1988\".

This is the funniest story I ever read, and the best drawing I ever did. But nobody wants to buy it. How Come? I have sold a lot of artwork since 1974 and all the buyers had a certain type of subject that appealed to them, but \"humor\" was not one of them.

One art collector would pick out drawings that featured swordsmen in battle, another would select those with sexy women, another favored drawings of space scenes, while another looked for unicorns.

But this diversity of interest was good for me because there was always variety in the subjects I had to draw and paint for books and magazines. A collector always found something to buy.

And yet, none of them, ever, wanted a drawing that was humorous. I did not do a lot of cartoony stuff, but the few I did, I still have. To me they are like those sad little kids in the orphanage that nobody wants to adopt.

NOTE: A few days after I added this drawing and text to my website a caring art collector came over and adopted this drawing! Isn't that great?","Plate 13.2de2a0f5-ecfc-4a00-af72-0a0c3051b69b.jpg","\\artwork\\Plate 13.2de2a0f5-ecfc-4a00-af72-0a0c3051b69b.jpg",308,"Across the Fog-Gray Sea","305. ACROSS THE FOG-GRAY SEA - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in, \"Dragon Magazine, Feb.1987\".

This drawing, though it was done to illustrate a story in a magazine, represents to me, the courageous spirit abiding in the souls of those few humans in each generation we call, the \"Explorers\".

From the very beginning of our history, there were brave men who left their caves to see what was on the other side of the hill. They built canoes to see where the river would take them. They climbed mountains to find new lands. They built wooden ships and crossed oceans to find new continents. They lowered themselves down into dangerous depths of the oceans, they designed a machine that took them to the moon!

The danger was always enormous, there was always a devastating price to pay. There is no doubt in my mind that explorers like them, born to each generation will someday lead the way to the stars. We are a species created to explore, in a Universe that was created to be explored.

Some time in the future, the exact time unknown, our Sun will no longer be able to sustain life on earth. But long before that time comes, human explorers will already have left Earth in machines of unimaginable design, to find a place in the universe for mankind to endure. The first explorers who lead the way into deep space will bring immortality to mankind, we will no longer be dependent on any single star for energy, or any one planet for food.

There is no end to the Universe, there is no limit to the numbers of stars in the Universe. There will always be a need to explore, and there will always be those few uniquely brave men and women we call explorers, who will lead the way. Forever.","305. Across the Fog-Gray Sea.16bf3a35-e409-4104-91f0-528d34912043.jpg","\\artwork\\305. Across the Fog-Gray Sea.16bf3a35-e409-4104-91f0-528d34912043.jpg",307,"The Coming of Vertumnus","304. THE COMING OF VERTUMNUS - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in \"Weird Tales No.309\".

Sometimes, a drawing just seems to create itself. After reading the story I decided to do a full page drawing of the flower-woman in the story. I started sketching on practice paper, drawing the outline of a woman in the pose that you see here, adding simple lines for the eyes, nose, and mouth. Satisfied with the outline, I used tracing paper to transfer it to a coquille board sheet on which I would do the finished drawing.

And then I began to draw flower petals extending away from the left eye, and more petals flowing away from the right eye, and I just kept adding flower petals until I had the entire woman covered with flower petals.

All that time, as I had been drawing, I was listening to some of my favorite music CDs, occasionally singing along with the music. I remember singing one song in particular, replaying it over and over, \"I know that someday you'll want me to want you,\" And before I realized it, the drawing was done, just in time for lunch! I had worked only half a day on the drawing and spent the other half fooling around with my computer, creating a new data file for all the books in my library. That was a fun day, and I'm glad to say that over my career I had quite a few of them.","WTA309-ComingVertumnus-3.bfe97028-90ac-4cad-9146-6a5572fcabbb.jpg","\\artwork\\WTA309-ComingVertumnus-3.bfe97028-90ac-4cad-9146-6a5572fcabbb.jpg",306,"The OZ Encounter - Bookplate","303. THE OZ ENCOUNTER: Bookplate - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board.

On rare occasions I encountered a publisher, or an editor, or an art dealer, without honor. They commissioned me to do work for them but they did not come through with payment. I was typically given the old con, \"the check is in the mail.\"

In this case, a small press publisher planned to reprint a paperback book, \"The Oz Encounter,\" in a hardcover edition. That paperback had been published years earlier, it featured my artwork on the inside pages. Now, I was being asked for permission to use my artwork in the new hardcover edition, and, I was also asked to do a new drawing that would be used as a signature plate for the new edition.

Some small press publishers can't afford to pay much for artwork so they offer complimentary copies of the book as payment, which includes a special signed and numbered copy. Since I did not expect to get any more royalties for my OZ paperback artwork, I thought it would be nice to have that artwork published in a hardcover book printed on good paper. So I agreed to do it!

But, it has been several years since the new hardcover book was published and I have not as yet received my copies of the book. I have sent the publisher several emails, reminding him to send me my copies, and each time the response has been, \"the books are in the mail\". But so far I have not received them.

I'm mad! I spent several hours working on this monkey, and it turns out the publisher made a monkey out of me!","Bookplate-Oz Encounter.516e1217-a72e-415f-853b-f126e0e91d83.jpg","\\artwork\\Bookplate-Oz Encounter.516e1217-a72e-415f-853b-f126e0e91d83.jpg",305,"Keeper of the Flames","302. KEEPER OF THE FLAMES - A black ink and black color pencil drawing an an 11 x 14 size coquille board. Here is another \"forgotten\" drawing that I found on the internet. I don't remember for whom it was done, it's another early drawing I did in the style of Hannes Bok.

There came a time when I stood in front of a painting mounted on a display tripod. To the right of it, nearby, was a small table on which all the materials needed to do an oil painting were scattered about. I also saw a postcard that featured a photo taken on an overcast day, no clouds, no sun, a long-shot picture of an ocean with a mountain range in the far distance. It was the same scene I was looking at on the painting. The woman who painted the picture stood next to me. \"Well, what do you think of it?\" she asked, \" It's my first attempt at doing an oil painting\".

I looked at the painting: the sky was painted a flat light blue, the small mountain range sitting on the ocean was a flat medium gray, and the ocean a flat medium green. There was nothing more to look at. If she were a small child I would have said \"wonderful'\" to make her feel good and to encourage her, but she was a mature woman, a college graduate who had taken \"Art Appreciation\" courses. But I should have known better than to tell her the truth because even mature, educated grownups often respond childishly to criticism. . . .

I made a costly mistake; very gently, I started by saying, \"Even though you do something just for the \"fun\" of it, the \"fun\" comes from learning to do things the right way. Painting is all about making good decisions, and unfortunately, your first decision to paint the ocean on that postcard was not a good one, it has no features worth painting, not even for a first painting\". Her smile turned into a frown, her lips pursed, I saw that I had annoyed her. I decided not to continue though I had a lot more suggestions to make. My mistake cost me dearly, her friendly attitude towards me has never been the same again. But I didn't lose a friend . . . she did.

That happened many years ago, and it taught me a lesson; there are times when people can't deal with honesty, or the truth, or to be told how to do something. And that includes me. So now I'm more careful about when to be honest and truthful, and when not to make suggestions.","Keeper of the Flames.bc3c330e-6f36-4658-a50e-4912f35ebea5.jpg","\\artwork\\Keeper of the Flames.bc3c330e-6f36-4658-a50e-4912f35ebea5.jpg",304,"Space Artist Cartoon","301. SPACE ARTIST: Cartoon - A black ink drawing on an 11 x 14 vellum paper. It appears in the fanzine , \"Outworlds,\" edited and published by Bill Bowers.

As I was working on this drawing I stopped to take a coffee break, and during the break I read an article in an art magazine about Rose O'Neil. She was truly an American phenomenon who invented the \"Kewpie\" doll.

Actually, she was an illustrator during the 1930s and 40s, who liked to doodle away idle times by drawing doll-like figures. One day a man who manufactured toys saw one of her doodles and offered her a deal; his company would produce a 3D version of the doll to sell and they would share in the profits. Since Rose also liked to play with clay she made the prototype model herself and they decided to call it \"The Kewpie Doll.\"

At best, they each hoped to make a few thousand dollars from the sales of the doll, but the American public took the doll to heart and sales went sky high. In a short span of time just about every living-room in America had a Rose O'Neil \"Kewpie Doll\" on display.

So consider this; All the sculptors in the whole world, including the greatest that ever lived during all of human history, up to the time of Rose O'Neil, never managed to earn, collectively, more than a fraction of the millions that Rosy made with her Kewpie doll.

Isn't that mind-boggling?","108. Space Artist Cartoon.73f79e0b-d211-4241-82f6-f5a4e46ecef1.jpg","\\artwork\\108. Space Artist Cartoon.73f79e0b-d211-4241-82f6-f5a4e46ecef1.jpg",303,"The Adventures of Lal Singh","300. THE ADVENTURES OF LAL SINGH - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears on the cover of a fan booklet, \"The Adventures of Lal Singh,\" edited and published by Robert Price in 1985.

This Cryptic Publications booklet reprints obscure stories written by Robert E. Howard. There came a time when so many \"obscure\" Howard stories were being discovered and published by fanzines that I was beginning to suspect a rogue writer or two were turning them out. But I have never heard a word that this was so. So I guess they are legit.

I received an email once from a woman who was a Howard fan and wanted to buy all the Howard fanzines published by Price's Cryptic Publications. But they were all out of print, very hard to find, and if you did locate one the price was likely to be excessive. So she asked me if I had all those issues, and if I did, would I make copies for her. But she only wanted the Howard stories, so if any issue contained stories by other authors I would not have to copy them. She offered to pay me a reasonable sum to do it.

Well, I ended up spending a week of evenings scanning the Howard stories and poems in my copies of the booklets that contained stories by Howard, which are 5 x 8 in size. I enlarged the pages to 8.5 by 11, and with my computer was able to restore all the printing faults in the scanned copies. I also scanned all the cover art as well as all the interior art related to the Howard stories. I then created a contents page with titles of all the stories and poems, as well as a credit page showing all the original publication data. I then spent another week of evenings printing all the pages, putting them in book form and finally enclosing them between covers. When I was done, it was such a unique one-of-a-kind book, I hated to part with it. But, a deal is a deal.

I have no idea why I went through all that trouble!","Plate 2.d55f1b18-306f-4960-a0d8-2d2173fa294f.jpg","\\artwork\\Plate 2.d55f1b18-306f-4960-a0d8-2d2173fa294f.jpg",302,"Alien Critic No.7","299. ALIEN CRITIC 7 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears on the cover of the fanzine, \"Alien Critic, No.7,\" edited and produced by Richard Geis, circa 1980.

Please notice the dead astronaut's helmet; the editor asked me to do this scene and identify the astronaut as \"Malzberg\". I did it without asking why he wanted that particular name. Barry Malzberg is a mystery and science fiction writer, and at that time I did not know him personally. Years later, I met Malzberg when he started coming to the monthly meetings of The Eastern Science Fiction Association, to which I belonged.

I was always eager at the meetings, to gather round the table and start gabbing. It is an educational experience to listen to Barry talk about some aspect of the science fiction field, or about literature in general, or about the publishing industry. I don't know why I never asked him why the editor of \"Alien Critic 7\" asked me to make him the dead astronaut on the cover.","178. Alien Critic 7.6bbafe1c-b4db-4b3f-941d-44de2662ac06.jpg","\\artwork\\178. Alien Critic 7.6bbafe1c-b4db-4b3f-941d-44de2662ac06.jpg",301,"North of Khyber","298. NORTH OF KHYBER - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears on the cover of a fan booklet edited and produced by Robert Price under his \"Cryptic Publications\" imprint,

The Robert Price booklets featured newly discovered writings by Robert E. Howard. The covers I did for the booklets were fun to do because they gave me a chance to design the entire layout of the cover, including the lettering. They were simple enough to do but very satisfying.

When Price first asked me to do a cover drawing for him he did not ask that I also do the lettering. But the drawings that I did were not very complicated and took so very little time, I decided to design the entire cover including the lettering in order to earn the money I received for doing them. I'm sure Bob appreciated my doing that because it saved him the time and effort of doing it himself.","NorthKhyber.4953a228-ace5-4c7c-82ad-8b8b99b4848b.jpg","\\artwork\\NorthKhyber.4953a228-ace5-4c7c-82ad-8b8b99b4848b.jpg",300,"The Metal Monster","297. THE METAL MONSTER: Preliminary - An acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 canvas board. It appears on the cover of an Avon paperback book

\"The Metal Monster\" by Merritt remains one of my all-time favorite science fiction novels. Below are the opening lines to the novel. They are probably the quintessential opening lines for any \"science fiction\" story;

\"In this great crucible of life we call the world - in the vaster
one we call the universe - the mysteries lie close packed, un-
countable as grains of sand on ocean's shores. They thread
gigantic, the star-flung spaces; they creep, atomic, beneath
the microscope's peering eye. They walk beside us, unseen
and unheard, calling out to us, asking why we are deaf to
their crying, blind to their wonder\".","297. Metal Monster.e67f3e9f-4933-4c92-9127-600a997d3b6e.jpg","\\artwork\\297. Metal Monster.e67f3e9f-4933-4c92-9127-600a997d3b6e.jpg",299,"The Metal Monster - Preilimary","296. THE METAL MONSTER - An acrylic painting on a 9 x 12 poster board. It was sent to Avon as a preliminary color sketch for approval.

For the finished painting, the editor asked me change the entire composition, he wanted a horizontal layout so he could use it as a wraparound cover. He also asked me to reduce the guy and gal and put them closer to the monster, and to place this scene on the right side of the painting. On the left side he suggested I paint an extension of the landscape. And finally, he wanted the entire scene to occupy the lower third of the painting, leaving the top 2/3 of the artwork as a blank sky where the title design will appear on the right side (front cover), and a descriptive blurb at the top-left side (back cover).

So that's what I did. See picture 297 for how it came out. Though the composition is suitable for the way Avon designed the wraparound cover with most of it filled with lettering. But without the lettering it becomes a terrible composition because the scene is stretched out along the bottom third of the canvas with nothing in the top two-thirds.","145. Metal Monster Prelim.d4e562da-7633-41ec-9c42-bf716077efd4.jpg","\\artwork\\145. Metal Monster Prelim.d4e562da-7633-41ec-9c42-bf716077efd4.jpg",298,"Wood Nymph","295. WOOD NYMPH - An acrylic paint on a 16 x 20 size canvas board. It was a private commission.

I remember this painting as being the first of the private commission paintings that I started doing in the later 1970s. The fact that someone had phoned me to ask if I would do a painting for them really boosted my morale. After a few more such solicitations I decided to start the \"spare time\" paintings so that I would have something on hand when an art collector called.

I never accepted a private commission if the solicitor had a specific scene in mind, especially if it included faces of real people. I was asked, once, to paint a picture of the solicitor, his wife and two children dancing with fairies in a fantasy landscape, which I declined to do.

Usually, in a phone conversation with a solicitor I would ask questions that would give me a general idea of what kind of picture they had in mind; a Lord of thr Rings type, A Conan type, a 2001 Space Odyssey type, a John Carter of Mars type, etc. Most of the time they left the specific scene to me as long as it featured a beautiful woman.","295. Wood Nymph.dc600f31-70a6-43b0-b0ee-a4d47f9d8ede.jpg","\\artwork\\295. Wood Nymph.dc600f31-70a6-43b0-b0ee-a4d47f9d8ede.jpg",297,"Black Vulmea","294. BLACK VULMEA - A black ink and color pencil drawing on a 14 x 20 illustration board. It appears in my art folio, \"Fabian in Color,\" published by Starmont House in 1980, as Plate No.2, \"Black Vulmea's Vengeance\".

Most of the color drawings in the folio were originally intended to be cover art on Starmont's magazine reprint series, \"Famous Pulp Classics,\" but the series was cancelled after the 2nd issue, so none of them were used. Ted Dikty, the owner of Starmont House decided to use the drawings to produce the \"Fabian in Color\" art folio. No doubt to recover the funds he paid me to do the artwork.","294. Tales of Adventure.67b5dbc3-698a-4ba4-b6eb-6d712b012272.jpg","\\artwork\\294. Tales of Adventure.67b5dbc3-698a-4ba4-b6eb-6d712b012272.jpg",296,"Science Fiction by Gaslight","293. SCIENCE FICTION BY GASLIGHT - Acrylic painting, 9 x 12. I don't know why I decided to paint an old fashioned space ship, I should have been thinking about what a spaceship might look like 100 years from now, instead of 100 years ago. I may have been reading H.G. Wells or Jules Verne at the time.

When I started reading science fiction in 1950, the concept of a man in a spaceship landing on the moon was something I thought would take place decades after my lifetime. But incredibly, it actually happened just nineteen years later, on July 21, 1969 when American astronaut Neil Armstrong put his foot down on the surface of the moon. Incredibly, that historical event happened over 40 years ago, and it disturbs me that by now an American astronaut has not as yet put his boot down on the sands of Mars! Sadly, it may not be an American that first walks across the sands of Mars,

For several generations now, our federal government has become tragically incompetent and wasteful with our tax money, which is our only source for funds. As a nation we do not earn enough money to pay for our misguided government programs. To survive, we borrow from other nations, mostly from China. And now, we are over 17 TRILLION dollars in debt! - As a result of all this mismanagement our government has decided that it can no longer afford funding a robust space program. Which essentially puts the future of space exploration into the hands of China's scientists and engineers!

Speaking of governments investing in expeditionary voyages, did you know that Christopher Columbus had to wait seven years to get an appointment to see Spain's Queen Isabella about funding a controversial and dangerous \"voyage\" he was planning to take?","293. SF by Gaslight.43c54ae1-ba65-48ce-8753-d2cf85c3746f.jpg","\\artwork\\293. SF by Gaslight.43c54ae1-ba65-48ce-8753-d2cf85c3746f.jpg",295,"Demon of the Sea","292. CALL OF THE WILD - A color pencil drawing, size 9 x 12, commissioned by Ted Dikty of Starmont House.

This drawing is one of 10 color drawings that I did for Starmont House owner and editor Ted Dikty for use as covers for two series of softcover books he was publishing, \"Famous Fantastic Classics,\" and \"Famous Pulp Classics\". However he stopped producing both series after only two issues had been published. This is one of the eight color drawings that was not used.

In order to recoup what he paid me for those eight unused color drawings, Mr. Dikty decided to make a Portfolio out of them. He titled the portfolio, \"Fabian in Color\".

When Dikty phoned to tell me of his decision to stop publishing the two \"Famous\" series, I was disappointed even though I had been paid for all ten drawings. I had looked forward to seeing the entire series on my bookshelves.

But, the bad news turned to good news when he told me about his plan to publish the unused drawings as a portfolio. Our original contract for the drawings was for book covers, but now that he wanted to use them for a portfolio, a new contract for that purpose needed to be made. And so, I was able to earn more money from artwork that I had already done.

The amazing thing about my life as an illustrator is that over my entire career, my income from doing art assignments for magazines and books actually turned out to be far less than what I earned later on, when all of that artwork began to be reprinted in other media. . And for that greater amount I didn't have to do anything at all, except sign contracts!

\"Your ways of being are wondrous and mysterious. They are unique and particular to you.\" - Maya Angelou","292. Demon of the Sea.ecfa1744-d110-46dc-8965-2d04e08cc012.jpg","\\artwork\\292. Demon of the Sea.ecfa1744-d110-46dc-8965-2d04e08cc012.jpg",294,"Revenge","291. REVENGE - An acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 size canvas board. It appears on the cover of, \"Fantastic, Oct. 1978\".

Here is another cover painting that I did for a magazine where I had the freedom to paint whatever I wanted. I had recently watched a TV History Channel segment showing how the American Indians had their land taken away from them by the White man. I decided to show the indian taking back their land at some future time.

It was not a good idea because the time for Indians to take back their land has long since past, the possibility no longer exists. They had their chance early, before the white man expanded westward, but tribes were divided, often fought each other, and no leader rose in time to unite them to prevent what happened.

On the other hand, science fiction writers are quite ingenious and there is no doubt in my mind that if any of them were given this picture to use as a basis for writing a SF story, they could easily do it.","291. FAN-78-10.1a360fac-fe11-469c-90cb-8ce07087cc3a.jpg","\\artwork\\291. FAN-78-10.1a360fac-fe11-469c-90cb-8ce07087cc3a.jpg",293,"Oriental Melody","290. ORIENTAL MELODY - An acrylic painting on a 12 x 16 size canvas board, circa 1976. It is a spare time painting about the sound of music, and the difference between \"sound\" and \"Sound Waves\". And why a tree that falls in a forest never does make a \"sound\".

\"Sound,\" is one of the secret wonders of nature. It exists only in the minds of living creatures. Like the secret of \"electromagnetic waves\" that carry radio and television programs silently through the air, you can't see or hear them without special equipment, like a radio or a television set. \"Sound waves\" also move silently through the air, but you can hear them because you do have special equipment, you have \"ears\".

The oriental lady in this picture is plucking the strings of her musical instrument, causing the air around it to undulate and move away in all directions, \"silently.\" The music she is playing is hidden within those silent undulations, they are called \"Sound Waves\". And as they undulate through the air they weaken with distance until they flatten out and no longer exist.

If you have ears and are within range of sound waves, they will cause your eardrums to vibrate with the same frequency, causing the neurons in your ear canals to also undulate with the same frequency. Your ear canals are connected to your brain, so when those undulating neurons excite certain cells in your brain, the brain converts those silent undulations into the phenomenon called \"sound\". It is there that your mind \"hears\" the Oriental Melody.

Everything that has ever happened since the universe and time began, has happened, and continues to happen, in total silence. We are lucky to have ears and a brain that can convert and hear the \"secret\" in the silent sound waves. Can you imagine what life would be like for us if our brains were also able to hear and see the secret in those \"electromagnetic waves\"?

That possibility may only be a microchip implant away . . .","3.19 - Oriental Melody.9cab7103-a225-450d-8c76-5e1f57d25b34.jpg","\\artwork\\3.19 - Oriental Melody.9cab7103-a225-450d-8c76-5e1f57d25b34.jpg",292,"City in the Sea","289. CITY IN THE SEA - A computer painting on a 16 x 20 size canvas board.

This computer designed vertical picture is a re-arrangement of an original horizontal acrylic painting that I did some time ago in my spare time.

You ask why I bothered to do this alteration, what is the point?

Normally, when I do a spare time painting I design it so that it has the possibility of being used as a cover for a book or magazine, but this time I just plain forgot about that and painted the fortress on the left side of the horizontal canvas, and put the girl on horseback on the right side. Which means that as a wraparound cover picture, the girl on horseback would be on the front cover looking at an empty sky and sea-line. The fortress would appear on the back cover of the book or magazine.

So when the time came to put the picture on my website I saw that my layout was not appropriate for a cover and decided to use my computer to make it a vertical layout that would make more sense as a front cover illustration. To do that I moved the girl on horseback to the left side, under the fortress and eliminated the right side of the original painting.

That's why I bothered to make the change. And now, who knows, someday it may show up on the front cover of a book or magazine.","289. City in the Sea.d961e1e7-9808-47a7-a8cc-7744f78fc794.jpg","\\artwork\\289. City in the Sea.d961e1e7-9808-47a7-a8cc-7744f78fc794.jpg",291,"Blue Times","288. BLUE TIMES - A computer painting. It appears on the copyright page in my Art Folio, \"The Stephen E. Fabian Collection No.18: Paintings

On June 5, 2012, Ray Bradbury died. How sad that anyone with a talent and a humane regard for mankind, like Ray Bradbury had, ever has to die. He wrote wonder-filled stories labeled \"fiction\" though they are filled with profound truths about you and me reflected in the characters and incidents he created; about the people we love, the things we cherish, what we dream about, our hopes and fears, and the nostalgia for a loved past that will never return. I am forever grateful to him for writing so many wonderful stories that moved me emotionally, inspired me, and showed me the wonders of life and the universe.

His famous book, \"The Martian Chronicles\" is not about Martians, it's about you and me; WE are the Martians. For his marvelous stories he chose words like a poet, shifting the readers consciousness to a place of wonder. In the very first story in the book, \"Ylla,\" the flowing opening lines carry you away to a strange new world . . . \"They had a house of crystal pillars on the planet Mars by the edge of an empty sea, and every morning you could see Mrs. K, eating the golden fruits that grew from the crystal walls\"

He was born with a soul filled with the joy of life. He wrote; \"As a child I memorized all of John Carter and Tarzan, and repeated them to anyone who would sit and listen. I would go out to my grandparents front lawn on summer nights and reach up to the red light of Mars and say, \"Take me home! - I yearned to fly away and land there in the strange dusts that blew over dead sea bottoms toward the ancient cities\" . . .

I don't know if there is a \"Hereafter,\" but there should be one for people like Ray Bradbury; a place beyond the stars where they can endure, forever, at that unique place of theirs that they call, \"home\".","288. Art Folio 18-Copyright Plate.1728e9d4-152e-499b-a5f8-87ea370c8b36.jpg","\\artwork\\288. Art Folio 18-Copyright Plate.1728e9d4-152e-499b-a5f8-87ea370c8b36.jpg",290,"Mermaid On the Rocks","287. MERMAID ON THE ROCKS - An acrylic painting on a 22 x 28 size canvas board. It was a Spare time painting circa 1995.

Mermaids: In 2012 the U.S. National Ocean Service stated that no evidence of Mermaids has ever been found.

And yet, these legendary creatures that have the body of a woman from the waist up, and a fish-tail from the waist down have appeared in the folklore of many cultures all over the world.

In 1493 Christopher Columbus reported seeing mermaids while exploring the Carribean.

The latest Mermaid sighting happened in 2009, in Israel, on a beach near the town of Kiryat Yam. It seems that Shlomo Cohen and a few friends were walking along the beach when suddenly they saw a woman laying on the sand. At first they thought it was just another sunbather, but when they approached her she jumped into the water and disappeared. They were all in shock when they saw that she had a tail like a fish.

- Ghosts, flying Saucers, Mermaids, What do these three have in common?

\"Imagination\" can be so powerful, it can over-rule \"common sense\" and make you believe in nonsense. Whenever I am challenged to consider what the word, \"possibility\" means, I am left unable to absolutely deny all those weird sightings. But what I am able to state is that no \"sighters\" have ever shown any \"evidence\" of their sightings, so I am forced to conclude, at least for now, that all the sightings are imaginary, not real.","287. Mermaid on the Rocks.54ec4081-ca29-4f0a-a782-c1520287e502.jpg","\\artwork\\287. Mermaid on the Rocks.54ec4081-ca29-4f0a-a782-c1520287e502.jpg",289,"Almuric 3","286. ALMURIC 3 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in my art folio, \"Almuric,\" based on the novel by Robert E. Howard. Almuric's courage overcame his fear of the black-winged men and allowed him to defeat them.

There is no work of fiction in which heroes display a higher level of courage than can be found in men and women of the real world throughout history.

COURAGE is the cost that life demands for granting freedom. There was a time when American people were subjects of the British empire, the land belonged to the King and he taxed them for living on his land. But when the Americans said, \"No more!\" the angry King sent the greatest military force on earth at that time, the British Army and Navy, to enforce his laws. Which led to one of the major events in human history, the \"American Revolutionary War\" . . .

On Long Island, a rag-tag army of Americans assembled to listen to the man who would lead them into battle against the King's superior forces;

\"The time is near at hand which must probably determine whether we Americans are to be free men or slaves; whether we are able to have property we can call our own, whether our houses and farms will be pillaged and consigned to a British state from which no human effort can save them . . . The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of brave resistance or abject submission . . . We have, therefore, to pledge ourselves to conquer or die!\"
Address to the Continental Army on the eave of battle,
August 27, 1776 - George Washington

The courage and leadership of George Washington led to the defeat of the British army, and Americans became \"free\" to build a new nation. How many Americans today, do you think know this?","286. Almuric 3.3d45bf81-9f91-43a4-9960-5b78057b764c.jpg","\\artwork\\286. Almuric 3.3d45bf81-9f91-43a4-9960-5b78057b764c.jpg",288,"Almuric 2","285. ALMURIC 2 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in my art folio, \"Almuric,\" based on the novel by Robert E. Howard.

This drawing illustrates the last sentence in the following scene from the novel, ALMURIC:

\"All this time my rage had been growing until the chamber seemed to
swim in a red mist. Wheeling, I gripped the chain with both hands, wrapping it around my wrists for more leverage. Then, bracing my feet against the floor and wall I began to strain with all my strength. All over my body the great muscles coiled and knotted; sweat broke out on my skin, and then with a shattering crash the stone wall gave way, the iron ring was torn out bodily, and I was catapulted into my captors who roared with amazement and came at me en masse. I answered their bellows with one strident yell of bloodthirsty gratification, and heaving up through the melee, began swinging my heavy fists like caulking mallets\".

A Howard story always has an abundance of scenes that cry out to be illustrated, so whenever I had to illustrate one I always had difficulty deciding which scenes to leave out. However, \"Almuric\" is a short novel, and for this Art Folio I had 15 plates to work with so the difficulty was minimal.","285. Almuric 2.ad3fb9ef-9576-4ad8-a60c-6f4c6e8120c6.jpg","\\artwork\\285. Almuric 2.ad3fb9ef-9576-4ad8-a60c-6f4c6e8120c6.jpg",287,"Almuric 1","284. ALMURIC 1 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in my art folio, \"Almuric,\" based on the novel by Robert E. Howard.

This story originally appeared in the pulp magazine, \"Weird Tales\" as a three part serial starting in May, 1939. In 1975 Donald Grant published it in hardcover. It has since been reprinted in paperback editions.

When you are young and show a little talent at something, it's important that someone comes along to encourage you. When I was a little boy I enjoyed drawing pictures, I had this desire to use my own right hand to try to draw the wonderful characters I saw in the newspaper comics section. They were drawn by talented cartoonists like Alex Raymond, Hal Foster, Burne Hogarth, and others. I didn't know their names, but I sure knew what they did; they drew Flash Gordon, Prince Valiant, and Tarzan, and it was my secret pleasure and pride, that even though I was just a little kid, I was able to draw them almost as good as those master illustrators.

I remember only one person who saw my drawings when I was young and encouraged me. Her name was Mrs. Sheridan, she lived with her husband and son a few houses down the block from where I lived. Many evenings I sat at her kitchen table with her son Bobby, who also liked to draw. Mrs. Sheridan always had paper and pencils ready for both of us, and while Bobby drew Batman and Superman, I drew Flash Gordon and Dale, or we drew some other comics characters. I can still see her coming behind her son and saying, \"Oh, that's really good Bobby! Your Batman is better that the one in the comic book!\" And when she put her hand on my shoulder and looked at my drawing she would say something like, \"You kids are really getting good! Keep it up!\"

I wish that somewhere later in time, I had thanked her.","284. Almuric 1.52b16479-17a1-463a-a11e-c66ca23d355b.jpg","\\artwork\\284. Almuric 1.52b16479-17a1-463a-a11e-c66ca23d355b.jpg",286,"Almuric - New Art Folo Cover","283. ALMURIC: New Art Folio Cover - A computer painting designed as a new title page for my art folio, \"Almuric\".

A client wanted to purchase the ALMURIC art folio but could find no copies anywhere, so he emailed me and asked if I had any copies to sell. I did not, but I replied that I could print one out for him although it could not be considered a part of the original limited edition folio. He said OK, so I printed the complete set of folio plates for him and added this new color title page. The figures in this painting were borrowed from pictures 200 and 472.","283. Almuric Folio-Cover.db66491c-039e-46ea-a3e7-7d17956a2b3c.jpg","\\artwork\\283. Almuric Folio-Cover.db66491c-039e-46ea-a3e7-7d17956a2b3c.jpg",285,"Fruiting Bodies","282. FRUITING BODIES - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the magazine, \"Weird Tales, Summer, 1988,\" by Brian Lumley.

This picture reminds me of what is really important in life . . .

There are times when mother nature is in a good mood and treats us well, you can hear her singing, \"how do I love thee, let me count the ways,\" and brings us days so beautiful you can't help but feel, \"It's great to be alive\".

But there are times when she's in a terrible mood, growling, \"How shall I kill thee, there are so many ways\". She has tiny deadly microbes, earthquakes, and giant tsunami waves to do us in. And in this picture she's throwing our homes into the sea, with us in them, and shouting, \"Good riddance\".

So, what's really important is doing things that make us happy while we are still alive on this ball of mud we call the Earth. Before the ravages of age or Mother Nature do their worst to us.

I thought about it for a while and then approached my wife who was sitting on the couch knitting a baby hat for a preemie in the local hospital. I asked her, \"Honey, what can I do to make you happy?\"

And without looking up she responded, \"maybe later, I'm busy now\".
And I responded, \"No, no, that's not what I mean. I mean, really, what can I do to make your life happier?\"

And she says. \"It's not what you can do for me, it's what I can do for you!\"
I think John F. Kennedy said something like that . . .
So I said, \"I guess it's what we can do for each other\". And she says, \"That's right, only let's do it later, I'm busy now\". . .","282. Fruiting Bodies.3e6acd84-df22-4fad-8eae-b50c67369702.jpg","\\artwork\\282. Fruiting Bodies.3e6acd84-df22-4fad-8eae-b50c67369702.jpg",284,"Kingdoms of the Air 2","281. KINGDOMS OF THE AIR, 2 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the magazine, \"Weird Tales, Summer, 1988, by Tanith Lee.

Somewhere in this website I wrote that every drawing or painting that I made was the best I could do at the time I made it. But I've thought about that statement, and I've changed my mind . . .

I now think that if any of the editors, after receiving one of my cover paintings or story illustrations had returned it to me with a note that read, \"not good enough, you can do better,\" I probably would have done better!","281. Kingdoms of the Air 2.eebdbcbd-4699-4b44-825b-c0b7e2202ca7.jpg","\\artwork\\281. Kingdoms of the Air 2.eebdbcbd-4699-4b44-825b-c0b7e2202ca7.jpg",283,"Kingdoms of the Air - 1","280. KINGDOMS OF THE AIR, 1 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in \"Weird Tales, Sum.1988,\" story by Tanith Lee.

Learning to draw realistically requires understanding that you can only see things because they are revealed to you by some source of light. So step number one involves seeing three dimensional objects in the form of light, and shadow, and reflected light.

In this drawing, the moon is the direct source of light and the halo at the bottom is the light reflected from the rocky landscape. Everything you see in the picture is revealed to you by how I used those two sources of light.

Once there was nothing . . . then the Creator cried out, \"LET THERE BE LIGHT!\" and the creation of the universe began! With a BIG bang!

Which is how I do it! . . . On the drawing table before me there is a blank piece of paper with \"Nothing\" on it. I reach for the light switch . . . AND THERE IS LIGHT! I pick up my pencil and the creation of a drawing begins! . . . alas, with not quite as big a bang.

","Plate 5.1308d5c0-c853-4096-a9a5-2610dd481e1b.jpg","\\artwork\\Plate 5.1308d5c0-c853-4096-a9a5-2610dd481e1b.jpg",282,"Weird Tales Spots","279. WEIRD TALES SPOTS - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on 11 x 14 coquille board.

Weird Tales editor, Darrell Schweitzer, asked me to draw a new Contents Page Logo (see drawing on top) and several spot drawings that he could use on a regular basis to fill in empty spaces that happen when laying out pages of the magazine.

The thing about spot drawings is that sometimes they can take as long to do, or even longer, than a full page story illustration. I remember having difficulty coming up with ideas for these drawings, I would start one after another, being satisfied with none of them. I must have started over a dozen sketches that I threw away before I stopped and decided to have lunch. But after lunch ideas came to me easily and I was able to make these three drawings in about three hours.

My career as an illustrator was filled with days when I began a day being very enthusiastic about an assignment, but after working for awhile I found myself floundering, unable to do a proper job. And then there were days when I got out of bed very un-enthusiastic about going to work. I had to force myself to climb the stairs, one step at a time, to get to my drawing board. I had to convince myself that I needed to go to work every day, to do the work, and to get the job done. And once I got going things began to go smoothly, and at the end of the day I was really happy with what I did.

So, each day was a challenge, and eventually I came to appreciate what it means to be a professional.","179. Weird Tales Spots.74964e67-b16b-445d-aecf-3d459c10562f.jpg","\\artwork\\179. Weird Tales Spots.74964e67-b16b-445d-aecf-3d459c10562f.jpg",281,"Weird Tales, Summer, 1988","278. WEIRD TALES, Summer 1988 - An acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 size canvas board. It illustrates the story, \"Kingdoms of the Air'\" by Tanith Lee.

Each year I receive a calendar in the mail from an organization soliciting a donation for \"The Artists,\" those special handicapped men and women who paint pictures by holding the paint brush between their teeth or between their toes.

Each month of the calendar features one of their paintings along with a notable quotation. Most of these paintings are so well done, so impressive that clearly these artists are not handicapped in expressing themselves in their artwork.

It moves me emotionally when I see that \"art\" is as important to them as it is to me, and that in spite of their handicaps, like having no arms, the quality of their best paintings are comparable to those in the non-handicapped world of art.

In my present calendar (2012) the June painting is a beautiful rendition of a bouquet of roses in a vase, mouth painted by Shih-Feng Chen. The quotation reads;
\"Whatever our souls are made of, yours and mine are the same.\"
Emily Bronte","Plate 1. WTA-88-Sum.59fd2731-e794-4f87-b581-46861da8681a.jpg","\\artwork\\Plate 1. WTA-88-Sum.59fd2731-e794-4f87-b581-46861da8681a.jpg",280,"The Mayday","277. THE MAYDAY - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille paper. It appears in the book, \"Anita,\" by Keith Roberts, published by Owlswick Press, 1990.

When I was drawing this picture I had to create a few sea creatures to put in it, and in doing so I began thinking of all the species living beneath the sea. And when I thought of all the different species of creatures that live on land I became overwhelmed with what was going on in this world while I was drawing this picture.

Imagine, while I'm inking the border on this picture, billions of creatures, big and small all over the planet, on land and beneath it's seas are fighting for survival. And whenever I start thinking that way I get a little peeved with myself and turn the radio on, or play a music CD. There is no doubt about it, I think too much!","277. Mayday.1eb60850-0876-4376-9e14-1bd725e510db.jpg","\\artwork\\277. Mayday.1eb60850-0876-4376-9e14-1bd725e510db.jpg",279,"The Jennifer","276. THE JENNIFER - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"Anita,\" by Keith Roberts, published by Owlswick Press, 1990

A \"Jennifer'\" is a mermaid, and I sure have drawn and painted a lot of mermaids over the years. In fact, the first painting I made during my learning years was a copy of Andrew Loomis' mermaid from his book, \"Creative Illustration,\" which appears here as item 2.

There are actually 6 mermaids on this website, 3 are paintings. But I have painted at least 5 other mermaids that do not appear on this website, they were made for clients who asked me to paint one for them. For each one of those the challenge was in creating a complimentary but different setting in which to place the mermaid.","276. The Jennifer.c4625c5e-7cb9-48fe-8875-ca2876e8039b.jpg","\\artwork\\276. The Jennifer.c4625c5e-7cb9-48fe-8875-ca2876e8039b.jpg",278,"The Charm","275. THE CHARM - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"Anita'\" by Keith Roberts, published by Owlswick Press, 1990

Dinosaurs! A science fiction illustrator can learn something about almost everything because SF is about everything. It all depends on how much \"research\" an illustrator is willing to do to get the information needed to do a proper job on an illustration. For this drawing I decided I would browse the internet and get some info on dinosaurs just to focus my mind on the subject. Here are the notes I took during that browse:

The name, \"dinosaur\" means, \"Most fearsome Lizard\". They were reptiles who laid eggs. Some were carnivores who ate meat but most were herbivores who ate plants.

About 230 million years ago dinosaurs ruled the earth, they lived all over the place, mostly on open plains, in forests, and in swamps. Some were as tall as a five-story building, others as small as a duck.

About 65 million years ago it is believed that a huge meteor struck the earth causing enormous clouds of dust to block the sun's rays so that for several years the earth remained in darkness and low temperatures. Huge tidal waves flooded the low-lands, while acid-rain fell.

While small animals were able to find shelter and enough food to survive, the larger dinosaurs could not, they died out. But while they were here they lasted for about 160 million years.

We \"Homo Sapiens\" have only been around for about 200,000 years. Can you imagine us lasting 160 million years more? I can't, not on this earth.","275. The Charm.6bd21cf8-37c0-4db4-8fa0-af7a2cec745e.jpg","\\artwork\\275. The Charm.6bd21cf8-37c0-4db4-8fa0-af7a2cec745e.jpg",277,"Anita","274. ANITA - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"Anita,\" by Keith Roberts, published by Owlswick Press, 1990

This picture reminds me of a terrifying short story titled, \"Knock,\" written by Fredric brown. It is only two short sentences long and goes like this; \"The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door\". That's it! The rest of the story is up to you to think about, to finish.

Fredric Brown was a master at writing very short stories like \"Knock,\" in which he sets up a short scenario and lets the reader imagine the rest of the story.

When I read \"Knock\" I came up with what is probably the most obvious storyline; a world-wide catastrophy like a plague must have wiped out the entire population of Earth except for that one man who somehow managed to survive and is now all alone in a room, sitting in a chair. And then of course, when he answers the knock on the door, there stands the last woman on Earth who also survived!

But think of the many other possibilities for who, or what, may be knocking on the other side of the door . . .","274. Anita 2.26ba6157-ffd4-47ea-a0b5-4e62beab98ba.jpg","\\artwork\\274. Anita 2.26ba6157-ffd4-47ea-a0b5-4e62beab98ba.jpg",276,"Anita - Frontispiece","273. ANITA: Frontispiece - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears as the frontispiece in the book, \"Anita\" by Keith Roberts, published by Owlswick Press in 1990.

I received this assignment with a note attached from editor, Darrell Schweitzer, asking that I not draw Anita as a beautiful young girl because the author is a bit peeved that illustrators in the past had pictured her as a sexy babe. And according to him, she is not, he has described her in his stories as a plain, homely girl, and he would appreciate it if I drew her that way.

But as I proceeded to read the manuscript and underline all the descriptive words and passages that I considered important, all the descriptions related to Anita's appearance described her as a really beautiful sexy babe; \"young men whistled at her as she walked by,\" \"their eyes popped out at the sight of her luscious figure,\" \"their hearts broke if she didn't smile at them,\" etc. etc.

So I sent a note to the editor pointing out this odd contradiction and he responded by telling me to go ahead and draw her as she is described in the stories. When the book was published I received a note from the author. I thought he was going to chastise me, but instead, he complimented me for doing such a nice job! Not a word about his original \"peeve\". I was happy about that, but also a bit perplexed.","Plate 6.e4b76591-db2f-4046-823e-263ffd6d8cff.jpg","\\artwork\\Plate 6.e4b76591-db2f-4046-823e-263ffd6d8cff.jpg",275,"Space Opera - BC","272. SPACE OPERA: Back Cover - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the book, \"Space Opera,\" by Jack Vance, published by Underwood-Miller in 1984.

This drawing combines realistic with un-realistic elements, and that leads me to say something about \"modern art.\" I often make negative comments about modern art because I see it as a stage on which untalented frauds display their artwork side by side with the truly talented modern artists, and I am challenged to identify the one from the other.

Jackson Pollack, a so-called great \"abstract expressionist\" took very little time to paint masterpieces; he placed a large canvas on the floor, climbed a ladder, and dripped, splashed, and poured paint all over the canvas. Most of his masterpieces took longer to dry than to create. And yet, the rich, the highly educated, the powerful, admire his genius!

Are you kidding me?

\"Reality,\" \"reason,\" \"sense,\" and \"rationale,\" are not what modern art is about. Kandinsky created a painting that was hailed as a great achievement because it had \"no recognizable objects\". Too much of Modern Art comes to this: \"What you see is what you see, there is nothing to think about\".

Well, I do not appreciate artwork that gives me nothing to think about.","272. SpaceOpera-BC.a4fa52b0-fc79-472a-8efa-6a4bb5e0469f.jpg","\\artwork\\272. SpaceOpera-BC.a4fa52b0-fc79-472a-8efa-6a4bb5e0469f.jpg",274,"Space Opera - Front Cover","271. SPACE OPERA: Front Cover - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the book, \"Space Opera,\" by Jack Vance, published by Underwood-Miller in 1984.

Bertrand Russell, who died in 1970, was a famous British essayist, philosopher, and historian, who wrote, \"The entire saga of mankind is not of the slightest significance in the limitless expanse of interstellar space, in the light of the quadrillion stars that twinkle around us\".

Well, I don't know about that, I don't know how Mr. Russell reached his conclusion that the human race is \"insignificant\"!

Interstellar Space. We humans live on a tiny planet that is spinning around a tiny star that is part of a Galaxy of billions of stars that is spinning along with other uncountable numbers of Galaxies, all spinning along as part of a Universe that is itself spinning toward some unknown destiny.

If there is no other intelligent \"life\" form anywhere else in this whirling universe of stars except for us humans here on Earth . . . then I put to you that it is \"man,\" who has a brain capable of independent thought, and a capacity for love, that gives profound significance to this so-called miracle that is the Universe.

But the \"miracle\" is not the creation of the Universe, the \"miracle\" is the creation of \"life\". The Universe is our environment, we have eternity to explore it, and that does makes us \"significant!\" The big question is whether other forms of \"life\" exist anywhere else in the universe, or was it all created just for us?

So there you are, you have Mr. Russell's philosophy, and you have mine. What's yours?","271. SpaceOpera-FC.a064a7b1-45de-49ce-a8db-6b25d1fb3456.jpg","\\artwork\\271. SpaceOpera-FC.a064a7b1-45de-49ce-a8db-6b25d1fb3456.jpg",273,"Boston 1980","270. BOSTON 1980 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appeared in a 1980 Science Fiction Convention booklet.

I took a break before finishing this drawing and while drinking a cup of coffee I looked at an issue of Artist Magazine. I came to a page that featured a painting that seemed to be splashes of color with some swirls in the center. The caption said it was part of a new \"showing\" in a modern art museum. So I began to read about how the artist rendered this masterpiece; he had placed a large sandpapered wooden panel on the floor and splashed several colors of paint over it. He then planted his naked behind in the center and spun around in the pigments until satisfied with his effort. And this improvisational painting was the feature presentation in this \"respected\" \"art\" magazine.

Then I read a commentary of this painting at the end of the feature, by an art critic (supposedly an expert in the field of modern art) who wrote; \"The sensitive hands that wrought this masterpiece can be discerned in every touch of these whirling syndromes of emotion\". Apparently the critic was unaware of the artist's technique!

I put the magazine away and went back to work . . .","270. Boston 1980.f7c87912-349d-4300-97e5-57b8d788eb16.jpg","\\artwork\\270. Boston 1980.f7c87912-349d-4300-97e5-57b8d788eb16.jpg",272,"Rogue Queen","269. ROGUE QUEEN - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 8 x 10 coquille board. The actual drawing is 3 x 5. It appeared in a fanzine.

Nothing the world can offer you is fundamentally finer than the achievements and creations you make through your own efforts. You can enjoy and appreciate the art and talent of others, we all do, but real joy comes from learning and doing things yourself.

At the very beginning, when my artwork began to appear in fanzines, like this drawing did, I was truly inspired to keep going, to keep learning, to keep getting better. I owe a lot to those editors of science fiction fanzines who published my artwork, they paved the road for me to travel to the world of professional illustration.","110. Rogue Queen.b788f1f8-d5c1-417c-bf58-eb48fa495803.jpg","\\artwork\\110. Rogue Queen.b788f1f8-d5c1-417c-bf58-eb48fa495803.jpg",271,"Winter Wish","268. WINTER WISH - A black ink and gray color pencil drawing on a 12 x 16 illustration board. It appears on the dust jacket of, \"Winter Wish,\" a book of poetry by H.P. Lovecraft, published by Whispers Press.

I have enjoyed reading Lovecraft's fiction, as well as his volumes of selected letters published by Arkham House. His fiction is based on his philosophy; \" The opinions of the masses are of no interest to me, I could not write about, \"ordinary people\" because I am not in the least interested in them. It is man's relation to the Cosmos, to the unknown, which alone arouses in me the spark of creative imagination. Pleasure to me is the wonder in the unexplored, the unexpected\".

But Lovecraft had a serious flaw in his philosophy which is not apparent in those biographical Arkham House books, it is revealed in an article he wrote for an amateur magazine. This is what he wrote; \"The negro is fundamentally the biological inferior to all white, and even Mongolian races, and the northern people must occasionally be reminded of the danger which they may incur in admitting him too freely to the privileges of society and government\". This from Lovecraft, how unexpected.

I was surprised again, unexpectedly as I watched a TV special celebrating the life of Carl Sandburg, a man honored as one of America's greatest writers and poets. Sandburg actually spent the first half of his life trying to overthrow the American government! He conspired with communists and tried to bring their socialist plans into this country to start a revolution! But they caught him before he could distribute them. It was all hushed up and he was forgiven! After all, he was a great American writer and poet! In his later years he wrote a masterful three volume edition on the life of Abraham Lincoln, which I read. I finished the third volume, \"The War Years,\" getting quite emotional as I read of Lincoln's death train rolling slowly across the country, village by village. So, who was Carl Sandburg? . . . My enemy? . . . My friend? . . . What should I make of him?","Winter Wish.e4f04966-48e1-4603-8534-420bcbe691c7.jpg","\\artwork\\Winter Wish.e4f04966-48e1-4603-8534-420bcbe691c7.jpg",270,"Pulptime - dj","267. PULPTIME: Dust Jacket - A black ink and gray color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 vellum paper. It appears on the dust jacket of \"Pulptime\" by Peter Cannon, published by Paul Ganley (Weirdbook), 1984.

The man in the middle of the drawing is H.P. Lovecraft, the other man is Frank Belknap Long. Both men authored fantasy and horror fiction during the Golden Age of pulp magazines. Lovecraft is often ranked with Edgar Allan Poe. Long did not achieve that kind of high ranking, nevertheless, he was a noted writer of the genre

In the 1930s a small literary group came into being called \"The Kalem Club\". The original members were, Frank Belknap Long, Rheinhart Kleiner, Samuel Loveman, James Ferdinand Morton, and Howard Phillips Lovecraft. The Kalem Club was probably the world's first organized group of fantasy/horror fans. This short crime novel involves the Kalem Club and Sherlock Holmes.","Plate 7.66b1596a-5125-4bdf-a4ba-85f81a266328.jpg","\\artwork\\Plate 7.66b1596a-5125-4bdf-a4ba-85f81a266328.jpg",269,"For a Breath I Tarry","266. FOR A BREATH I TARRY - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 vellum paper. It appears as the frontispiece in the book, \"For a Breath I Tarry,\" by Roger Zelazny, published by Underwood-Miller in 1980.

When I received this commission I was a bit surprised that it was going to be produced as a hardcover book! The manuscript was a short story only 8 pages long! Incredibly, when the book was published I saw that the story text was distributed, with the addition of my drawings to 67 pages, with 40 blank pages added at the end of the book to thicken it out a bit more! Somehow, the publishers felt justified producing this short story as a \"book\"!

The story has been reprinted recently by NESFA Books in their 6 volume series, \"The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny, Volume Two: Power and Light\". It is one of 29 stories in the book. Now, That! Is a BOOK!","For a Breath I Tarry.977c9d23-2108-40c2-aea3-ba14da5ce49c.jpg","\\artwork\\For a Breath I Tarry.977c9d23-2108-40c2-aea3-ba14da5ce49c.jpg",268,"The Bronze God of Rhodes","265. THE BRONZE GOD OF RHODES - An acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 size canvas board. It was intended to be the cover art for a softcover book titled, \"The Bronze God of Rhodes,\" an historical novel by L. Sprague de Camp, scheduled for publication in 1983 by Donning Starblaze Editions. It was never published by Donning.

Some editors have been known to make curious decisions leading many a writer and illustrator to become rather frustrated with the publishing industry. One such writer, Chuck Ross, was so frustrated he decided to expose the whole lot of them and came up with a plan; he selected a book, \"STEPS,\" by Jerzy Kozinski, that had won the National Book Award for Best Novel just a few years earlier. Ross had twenty-seven copies of the manuscript printed up and sent a copy to 14 major publishers and 13 big time literary agents.

All of them rejected the novel, including Random House, the original publisher of the book. None of the editors or literary agents showed any sign that they recognized this National Book Award winner.

Does that surprise you?

It surprises me. Every time I learn of a hugely successful book that the author, had difficulty getting published, it surprises me.

But it shouldn't . . . There is a saying, \"To recognize a great work of art you must know what makes a work of art great.

So, I guess those editors who reject great works of art, just don't \"know\".","265. The Bronze God of Rhodes.0b602598-be87-408c-b451-e8a7a6111052.jpg","\\artwork\\265. The Bronze God of Rhodes.0b602598-be87-408c-b451-e8a7a6111052.jpg",267,"The Viking's Stone","264. THE VIKING'S STONE - A scratchboard drawing, size 8.5 x 11. It appears in the book, \"The Compleat Crow,\" by Brian Lumley, published by Ganley in 1987.

Before I started doing these scratchboard drawings I went to the library and found a book on how to draw on scratchboard. I spent about an hour reading it, put it back on the shelf and came home feeling somewhat prepared for the task.

Scratchboard comes with a white surface or a black one. I used one with a white surface and used black ink to draw the shapes of the objects that I wanted in the picture. Then, with the use of scratch-tools, I scratched lines in the objects to reveal forms and details.

Careful planning is essential because scratchboard is not a forgiving medium, you can't erase a scratched line that you don't want. You can fill it in with ink to hide it, but the scratching surface is gone with the initial scratch, and the filled in ink soaks down into the base paper and is un-removable. But though that area is no longer usable for the scratch-board technique, white ink can be used to repair white lines in those areas.

Although I seldom used scratchboard, I now wish I had used it more, it does produce a special and dramatic visual experience.","264. Vikings Stone.a37b449b-a07e-4702-aabc-f36f560d94f3.jpg","\\artwork\\264. Vikings Stone.a37b449b-a07e-4702-aabc-f36f560d94f3.jpg",266,"The Mirror of Nitocris","263. THE MIRROR OF NITOCRIS - A scratchboard drawing, size 8.5 x 11. It appears in the book, \"The Compleat Crow,\" by Brian Lumley, published by Ganley in 1987.

I've heard it said many times that a picture is worth a thousand words. And that's true of course when you want to know what something, or someone \"looks\" like. But sometimes, looking at a picture is not enough . . .

Suppose this picture was a portrait of a famous woman, and let's pretend that you never heard of her. Helen Keller is her name. Looking at her portrait would mean very little to you because you don't know her and the picture doesn't tell you anything about her. So I will; she was a very special lady who was born in 1880. And just one year and seven months after she was born an illness made her completely deaf and blind.

For that brief span of time she knew the joy of seeing and hearing the world around her, and then, when the illness struck . . . being aware that she was alive, but in total silence, and complete darkness. How did that little girl deal with such a fearful thing?

And then a \"Miracle Worker\" came along, Anne Sullivan, who used the \"sense of touch\" to communicate with Helen. She taught her to \"feel\" words that she spelled out with finger strokes in Helen's palm and was able to relate those touch-words to things and ideas. She became Helen's teacher and life-long companion. It was a long and challenging learning experience that eventually enabled Helen to attend college. She became the first deaf-blind person, ever, to earn a college degree. Though she was unable to hear or see anything for the rest of her life, Helen Keller went on to live a productive and rewarding life only by \"feeling\" it. How awesome is that! She died in 1968 at the age of 88.

That portrait of Helen Keller? . . . It tells you nothing. It takes a thousand words to make you see what a picture never can.","263. Mirror of Nitocris.7344fb16-ba7f-4853-9601-b58b744633bb.jpg","\\artwork\\263. Mirror of Nitocris.7344fb16-ba7f-4853-9601-b58b744633bb.jpg",265,"De Marigny's Clock","262. DE MARIGNY'S CLOCK - A scratchboard drawing, size 8.5 x 11. It appears in the book, \"The Compleat Crow,\" by Brian Lumley, published by Ganley in 1987.

According to evolutionists, life began on Earth beneath the sea, as micro undulating blobs. And while the Earth whirled its way around the Sun for millions of years, those tiny blobs stretched and wriggled into a variety of larger forms until some of them developed appendages that gave them the means to crawl out of the sea onto land.

And while Earth continued to orbit the Sun for more millions of years, those creatures continued struggling to adapt themselves to the dry land environment. All kinds of changes were attempted, resulting in a myriad of species; insects, snakes, frogs, birds, all kinds of animals including one with a larger brain capacity capable of walking upright. Mating, and mating, generation after generation . . . and that's how you and I got to be here.

But, not all of those early sea creatures made it to land, and though many of them developed into all kinds of fish species that roam the upper part of the oceans, some of them changed into creatures capable of going way down, into the deepest and darkest parts of the ocean. And we don't know about them . . .

We humans have ruled the Earth for a long time now, but we have failed our destiny, we have become killers, destroyers, ego-maniacs doomed to destroy ourselves. We are not the noble life-form for which the universe was created. Our time is up . . .

Down in the deepest region of the ocean floor, the unknown things are beginning to stir . . . they are rising . . . It is time for a change . . .","262. De Marignys Clock.4da1c262-a8a6-418b-a2d9-e49f34b2177d.jpg","\\artwork\\262. De Marignys Clock.4da1c262-a8a6-418b-a2d9-e49f34b2177d.jpg",264,"Darghud's Doll","261. DARGHUD'S DOLL - A scratchboard drawing, size 8.5 x 11. It appears in the book, \"The Compleat Crow,\" by Brian Lumley, published by Ganley in 1987

The terrible thing about a \"Lie\" is that it can be stronger than the \"Truth,\" if you believe in the \"Lie\". If the doll in the voodoo man's left hand was made to represent you, can he cause you harm if you do not believe in voodoo?

I don't believe in Voodoo any more than I believe in magic. But holy cow, it is estimated that there are over 50 million followers of Voodoo worldwide! It started in Africa a very long time ago and has spread to Haiti, Brazil, Jamaica, Cuba, and New Orleans, and just about every country in the world!

Voodoo means \"Spirit of God,\" and it's followers believe in one all-powerful God who created everything but is not involved in human daily activity. They also believe in spirits called \"Loas\". There are many Loas, each one specializes in some particular human affair, with the power to influence the outcome. The practice of Voodoo involves the blessing of a Voodoo doll by an experienced practitioner who allows the possessor of a doll to contact a Loa directly, to request a personal fulfillment in love, finance, career, Health, family matters, etc., etc.

Hollywood and fiction writers have portrayed Voodoo as something evil, but it's simply not true, Voodoo does not permit human sacrifice, in fact it is against using Voodoo to harm a human being! So, putting a pin into a Voodoo doll to torture or kill someone is condemned by Voodoo practitioners. But every belief system has its extremists, so there are probably rogue Voodoo practitioners who do contact a Loa for someone wanting revenge against another human.

And, would you believe it, You can buy a Voodoo Doll, with Pins, at Walmart!","261. Darghud's Doll.c9463f7c-bb63-48e1-bdba-b96868c3d25b.jpg","\\artwork\\261. Darghud's Doll.c9463f7c-bb63-48e1-bdba-b96868c3d25b.jpg",263,"An Item of Supporting Evidence","260. AN ITEM OF SUPPORTING EVIDENACE - scratchboard drawing, size 8.5 x 11. It appears in the book, \"The Compleat Crow'\" by Brian Lumley, published by Ganley in 1987.

If I were able to add sound to this drawing I would dub in the \"Wilhelm scream\" for the soldier who is caught in the grip of the monster's left hand. It's quite frightening, the Wilhelm scream, I'm sure you've heard it somewhere. I heard about the scream from my son Stephen while we were dining at a restaurant . . .

We were waiting for our meals to be served, and Stephen asked me, \"Dad, did you ever hear of the 'Wilhelm' scream?\" I answered, \"No, what is it?\" He took a sip of the beer he was drinking and as he lowered the glass he said, \"In the 1951 western film, 'Distant Drums' there is a scene in which an actor screams when attacked by an alligator. The scream was dubbed in, it is credited to actor-singer 'Sheb Wooley' who had a talent for screaming. It was recorded and is now part of filmdom's 'Sound Effects' library. But oddly, it is not known as \"The Sheba Wooly Scream\". He paused to take another sip of beer and then continued, \"And that's because . . .

In the 1953 western film, 'The Charge at Feather River,' a character in the film, private 'Wilhelm,' is on horseback and screams when he is shot in the leg by an Indian arrow. The scream was dubbed in using the Sheb Wooley scream from the Sound Effects Library. But, ever since then it has erroneously been called, 'The Wilhelm Scream'.\" Our waiter interrupted to ask Steve if he wanted another glass of beer, and after Steve replied, \"No thanks,\" he went on to add . . .

\"It's become a fun-thing with some of filmdom's sound effects people, they have used it in over 200 Movie and Television films, including the Star Wars and Indiana Jones pictures, Batman Returns, Toy Story, Planet of the Apes, and Pirates of the Caribbean. You can hear it from your computer, Dad. Just go to your Web Search cell and type in 'The Wilhelm Scream,' and from the list of websites that appear select one that features a recording of the Scream.\" And that's what I did when I got home.","260. An Item of Supporting Evidence.78eb0c59-f26a-4bf1-bf8d-b57c698ae93e.jpg","\\artwork\\260. An Item of Supporting Evidence.78eb0c59-f26a-4bf1-bf8d-b57c698ae93e.jpg",262,"The Caller of the Black","259. THE CALLER OF THE BLACK - A scratchboard drawing, size 8.5 x 11. It appears in the book, \"The Compleat Crow,\" by Brian Lumley, published by Ganley in 1987.

There was a superb \"scratchboard\" artist who illustrated a few stories for some SF pulp magazines in the 1950s just before they all went out of business. His name was Paul Calle. I admired his unique style and his amazing craftsmanship with scratchboard, and I wondered why the few digest magazines like \"Astounding SF,\" that were still publishing monthly issues, never used his marvelous artwork. How sad, I never saw his work again, anywhere, for many years. I often wondered what happened to him, thinking that he probably abandoned the field of illustration and got a job doing something else. So I thought . . .

Fifty-Five years have gone by and on April 12, 2013, I was perusing an old 1950s issue of Super Science Stories, and saw one of Paul Calle's illustrations. I decided to search the internet to see if I could find something on this obscure scratchboard illustrator of the dying pulps of the past . . .

This is what I found out about Paul Calle; He went on to paint several Saturday Evening Post covers, and later he was chosen as the sole artist hired by NASA to cover the Apollo 11 astronauts, up close. He designed several US stamps commemorating the first Moon landing, and 40 other illustrations that appear on US Postage Stamps, as well as postage stamp artwork for the United Nations, and other nations like Sweden. His artwork is displayed at the National Air and Space Museum, the National Gallery of Art, the National Cowboy and Western Art Museum, and many other art museum across America.

So, much to my pleasant surprise Paul Calle did not fade away with the pulps, the young obscure science fiction illustrator actually went on to become one of America's honored artists. He died in 2010.","259. Caller of the Black.5780f7f4-5fa6-4ae5-b251-073675d2a083.jpg","\\artwork\\259. Caller of the Black.5780f7f4-5fa6-4ae5-b251-073675d2a083.jpg",261,"Billy's Oak","258. BILLY'S OAK - . . .A scratchboard drawing, size 8.5 x 11. It appears in the book, \"The Compleat Crow,\" by Brian Lumley, published by Ganley in 1987.

Before I drew this picture I went outside to look at the trees on my property, hoping that one of them had the right kind of branch on which to hang poor Billy. The time of year was just right, all the leaves were gone, just like in the story. One of the trees looked good for my purpose but I happened to look past it to the neighbors yard where he had a row of thin trees that in the summertime acted like a fence between our yards. But now they were all bare, skinny trunks sticking out of the ground, along with some bare bushes between them. And when I stepped off to one side a little, this scene popped into my mind.

Back at my drawing board I drew a sketch of that \"mental picture\" on tracing paper, working out the basic composition of Billy hanging from the tree. I then transferred that scene onto a scratch-board sheet and inked it in. After which, I decided to add the border. Up to now it was all rather easy to do.

The hard part was deciding where to put each skinny branch throughout the scene. I was also concerned with the spaces between them, which was just as important. With scratchboard, once I inked in a trunk, or a branch, there was no erasing it if it didn't look right.

My goal was to create a wall of thin, tangled trees and branches in the background that would look natural and beautiful, not messy. And to my frustration, it always seemed to need another branch! Here, there, there, I finally shouted STOP! . . . and put the pen away.","258. Billys Oak.1bb3dae6-33da-415b-8129-8a903da661b0.jpg","\\artwork\\258. Billys Oak.1bb3dae6-33da-415b-8129-8a903da661b0.jpg",260,"Crow","257. CROW - A scratchboard drawing, size 8.5 x 11. It appears in the book \"The Compleat Crow,\" by Brian Lumley, published by Paul Ganley, 1987.

This is the only book where I used scratch-board paper for all the interior artwork. I had difficulty finding good scratch-board paper.

The funny thing about using scratch-board is that I felt more like a sculptor when I was scratching away to make the pictures, switching back and forth from a fine edged tool to a broader edged blade.

At one point I became concerned about all the white powder residue that resulted from the scratching process, was I breathing it into my lungs? I decided to use my brush more frequently to whisk away the residue from the drawing and the table.

There are artist's materials that can be harmful, some are poisonous, others are highly inflammable. You have to read the labels on everything to find out how to use them so they are safe.

I asked my doctor if the spray can I use to cover my drawings and paintings with a protective coat of varnish was dangerous, and he said, \"not at all!\" - But the spray can label warns you to spray in a ventilated area . . .

So, to be safe, whenever I used the spray can indoors I tied a handkerchief over my nose and mouth. If the weather was nice and calm I sprayed the artwork outdoors.","Crow-1.955018dc-5ea9-4e18-8c0f-1fe4e7df773e.jpg","\\artwork\\Crow-1.955018dc-5ea9-4e18-8c0f-1fe4e7df773e.jpg",259,"The Compleat Crow","256. THE COMPLEAT CROW - An acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 size canvas board. It appears on the dust jacket of, \"The Compleat Crow,\" by Brian Lumley, published by Ganley in 1987.

This painting was done using only one color, a bluish-purple hue, because the publisher could not afford paying for a full-color process. It was my intention, when I got it back from the publisher, to tint the painting with other colors. But I never did, I decided that the scene was a darkened room in which colors would be very subdued, the time and effort would be better spent working on another project.","256. Compleat Crow.67325361-2636-4ea9-aca4-9716df5e0c53.jpg","\\artwork\\256. Compleat Crow.67325361-2636-4ea9-aca4-9716df5e0c53.jpg",258,"The Weirdbook Sampler","255. THE WEIRDBOOK SAMPLER - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on 11 x 14 coquille board. It appears on, \"Weirdbook Sampler,\" published by W. Paul Ganley.

I did lots of artwork for Mr. Ganley's books and fanzines. I met him once, at a SF & Fantasy convention in Buffalo, NY, back in the early 1990s. He ran the convention, I was one of the invitees, \"Artist Guest of Honor.\"

Each time we met and started a conversation someone would interrupt us about some problem at the convention, so I'm sorry we never got around to sitting down somewhere and having a real chat. He came across to me as, \"A scholar and a gentleman\".","121. Weirdbook Sampler.4a0ba873-dd40-4a10-8379-40155fd3e79d.jpg","\\artwork\\121. Weirdbook Sampler.4a0ba873-dd40-4a10-8379-40155fd3e79d.jpg",257,"Weirdbook 30","254. WEIRDBOOK No.30 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on 11 x 14 coquille board. The woman on this cover appears in three of my drawings;
The first appearance is in the book, \"Carnifex Mardi Gras,\"
The second on the cover of \"Weirdbook No.21,\"
The third on the cover you see here, \"Weirdbook No.30\".
(However, in each case I have made some changes to the
Woman so they are not exact copies)

Most people are probably unaware of how many times an illustrator (artist) can receive payment for drawing a story illustration, or painting a magazine or book cover . . .

A drawing, or painting, can bring four income payments to an artist; 1. by selling First Printing Rights to a publisher - 2. Later, by selling Re-print Rights to a publisher - 3. by selling the original artwork - 4. by selling copies of the original artwork.

Obviously, the artwork can be reprinted often, and many copies of the original artwork can be sold, so the potential sales an artist can receive from a single piece of artwork is unlimited.

","Weirdbook 30.2efc2761-7d35-4198-acbc-356c8f027f00.jpg","\\artwork\\Weirdbook 30.2efc2761-7d35-4198-acbc-356c8f027f00.jpg",256,"Weirdbook No.29","253. WEIRDBOOK No.29 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It is based on a TV movie I watched the night before, \"The Phantom of the Opera\".

I had the pleasure of watching, \"The Phantom of the Opera\" on Broadway some years ago. The story was written in 1909 by a Frenchman, Gaston Leroux and first appeared in print as a serial in a Paris newspaper. It was published in book form in 1910 but did not sell very well and soon went out of print and was forgotten. In 1925 two silent film producers found the book and decided to make a movie of the story, featuring Lon Chaney. Their silent film was a huge hit and ever since then the story of \"The Phantom of the Opera\" has been entertaining us in one form or another.

While on the subject of \"Stage Shows,\" Oscar Wilde, the famous Irish Writer and poet said, \"I love acting. It is so much more real than life\". . .

\"More real than life?\" - But during Wilde's lifetime, 1854 - 1900, these dramatic events were happening to men, women, and children, all over the \"real\" world;
In America the Civil War began and ended.
A revolution took place in Spain
Napoleon attacked Prussia
The great famine in India killed 5 million people
The Russo-Turkish war took place
The Zulu war happened in Africa
Japan invaded China

So, while all those incredibly dramatic events were happening to people all over the world, Oscar Wilde was more impressed by the stage shows he saw?","253. Weirdbook-29.f9f0edb9-70a1-4f8e-a5a2-d035d0c6b41e.jpg","\\artwork\\253. Weirdbook-29.f9f0edb9-70a1-4f8e-a5a2-d035d0c6b41e.jpg",255,"

253. Black ink and black color pencil on 11 x 14 size coquille board. The idea for this drawing came from the night before, when I watched \"The Phantom of the Opera,\" on TV. At the beginning of my career I was somewhat worried about being able to come up with ideas for the pictures I would have to draw and paint, day after day, week after week, year after year, it seemed like a huge mountain to climb. But whenever I'm up against any kind of challenge my mind always returns to that indoctrination speech I was given at Basic Training, when I joined the U.S. Air Force back in 1949; I sat on the floor of an airplane hangar with a hundred or so other recruits and listened to an officer saying, among other things, \"You are going to face challenges here that you will think to yourself, \"I can't do that!\" But you are about to learn otherwise,

","253. Weirdbook-29.cb6b63d5-6763-462f-b4bd-618457959170.jpg","\\artwork\\253. Weirdbook-29.cb6b63d5-6763-462f-b4bd-618457959170.jpg",254,"Weirdbook 28","252. WEIRDBOOK No.28 - A black ink and black pencil drawing on 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears on the cover of Weirdbook 28, published by W. Paul Ganley

What's really disturbing to me, is that in trying to learn about Art from the great masters of the past and present, I was astounded to read so many dumb statements from them . . .

PABLO PICASSO wrote, \"We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth.
NONSENSE - \"Art\" in fact cannot \"lie\", it can only reveal to us the artwork being produced, which, by itself tells us the truth about our changing morals and other changes taking place in society from generation to generation.

HENRY DAVID THOREAU wrote, \"The highest condition of art is artlessness\".
NONSENSE - A work of art that is \"artless,\" is of the lowest condition since it
exhibits none of the virtues associated with talent and esthetics.

OSCAR WILDE wrote, \"Lying, the telling of beautiful untrue things, is the proper aim of art\".
NONSENSE - There is no \"proper aim of art\". Artists are free to choose whatever subject they want, according to their philosophical mindsets and individual talents.

JOHN CAGE wrote, \"The responsibility of the artist consists in perfecting his work so that it may become attractively disinteresting\".
NONSENSE - An artist has no responsibility except to satisfy himself.
Besides, a subject cannot be both \"attractive\" and \"disinteresting,\" it's one or the other.

EDGAR DEGAS wrote, \"Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things.
NONSENSE - When an artist no longer knows what he is doing, he is no longer an artist, he is a doodler!
","Weirdbook 28.97e952a9-7240-4842-a5c7-9708f14853e1.jpg","\\artwork\\Weirdbook 28.97e952a9-7240-4842-a5c7-9708f14853e1.jpg",253,"Weirdbook No. 22","251. WEIRDBOOK No.22 - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 vellum paper. Fanzine cover. It is based on a poem I read a long time ago about which I remembered nothing but the words, \"The Devil's Dear\". And while I worked on the drawing I stopped periodically to write down some thoughts that I eventually put together to make this verse.

She is dark and she is frightful,
She is truly someone to fear,
This charmingly dangerous woman,
They call, the Devil's Dear.

Maybe it's me, or maybe it's you,
that she is searching to find,
wandering the midnight hours
With killing on her mind!","Weirdbook-22.42ad0468-8adf-4e37-aa44-690f61237e0f.jpg","\\artwork\\Weirdbook-22.42ad0468-8adf-4e37-aa44-690f61237e0f.jpg",252,"Weirdbook No.21","250. WEIRDBOOK No.21 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board.

Years ago a good friend of mine came back from a SF convention and handed me Kelly Freas' art book, \"A Separate Star,\" signed to me by Freas. After looking at all the wonderful artwork in the book I came to the last page and was surprised to see a poem by Rudyard Kipling. It was a favorite of Kelly Freas and it has become a favorite of mine. It's a prayer for artists, and it goes like this:

L'Envoi

\"When Earth's last picture is painted, and the
tubes are twisted and dried,
When the oldest colors have faded, and the
youngest critic has died,
We shall rest, and faith, we shall need it - lie
down for an eon or two,
Till the Master of All Good Workmen shall set us
to work anew!

And only the Master shall praise us, and only
the Master shall blame,
And no one shall work for money, and no one
shall work for fame;
But each for the joy of the working, and each,
in his separate star,
Shall draw the Thing as he sees It for the God of
Things as They Are!\"","250. Weirdbook-21.5fd7b73c-7509-4d52-9c80-d27ad3ee06d2.jpg","\\artwork\\250. Weirdbook-21.5fd7b73c-7509-4d52-9c80-d27ad3ee06d2.jpg",251,"Weirdbook No.19","249. WEIRBOOK No.19 - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 vellum paper. When I started to think about what to draw for the cover of this fanzine it was Halloween, so I came up with this scary Witch scene.

Yes, people can be sinners like this witch, or they can be saints, like Mary, I understand that. But I don't understand people who are stubborn . . .

The most stubborn man in town met the most stubborn woman in town and as fate would have it, they fell in love and got married. After the wedding ceremony and celebration they went to their new home, exhausted from all the activity. The man opened the door, picked up his bride and carried her into the living room . . .

He put her down, went to a nearby sofa, sat down and said to her, \"Go close the door\". Which naturally offended her, she sat down at the opposite end of the sofa and retorted, \"Why should I close the door, you go close the door!\" And of course, they continued to shout at each other, back and forth, \"You go close the door!\" \"No, You go close the door!\" Finally, the man shouted \"Hold it!, lets stop this bickering! Let's just sit here in silence and the first one to speak has to go close the door.\" She agreed, and they sat there in silence, staring at each other . . .

A couple of thieves passing by the house noticed the front door was open and went inside. Seeing the couple sitting on the sofa, completely ignoring them, they stole everything they could carry out the door!

Later on, a policeman passing by also noticed the open door, went in, and seeing the couple sitting there staring at each other, asked them what was going on? When neither of them answered, he slapped the man to get a response, and immediately the woman shouted, \"Why'd you hit him? He didn't do anything!\" - The man jumped up with joy and shouted at her, \"Aha! You spoke first! Go close the door!\"","Weirdbook 19.bbce9615-402f-4874-bf1d-173f28329af4.jpg","\\artwork\\Weirdbook 19.bbce9615-402f-4874-bf1d-173f28329af4.jpg",250,"Weirdbook No.17","248. WEIRDBOOK No.17 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board.
Cover drawing on the fanzine, Weirdbook 17, published by Paul Ganley.

This drawing of a vampire should remind us of how unique and imaginative the human brain really is. Scientists use rational thinking to examine everything with the purpose of learning the \"facts\" about the reality of all things that exist, from sub-atomic particles to the farthest reaches of outer space. Generation after generation, learning and documenting everything, most of what they learned has been put to practical use by engineers and inventors so that virtually everything about the way we live today comes from that collective scientific effort. Their work has been, and continues to be of primary importance to the well-being and advancement of the human race . . .

But other humans, the artists, have been busy pursuing \"The Humanities,\" like painting, sculpture, writing, music, acting, all the entertainments that are not really essential for life to survive. And yet, art is of intense importance to us, and has been since early man painted pictures on the walls of caves. And that began happening long before he invented the wheel, written language, and the scientific method. So what are artists all about? Do they have a purpose other than to entertain, to give us a break from the struggles of life? . . .

Artists see things with their unique perspectives formed from personal experiences during their lifetimes. Each artist is unique because of what he learns and what he comes to believe. What lies within his conscience and his ability to create is a mystery. And actually, when you judge an artist's work you do so according to your own unique and mysterious conscience and perspective. But each new generation of artists shows the world what we have become, they reveal our new values, our change in morals, and the new conscience of our time. And that's important; to know who we are, and to think about who, we the people, want to be . . . That's what artists do for us . . .","248. Weirdbook-17.4e4e4a12-f4c4-429e-922f-f1a301fd6797.jpg","\\artwork\\248. Weirdbook-17.4e4e4a12-f4c4-429e-922f-f1a301fd6797.jpg",249,"Weirdbook No.16","247. WEIRDBOOK No.16 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on 11 x 14 coquille board. It appears on the cover of \"Weirdbook, No.16\".

I wonder if other artists think about the kind of strange things that I do when I'm working on a drawing or painting. When I was inking and shading this drawing, the hooded man with the scythe started me thinking about the inevitable end that comes to us all. And that led me to thinking about the movie, \"Blade Runner,\" in which Rutger Hauer, the actor, plays the role of a \"replicant,\" a man-made biological human with a built-in life span of four years. Replicants are made to do the dangerous jobs needed in deep space projects on alien planets. Replicant Hauer has managed to escape from a work camp in deep space and return to Earth to make the creator of the replicants remove the four year timer built into his body. Replicants want to live at least as long as humans do, four years is much too short a life span!

And I thought; how am I, how are all humans, any different from that replicant? Our lives go by so quickly, it's unbelievable! And like that replicant, I want to keep on living! A comedian once said, \"Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die!\" He's right, living is \"the\" miracle of the universe, who wants to give that up!

And I got real mad because like that replicant, I too have a termination date coming soon, and just like he does in the movie, I'd like to grab my maker by the throat and shout, \"How dare you give me the miracle of \"life\" and then take it away so quickly!\" And isn't it a bit cruel, to make me aware of the extreme briefness of my life on Earth, in a Universe that will continue to go on and on, forever?

Anyway, whenever I look at this picture, I get mad!

Until I remember that it was responsible for my winning the SPWAO (Small Press Writers and Artists Organization) 1983 Award for, \"Best Cover Artist\". (See also item 377, my Science Fiction Review No. 42 cover drawing).","151. Weirdbook-16.81d48846-b064-4168-a54d-7d88f78f012b.jpg","\\artwork\\151. Weirdbook-16.81d48846-b064-4168-a54d-7d88f78f012b.jpg",248,"Red Sonja","246. RED SONJA - A spare time acrylic painting on canvas board, size 16 x 20.

\"Red Sonja\" is a female character created by Robert E. Howard, she is part of his \"Conan\" series. As I look at her now I think I should have made her face more rugged looking, she's too pretty for the kind of woman you would expect to find way back in the barbarian age. I could change her appearance on this computer image, but that would not alter the original acrylic painting that I sold a long time ago. I've decided to leave her as is.

I have read that \"perfection\" is not attainable by human beings, and I have been told the same thing by a variety of people in and out of the art world. But I have looked at drawings and paintings by some great artists and wondered what their imperfections could possibly be? I have listened to a song sung so beautifully I cannot believe it can be sung any better, by anyone. I have read stories so wonderful that when they ended I felt I had encountered something very special. I've seen movies so awesome that when they ended it didn't seem right to get up and leave the theater . . .

We have given the word, \"perfection\" an automatic status of unreachability that is wholly imaginary, but It is, in my opinion, a false assumption . . .

\"Perfection\" is reachable in my real world, and has been reached many times by those whose works are so well done that they are an inspiration to me, they make me want to try to reach that same level of accomplishment; to produce a work of unsurpassable beauty. I may not have the talent to do it, but what is glorious, is the trying to do it . . .

If you are trying your best to do your best, in my mind you are doing the \"perfect\" thing.","246. Red Sonja.dad86c6c-bf98-42f0-bb42-9e9b19a8e9a4.jpg","\\artwork\\246. Red Sonja.dad86c6c-bf98-42f0-bb42-9e9b19a8e9a4.jpg",247,"Solomon Kane, Armed","245. SOLOMON KANE, Armed - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on 11 x 14 coquille board. It was a private commission drawing that surprisingly turned up in the book, \"The Fantastic Worlds of Robert E. Howard,\" edited and published by James Van Hise in 1997.

The purchase of my artwork does not give the new owner of the artwork the right to publish it without my permission, but once in a while it does happen. Early in my career a book appeared in print that contained a large collection of my drawings, without my permission. I contacted the publisher and explained to him the copyright law concerning \"Printing Rights\" in the publishing industry.

The publisher had been buying my original artwork from me for some time and when he had accumulated enough for a book, he went ahead and published it. He thought that by \"owning\" my artwork he was free to publish it without paying me for the right to do so. But he read the law and being a sensible man, he sent me an apology and a royalty payment.

The fact is that when you buy artwork from an artist you get to keep it and display it in your home, but you cannot use it for commercial purposes unless you contact the artist for permission, which should lead to a formal contract of some kind.","245. Solomon Kane, Armed.203f0b0e-0470-4dab-b733-18448e90e245.jpg","\\artwork\\245. Solomon Kane, Armed.203f0b0e-0470-4dab-b733-18448e90e245.jpg",246,"Dark Agnes","244. DARK AGNES - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board, circa 1990. It was a private commission, and was eventually published in the book, \"The Fantastic Worlds of Robert E. Howard\" edited by James Van Hise, 1997

Dark Agnes is Howard's fictional character who fights against injustice, to make things \"right,\" as do lots of fictional women throughout literature. But none of them compare to the \"real\" women throughout history who have fought that same great battle. Some women do it without using a sword, they do their fighting another way . . .

Like Rosa Parks did. She was a tired, hard working black woman of the south who, in 1955 boarded a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, and managed to find the last empty seat. Minutes later the bus stopped at a curb to allow four white men to come aboard. The bus driver called out for four blacks to get up and go stand at the back of the bus. Three black men got up and went to the back and the only other black left sitting was Rosa Parks. It was not right that she should have to stand so a white man could sit! She refused to \"move\". The bus driver exited the bus and came back with a policeman who arrested her . . .

When her trial date came, hundreds of black people gathered in front of the courthouse, some held sawed-off shotguns. Rosa Parks was tried, convicted of breaking the bus segregation law, and fined ten dollars plus four dollars for court expenses. But Rosa asked her lawyer, Fred Gray, to challenge the ruling, to take it to a higher court.

The case eventually went to the Supreme Court where all segregation laws were found to be unconstitutional. Rosa Parks fought and won a great battle, she was a heroic warrior in the war against racism in America.","Plate 11.fa93a7d7-ea6e-42ca-918e-669be534bfae.jpg","\\artwork\\Plate 11.fa93a7d7-ea6e-42ca-918e-669be534bfae.jpg",245,"The Conan Portfolio - Plate 4","243. THE CONAN PORTFOLIO: Plate 4 - A black ink and black color pencil on 11 x 14 size coquille board. This drawing appears as part of a Conan art folio in the comics magazine, \"The Savage Sword of Conan, No.9\".

When I was drawing this picture I was reminded of Matthew Arnold's poem;

\" . . . The world, which seems to lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new, hath really neither joy, nor love,
nor light, nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain,

And we are are here as on a darkling plain, swept with confused
alarms of struggle and flight, Where ignorant armies clash by night\". - ","243. Savage Sword of Conan 9-4.5f54f248-75c7-47f7-8bf6-cd35205ad995.jpg","\\artwork\\243. Savage Sword of Conan 9-4.5f54f248-75c7-47f7-8bf6-cd35205ad995.jpg",244,"The Conan Portfolio - Plate 3","242. THE CONAN PORTFOLIO: Plate 3 - A black ink and black color pencil on 11 x 14 size coquille board. This drawing appears as part of a Conan art folio in the comics magazine, \"The Savage Sword of Conan, No.9\".

In the original drawing there is a white area at the bottom right corner of the picture, just below the stonework, where you now see my \"SF\" ID. Before I put this picture on my website I thought it would look better if that area was black. So I used my computer paint shop tools to blacken it, and re-did my \"SF\" letters in white.

I note this change so that the owner of the original drawing will know why this picture and his original are different in the lower right corner.","242. Savage Sword of Conan 9-3.4da9cb2c-67e0-45e4-aeb4-4ef9715b04d4.jpg","\\artwork\\242. Savage Sword of Conan 9-3.4da9cb2c-67e0-45e4-aeb4-4ef9715b04d4.jpg",243,"The Conan Portfolio - Plate 2","241. THE CONAN PORTFOLIO: Plate 2 - A black ink and black color pencil on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears as part of a Conan art folio in the comics magazine, \"The Savage Sword of Conan, No.9\".

A few years later, I received a copy of a French science fiction magazine that featured this drawing on the cover. It had been tinted with color. The editor of that magazine had not contacted me for permission to use my artwork so it was unethical and illegal for him to do that.

In cases like this it is not worth the effort to try to collect payment, since the cost of hiring a lawyer to deal with the foreign publisher would be far more than the amount of payment due me for the printing rights to my artwork. This was the only time, that I'm aware of, that a foreign publisher used my artwork without first contacting me for permission.","241. Savage Sword of Conan 9-2.9b56a932-3e67-4313-8a94-7e11b3cd0b85.jpg","\\artwork\\241. Savage Sword of Conan 9-2.9b56a932-3e67-4313-8a94-7e11b3cd0b85.jpg",242,"The Conan Portfolio - Plate 1","240. THE CONAN PORTFOLIO: Plate 1 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the comic book, \"The Savage Sword of Conan, No.9\".

Occasionally someone would see a black and white drawing of mine in a fanzine, magazine, or book, and phone to ask if I would do a color painting of the picture for them. I did 30 such paintings and this is one of them.

This picture of Conan riding into the \"valley of death,\" reminds me of Alfred
Lord Tennyson's poem, \"The Charge of the Light Brigade\". In 1854, during the Crimean war, a British regiment prepared for battle at one end of an open field. Russian troops and artillery were hidden behind trees and bushes that surrounded the field. In spite of warnings from his tactical officers that the area was a trap, the British officer in command ordered his men to charge the Russian troops at the opposite end of the field;

\"Into the valley of death rode the six hundred.
Cannon to the right of them,
Cannon to the left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thundered.
Into the jaws of death,
Into the mouth of hell,
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do or die.\"

It is this kind of tragic fate that so many courageous and loyal armies have suffered throughout history, and still suffer today; the leadership of commanders who are incompetent buffoons.","240. Savage Sword of Conan 9-1.b24c3162-0172-451b-b71c-6e5e07076ac9.jpg","\\artwork\\240. Savage Sword of Conan 9-1.b24c3162-0172-451b-b71c-6e5e07076ac9.jpg",241,"Savage Tales No.8","239. SAVAGE TALES No.8 - An acrylic painting size 16 x 20. It appears on the cover of the comic book, \"Savage Tales,\" No.8, published by Marvel Comics.

My original painting was altered by Marvel Comics artist/editor John Romita, he made the arm muscles on Ka-Zar much larger, added more stomach muscles, and fussed around with almost everything else on my painting except for the girl and the snake. I didn't like him doing that without my permission but it was early in my career so I didn't make a fuss.

Actually, my experience in the comics field was not very good,
I eventually stopped my involvement in it. The final straw came when Byron Preiss publications offered me the job of doing a comic book adaptation of the classic science fiction novel, \"The Stars My Destination,\" by Alfred Bester. It had been published in 1956 as a 4 part serial in Galaxy magazine. I would have to read the novel and break it down into a 64 page \"graphic\" novel, extracting whatever text I wanted from Bester's story and doing whatever re-writing I deemed necessary to make the story flow with my drawings.

The author, Alfred Bester, would not be involved in any way, he would have no control over my adaptation. We agreed to terms on the phone, the contract would be written and sent to me shortly. I went ahead and started on the project. But a few days later I got a phone call from publisher Byron Preiss, informing me that Mr. Bester was not satisfied with the contract; in addition to the amount he was going to be paid for the printing rights to his novel he also wanted half of my payment. I dropped the project immediately. A couple of years later the comic book was published as done by comic book artist Howard Chaykin. I have no idea what he settled for.","Savage Tales 8.21e95eb0-28f8-4600-b88d-a7363c6befa3.jpg","\\artwork\\Savage Tales 8.21e95eb0-28f8-4600-b88d-a7363c6befa3.jpg",240,"The Riddle of the Horn","238. THE RIDDLE OF THE HORN - A black ink and black color pencil on 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"We Are All Legends,\" by Darrell Schweitzer, published by Donning Starblaze Editions, 1981.

Some of the books I illustrated had so many wonderful scenes in the stories that I was a bit frustrated. When I was finished reading the manuscript it was filled with marginal notes, bracketed paragraphs, and underlined sentences that I had made on the pages. I had enough \"pictures\" there to make between 20 or more full page drawings. But the contract called for only half as many drawings.

So, I came up with the layout you see here, it allowed me to make more pictures; a major scene in the upper large section, and some smaller images in the lower divided sections.

With this layout the readers got four times as many pictures to look at than they would have if I had pictured only one scene per full page.","238. Riddle of the Horn.a773ade3-1fc9-4982-b6e5-8e32af41d45a.jpg","\\artwork\\238. Riddle of the Horn.a773ade3-1fc9-4982-b6e5-8e32af41d45a.jpg",239,"Into the Dark Land","237. INTO THE DARK LAND - A black ink and black color pencil on 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"We Are All Legends,\" by Darrell Schweitzer, published by Donning Starblaze Editions, 1981.

Darrell Schweitzer writes fantasy tales in the tradition of Lord Dunsany, Clark Ashton Smith and Jack Vance. They are all marvellous stylists, their fantasy tales are written with a flow of colorful words uniquely arranged to present our minds with amazing images and events that we ourselves are incapable of imagining . . .

In Darrell Schweitzer's story, \"Between Night and Morning,\" he opens the tale with a word about Velas Ven, the great story-teller;

\"Wherever he went , people would cry out, Velas! Velas!
Speak to us of wonders! Sometimes he would hire a boy
to go out before him, alternately blowing a trumpet and
shouting, \"Gather and listen! Velas Ven is coming\".

Isn't that why we read fantasy stories, to fulfill the wanting in us to experience something wonderful that the real world cannot give us?
And though it be fantasy, it is who we are in spirit, and who we want to be.","237. Into the Dark Land.33923cd2-056b-45c9-9955-6efc566cb7c0.jpg","\\artwork\\237. Into the Dark Land.33923cd2-056b-45c9-9955-6efc566cb7c0.jpg",238,"Midnight, Moonlight and the Secret of the Sea","236. MIDNIGHT, MOONLIGHT AND THE SECRET OF THE SEA - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"WE ARE ALL LEGENDS,\" by Darrell Schweitzer, published by Donning Starblaze Editions, 1981.

Deep down at the core of every human being's soul, a battle rages between the forces of Good and the forces of Evil. That conflict is inherent in our DNA, our Genes. It has a purpose for being there. It presents every human with a choice to make; to take sides, to chose to be a good person or an evil one. It is part of our \"growing up,\" process as an individual, and as a socitey of men. The choices that men and nations of men have made over time, for good or evil, has been documented since the beginning of recorded history.

No piece of fiction can match the true drama that has occurred in the past and is taking place now in the real world, the real universe. But for some reason historians can't seem to write about \"history\" and make it as exciting to read as do fiction writers about imaginary conflicts between the good and the bad within us.

I guess the value in fantasy fiction lies in it's concentration on the \"spirit\" rather than the reality of man's progress; the spirit that permeates our dreams and is as important to our future as is the drama taking place in our daily lives as we face the challenges of the real world.

Aren't the things we dream about, who we really are?

And when asked, \"what shall you do if I take away your dreams?\" he answered, \"I shall die\".","236. Midnight, Moonlight and the Secret of the Sea.1e198319-92cc-4e25-8b0c-4448ae2ef47a.jpg","\\artwork\\236. Midnight, Moonlight and the Secret of the Sea.1e198319-92cc-4e25-8b0c-4448ae2ef47a.jpg",237,"The Hag","235. THE HAG - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"WE ARE ALL LEGENDS,\" by Darrell Schweitzer, published by Donning Starblaze Editions in 1981.

One of the sad and regrettable things about reality is that it has no mercy, with the passage of time, age takes away the beauty of all things before it takes it away completely.

How cruel of nature, to slowly take away a woman's beauty. If asked what is the most beautiful thing created in this universe, the answer has to be, a \"woman\".

You are probably thinking that because I'm a man, I'm biased. Yes, I am, but that does not mean it's not true! The wonderful thing about most fantasy fiction is that beautiful women don't fade away and die like they do in the real world, \"they\" and their heroic men get to live happily \"ever\" after. That means, \"forever!\" If you are a highly sophisticated person, one who has put away childhood dreams, you will sneer at that thought. But I know that deep down at the bottom of your ego, you dream the same dream.

Anyway, after dealing with the real world day after day, it's good to be able to read a story once in a while that let's me think young again, to believe for just a little while, that a beautiful woman can stay that way forever.

Actually, in my real world there is a woman who's beauty will last forever. She's busy now, mopping the kitchen floor!","235. The Hag.e1a525d0-006a-4f90-b053-c2071c1b9420.jpg","\\artwork\\235. The Hag.e1a525d0-006a-4f90-b053-c2071c1b9420.jpg",236,"We Are All Legends - Backcover","234. WE ARE ALL LEGENDS: Back Cover - An acrylic painting on a 9 x 12 size poster board. It appears on the back cover of the softcover book, \"We are All Legends,\" by Darrell Schweitzer, published by Donning in 1981. Note: The painting is actually a wraparound composition, the right half of the painting (the front cover side) can be seen in picture 233.

Speaking of \"Legends,\" I remember the one about William Tell, who was forced by the King to prove his marksmanship with a bow and arrow, by shooting an apple off his son's head from a fairly long distance . . .

When he did, he turned to face the King, who noticed that Tell had another arrow attached to his belt. The King asked, \"why did you have another arrow, you had only one shot? . . .

William Tell answered, \"If I had killed my son or injured him in any way, this second arrow would have gone into your heart.","234. We are All Legends-BC.b8330a52-1eee-4b14-b7e9-395ce71ed591.jpg","\\artwork\\234. We are All Legends-BC.b8330a52-1eee-4b14-b7e9-395ce71ed591.jpg",235,"We Are All Legends - Front Cover","233. WE ARE ALL LEGENDS: Front Cover - An acrylic painting on a 9 x 12 size poster board. It appears on the front cover of the softcover book, \"We are All Legends,\" by Darrell Schweitzer, published by Donning in 1981. The left half of the painting (the back cover) is shown in picture 234.

The ruins of that church in the background reminds me of how much the church has declined in the life of Americans since this country began. During the early years about 90% of the public went to some kind of church on Sunday, today it's less than 10%.

But in early America, there were no schools, no professional teachers, no school books; the church was the first American school, the preacher was the teacher, the Bible was the first American schoolbook. Religion tied the family, the community, and our government together. Religion was the foundation that held this country up, our motto; \"In God We Trust\".

When I was young I went to church occasionally, usually on holidays. But I always went to church picnics, church outings to Lake Hopatcong, church trips to the seashore, church dances, and bowled on the church team. I also went to the annual church \"Minstrel Show,\" where church members dressed up in old Czech costumes and sang and danced and acted out comedy bits. And at the end of the show the actors and the audience all stood up and sang, \"This is My Country\". In those days, the 1940s and 1950s the church on Sunday was packed. - None of those things are happening today.

In the 1940's and 1950s I knew the names of almost everyone on the block, and some who lived on nearby streets, or around the corner. Today - I don't know the name of a single person in my area, not even my next door neighbors! . . . I say \"Hi\" if we pass each other by, but who are they?","233. We are All Legends-FC.73d7bdac-0ac7-4c95-9ac9-03ec4c3e76ed.jpg","\\artwork\\233. We are All Legends-FC.73d7bdac-0ac7-4c95-9ac9-03ec4c3e76ed.jpg",234,"The Haunting of the Lady Shannon","232. THE HAUNTING OF THE LADY SHANNON - Black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"OUT OF THE STORM,\" by William Hope Hodgson, published by Grant in 1975.

Every realistic drawing has to start out with a perspective, an eye level, or a horizon line. When I started this drawing the first line I drew was the horizon line, about a third of the way down from the top, where I wanted the top of the ocean waves to be, and to establish the viewers eye level.

The next line I drew was a diagonal line from the top right corner to the bottom center. The top of that line, in the right corner, establishes a \"vanishing point\" that I needed to direct all straight edges on the ship headed toward the horizon. In the lower part of the drawing you can see the lines of the deck-boards as well as the side edges of the louvered superstructure headed towards that vanishing point, giving the drawing a proper perspective.

Now, most people who look at pictures have not studied art, or have not taken lessons on how to draw or paint, so they are not familiar with such drawing technicalities. But everyone's eye and mind has the experience of observing the world on a daily basis, and everything they see has a natural perspective; objects that recede in the distance look smaller and smaller the father away they go. The rails of a railroad track are parallel to earth other, and remain the same distance away from each other no matter how far down the track you look at them, and yet, they look like they are coming together in the distance. And all that visual experience is stored in a viewer's memory.

So if I don't apply the rules of perspective to my drawings correctly, though a viewer may not be able to point out and articulate the nature of my error, he/she will still know that something is wrong with my drawing because it does not conform to the perspective of things stored in their minds. ","232. Out of the Storm-Haunting Lady Shannon.787331bf-c4ab-4ace-8ff8-580ccd93ef2f.jpg","\\artwork\\232. Out of the Storm-Haunting Lady Shannon.787331bf-c4ab-4ace-8ff8-580ccd93ef2f.jpg",233,"The Albatross","231. THE ALBATROSS - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"OUT OF THE STORM,\" by William Hope Hodgson, published by Grant in 1975.

Although my dictionary refers to, \"Albatross\" as a water-bird, it also gives the word another meaning, \"something causing deep concern that greatly hinders accomplishment\". Which brings me back to Donald Grant's Hodgson book commission, \"Cargunka,\" that I turned down years ago.

From time to time my mind goes back to that \"unreadable\" manuscript that was one incredibly long, unbroken string of words in which several stories were supposed to exist within 127 pages. The only period in the manuscript was located after the last word on the last page! No sentences, no paragraphs, no sort of punctuation or space to separate the stories!

But recently, I found some of the stories from that \"book\" reviewed on a website, But again, there was no hint of them having a \"strange format\". Apparently they were first published independently in magazines in a normal format. After reading those reviews I began to think about my decision to turn the project down those many years ago. I'm beginning to regret it, I think I made a wrong decision. Though neither the publisher or the editor had any ideas on how I might go about illustrating this odd book, I should have given it a bit more thought. For one thing, I could have used designs and illustrations to separate the stories!

When I worked in the electronics industry I did not have the freedom to refuse a task given me by my boss, whatever the challenge, I had to deal with it. But the freedom of choice that I had as a self-employed illustrator also confronted me with the risk of making wrong decisions. And now when I think about it, my decision not to illustrate, \"Cargunka,\" is like an \"Albatross\" that prevented me from accomplishing something I might have been proud of.","231. Out of the Storm-Albatross.40bfb8f8-63fa-41b4-b48f-bc7daeaf3e3a.jpg","\\artwork\\231. Out of the Storm-Albatross.40bfb8f8-63fa-41b4-b48f-bc7daeaf3e3a.jpg",232,"The Finding of the Graiken","230. THE FINDING OF THE GRAIKEN - A black ink and black color pencil on AN 11 x 14 size coquille board. This story illustration appears in the book, \"OUT OF THE STORM\" by William Hope Hodgson, published by Grant in 1975.

I've read some outstanding sea stories about old sailing ships trapped in the weeds of the dreaded Sargasso sea and the awful fate that befell the sailors and passengers. Hodgson wrote the best of them.

But no matter the terrible dangers of sea-faring, there were always men who could not resist the challenge, the sea has lured men to some of their greatest adventures. That spirit is expessed in this poem;

\"I must go down to the sea again,
to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship,
And a star to steer her by.\"
- John Masefield

Someday, in the far future, an astronaut will be buried with those words on his gravestone.","230. Out of the Storm-Finding the Graiken.30da134e-b354-43a3-9579-9b5d84e728c9.jpg","\\artwork\\230. Out of the Storm-Finding the Graiken.30da134e-b354-43a3-9579-9b5d84e728c9.jpg",231,"Out of the Storm - Frontispiece","229. OUT OF THE STORM: Frontispiece - A black ink drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. This drawing appears as the frontispiece in the book, \"OUT OF THE STORM,\" by William Hope Hodgson, published by Donald Grant in 1975.

Following the publication of this book Grant sent me another Hodgson book to illustrate, titled, \"Cargunka\". I was excited about getting another Hodgson book to illustrate, until I began to read the manuscript . . .

To my utter dismay I immediately noticed on the first page that there were no puntuation marks, anyware! No Periods, no commas, no distinct sentences, no paragraphs, just words following words following words! Page after page, the entire 127 page manuscript was a flow of uninterrupted words! I thought, \"What the hell is this\"? It's unreadable!

I phoned Sam Moskowitz, the editor of these Hodgson books that Grant was publishing, and told him about this screwy \"Cargunka\" manuscript that I received. And would you believe it, he told me that there was no mistake, the book is a series of stories that Hodgson wrote in this unique manner. I told him the book needed to be edited to make it readable but he did not want to alter Hodgson's work. I turned down the commission, it was an absurdity! The book was never published by Grant. I'm still befuddled by this experience, and even though I saw Moskowitz many times at our ESFA social gatherings, we never talked about it. How strange is that!

I just checked the internet and found a book, \"Cargunka and Poems and Anecdotes,\" by W.H. Hodgson published in 1914 by both, R. Harold Paget, NY, and by A.P. Watt & Son, London. It was the last Hodgson book published in his lifetime. But there was no information as to the \"format\" of the stories. I also found another website with descriptions of the Cargunka stories, but again, no data given as to publisher or format.","229. Out of the Storm-TP.4e55207a-d317-415e-93f1-38122d2cd7e3.jpg","\\artwork\\229. Out of the Storm-TP.4e55207a-d317-415e-93f1-38122d2cd7e3.jpg",230,"OUT OF THE STORM - Front Cover","228. OUT OF THE STORM: Front Cover - An acrylic painting on a 14 x 22 size melamine board. It appears on the front cover of the softcover book, \"OUT OF THE STORM,\" by William Hope Hodgson, published by Centaur Books in 1980.

The book was first published in hardcover by Donald Grant in 1975. The stories were collected and edited by Sam Moskowitz. But while Grant used my illustrations for the stories inside the book, he used a Hannes Bok painting for the dust jacket of the book.

It annoys me when I see a book that features one artist on the dust jacket and another illustrating the inside. In the late 1940s through the early 1950s, Fantasy Press was my favorite publisher, the books were of ideal size, nicely bound in cloth with gold lettering, and the text was printed on good paper using an easy-reading font. Among the artists he used to illustrate the books were two of my favorites, Edd Cartier and Hannes Bok. I love those books, but the publisher, Lloyd Eshbach, screwed up when he had Cartier illustrate the inside of the book, \"Darker Than You Think,\" but had A.J. Donnell do the Dust Jacket art. I was also annoyed when he had Hannes Bok illustrate the inside of, \"Seven Out of Time,\" but again, had A.J. Donnell do the DJ art.

So, though I admire the artwork of Hannes Bok, his painting does not belong on the dust jacket of this book, \"Out of the Storm\". He had done the painting decades before, and it does not illustrate any of the stories contained in the book. But I should not complain, because Grant was one of the small press publishers who gave me the chance to grow as a book illustrator.

Anyway, I'm glad that Centaur Books, seeing that I had illustrated the stories, did not use Bok's painting, but asked me to do the cover for their softcover reprint edition.","228. Out of the Storm-FC.d8e12b33-d39b-4eb2-8c54-ef6f7eded1d5.jpg","\\artwork\\228. Out of the Storm-FC.d8e12b33-d39b-4eb2-8c54-ef6f7eded1d5.jpg",229,"The Screaming Man","227. THE SCREAMING MAN - A computer drawing that I created for, \"Masters of the Weird Tale: Hodgson,\" published by Centipede Press in 2009.

The drawings and paintings that you see in books and magazines are mostly reduced images, measured in \"inches,\" the original artwork can be much larger, often measured in \"feet\". Reduction is good for an artist whose work is rather large and rough because reduction sharpens the image and effectively hides the \"roughness\" of the original artwork. But it is not so good for artists whose original artwork is large and beautifully rendered with fine detail, because all that wonderful artistry is diminished when reduced to a few inches, making it hard to appreciate properly.

But it also works the other way; a small drawing that looks good in its original size can look terrible when enlarged too much; all the small un-noticed imperfections can become glaringly obvious. I never appreciated editors who enlarged my small drawings and used them as full page illustrations.

Anyway, for this presentation on my web-site, I am showing you how I would use a small drawing to make it a full pager; I let the \"frame\" expand the size of the overall illustration to make it a full pager, the size of the inside drawing is kept closer to it's original size. Most people don't really care about these kinds of details that are part of the world of illustration, and sometimes the editors don't seem to care either. But if an artist cares about his artwork, he cares about how it is presented.","95. The Screaming Man.d80b3a21-8aec-45b0-b7f0-62b128facb56.jpg","\\artwork\\95. The Screaming Man.d80b3a21-8aec-45b0-b7f0-62b128facb56.jpg",228,"The Jonah","226. THE JONAH - A computer painting. It appears in the book, \"Masters of the Weird Tale: Hodgson,\" published by Centipede Press in 2009. It illustrates the story, \"The Boats of the Glen Carrig\".

Actually, I did this picture to illustrate the story, \"The Jonah,\" which is about a new crew member aboard ship who is thrown overboard by other crew members because they believe him to be a \"Jonah,\" someone who brings bad luck to a ship at sea.

Once again, I used my computer to clip and paste a portion of a painting that I did for the magazine, \"Fantastic, Aug.1976\". I added the sky and the sailing ship.

This \"Jonah\" story reminds me of the curious case of \"Violet Jessop\". She was hired as a nurse aboard \"The Olympic,\" one of three sister ships that were the largest ocean liners in the world. The other two sister ships were, \"The Titanic'\" and \"The Britannic\".

In 1911, \"The Olympic\" collided with British warship, \"HMS Hawke,\" and sank. Violet Jessop was one of the survivors. She was then re-assigned to \"The Titanic,\" and in 1912 when the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank, Violet Jessop again, was one of the survivors. She was then re-assigned to the \"The Britannic,\" and in 1916 the Britannic was being used as a hospital ship during the early part of World War 1. She was sailing on the Aegean sea bound for the Greek island of Kea to pick up wounded soldiers, when a mysterious explosion in the ship caused it to sink. There were only five survivors, and you guessed it, Violet Jessop was one of them.

So tell me, is there something to this \"jonah\" curse? It is good that after the Britannic sank, Jessop never went to sea again.","226. Hodgson-The Jonah.d6e03f16-06d1-457c-a71b-6d404aab13d8.jpg","\\artwork\\226. Hodgson-The Jonah.d6e03f16-06d1-457c-a71b-6d404aab13d8.jpg",227,"The Ghost Pirates","225. THE GHOST PIRATES - A computer painting. It a ppears in the book, \"Masters of the Weird Tale: Hodgson,\" published by Centipede Press in 2009.

To do this picture I used my computer to clip and paste sections of a painting that I did for an art folio, \"Nightmares in Blood,\" and added some new material to the foreground. The odd thing about this illustration is that it shows a scene beneath the sea that is not described in the story. Once in a while I take an \"imagined\" part of a story to illustrate, one that is not actually described by the writer, hoping to add to the reader's experience instead of just rendering the images the author has written about.

When I read a story, images form in my mind not only by the words created by the author, they also activate my own Knowledge of the subject, my experience with it, and my own imagination. When anyone reads a story there is a linking of minds between the reader and the writer. Sometimes the union results in a rewarding reading experience , and sometimes it doesn't because the two minds are simply not sympatico.

As an illustrator I can run into problems if my mind cannot \"connect\" with the writer's work. However, with Hodgson's story, \"The Ghost Pirates,\" there was no such problem, I was overwhelmed with images I thought would make great scenes. I made a ton of notes in the margins of the manuscript as I read the story, so it's surprising that after I finished reading it, and after going over all my notes, I actually decided to do this scene, an \"implied\" happening, which is not actually described in the novel. How odd is that!","225. The Ghost Pirates.76ada1e3-a06e-416b-a63c-5fff190e7948.jpg","\\artwork\\225. The Ghost Pirates.76ada1e3-a06e-416b-a63c-5fff190e7948.jpg",226,"The Boats of the Glen Carrig","224. THE BOATS OF THE GLEN CARRIG - A computer painting. It appears in the book, \"MASTERS OF THE WEIRD TALE: HODGSON,\" published by Centipede Press, 2009.

Hodgson's sea stories are about the awesome nature of the oceans, how truly fearsome the seas can be. Think of yourself as a sailor during the early days of exploration, stretched out high up on a spar trying to tie down the sails of a small creaky old wooden sailing ship that is reeling about in a raging storm, up and down over huge cascading waves on an ocean that is incredibly deep and has an end about which nothing is known!

Or laying stretched out on the hot deck of that tiny wooden ship, floating motionless on a dead calm sea in the middle of nowhere, suffering the intense blinding rays coming down from a blazing sun.

Where did those ancient mariners get the courage to challenge the dreadful power of earth's gigantic, dangerous seas! The fantastic stories that Hodgson wrote are literary tour-de-forces, he had a marvelous way with words and phrases that make you feel the mood of those fearsome times and places. He draws you aboard those old wooden sailing ships, and you are there . . . Rocking to the waves of an ocean filled with weird and terrible dangers . . .","224. Hodgson- Boats of the Glen Carrig.b1576e40-6d0d-45a3-b811-00fee6114a02.jpg","\\artwork\\224. Hodgson- Boats of the Glen Carrig.b1576e40-6d0d-45a3-b811-00fee6114a02.jpg",225,"The Shamraken Homeward Bound","223. THE SHAMRAKEN HOMEWARD BOUND - An acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 canvas board. I did this painting for my daughter-in-law, Debi. At one time she told me she loved old time sailing ships, so I painted this one for her. The title of the painting is taken from a William Hope Hodgson story.

My son Steve and his wife Debi are very special to me. For one of my birthdays they handed me a large envelope from which I pulled out a photograph of the Museum of Art in New York. Above the photo were the words, \"For your birthday, Debi and I are treating you to a day at the Museum of Art. You and I will spend the day in the city, visit the Museum, eat at the Museum Café, and then visit a book store or two along the way. Love, Debi, Steve and all the Puppies!\"

And that is what we did. I shall always remember that wonderful day.","223. Shamraken Homeward Bound.2fdbfad9-cd8c-43ec-b06b-a65e0802d212.jpg","\\artwork\\223. Shamraken Homeward Bound.2fdbfad9-cd8c-43ec-b06b-a65e0802d212.jpg",224,"Captain Johnson","222. CAPTAIN JOHNSON - A computer painting created for the book, \"MASTERS OF THE WEIRD TALE: HODGSON,\" published by Centipede Press in 2009.

There once was a man, a real man like Captain Johnson, master of a three-mast sailing ship in the 1800s. His ship, and many others like his, were built of wood in shipyards along the east coast of America from Maine to Massachusetts. They were expert shipbuilders with knowledge of the awesome power of wind and wave, and they built noble and beautiful sailing vessels ornamented with figureheads and gold leaf décor.

This captain, and others like him with ocean charts and a mastery of mast, spar, and canvas, steered their ships over dancing waves and with winds whistling in their rigging, to destinations far and wide, always challenged by the awesome dangers of the ocean . . .

For just a few years . . .

And then, like the covered wagon trains and the pony express, they played their part in the history of man for just a little while, and then they were gone.

But not forgotten, the tales of the courage and daring of those early sailors and their sailing ships lives on in books and on film, and in the memory of people today, like me, and I hope, you, who have an appreciation of who they were, and what they did.","222. Captain Johnson.0f4afc7c-8cdd-4225-bb79-e71ba4c50f7a.jpg","\\artwork\\222. Captain Johnson.0f4afc7c-8cdd-4225-bb79-e71ba4c50f7a.jpg",223,"Tentacles at Sea","221. TENTACLES AT SEA - An acrylic painting on a 9 x 12 size poster board. It was a private commission based on a black and white drawing that I did as part of a tribute to William Hope Hodgson for \"Whispers,\" a softcover book produced periodically by Stuart D. Schiff. It also appears in my art folio, \"The Stephen E. Fabian Collection No.13: William Hope Hodgson's Sea Stories\".

I once stood on the boardwalk at Atlantic City watching a sailing ship prove to me that the world was round as it slowly became smaller and smaller and eventually sunk down and disappeared beyond the Ocean's horizon.

How vast, how awesome, how frightful, the ocean seemed to me . . .

\"Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean, roll on,
Ten thousand fleets have swept over thee in vain,
Man marks the earth with ruin, but stops at your shore,
At the dawn of creation, at life's front door.

He sinks into thy depths with bubbling foam,
Without a grave, un-coffin'd, unknown.
Dark heaving, boundless, endless sea,
You are the image of eternity\".

- Byron -","221. Hodgson Tentacles at Sea.c3fe9321-f6fc-42e4-abde-44c2043c22c1.jpg","\\artwork\\221. Hodgson Tentacles at Sea.c3fe9321-f6fc-42e4-abde-44c2043c22c1.jpg",222,"Raum - 4","220. RAUM 4 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the paperback, \"RAUM,\" by Carl Sherrell.

Though I have been a reader of science fiction books for over 60 years, and appreciate the sense of wonder they have given me, the books that have impressed me the most are those written about real people accomplishing things that are so incredible they take your breath away . . .

A book like \"1776'\" by David McCullough, the story of George Washington and the Revolutionary War. Washington was a man with no military training who was nevertheless \"drafted\" by Congress to take charge of an army that did not even exist at that time! His mission? To start with \"nothing,\" build an army and Navy and defeat the greatest military force in the world at that time, the British army and navy. And he did it! Unbelievable! . . .

A book like, \"River of Doubt,\" by Candice Millard. The true story of Theodore Roosevelt's journey deep into the unexplored Amazon jungle in 1913. A harrowing exploration of one of the most dangerous rivers on Earth. No book of fiction, of any kind, can match it's power for telling the true story of men facing danger and death in a land of terror; a jungle that nature designed to kill.

The \"wonder\" we humans should really appreciate is in our own true history, the stories of real people doing astonishing feats of daring and courage, accomplishing things that were seemingly impossible . . .

Look up at the moon tonight. Think about it, a few human beings have actually walked on it's surface! If the \"wonder\" of that doesn't stir your mind, you are still an ape . . .

Look at the people who walk around today with someone else's heart beating inside them. If you do not feel the \"wonder\" of that in your soul, you are still a fish.","220. Raum 4.0bad2de0-62dd-4e14-9463-02f26042b122.jpg","\\artwork\\220. Raum 4.0bad2de0-62dd-4e14-9463-02f26042b122.jpg",221,"Raum - 3","219. RAUM 3 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the paperback. \"RAUM,\" by Carl Sherrellt

This drawing of a knight in full charge against an evil foe is representative of the eternal struggle between good and bad men. If you are a student of history you are aware of the mind-boggling horrors perpetrated by evil men from the very beginning of human history. As far back into time as you care to go you will not a find a single \"minute\" on this earth when no one was murdered, and you will find lots of minutes when thousands were slaughtered. So, this charging knight is the symbol for anyone who finds the courage to rise and defy the evil ones. And here's another one:

\"I believe that to have a friend, you must be one,

That while all men are created equal in the eyes of God, all men of
all races have choices to make for good or for evil.

That everyone has the power within themselves to make this a better world by being a good and honest person, by being prepared physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for that which is right.

That our government was created by a few free men to ensure freedom for all men, and it is our duty to see that it endures.

That all things are destined for change but truth, and truth lives on forever. I believe in the goodness and greatness of God, my country, and my fellow man\".

THE LONE RANGER CREED","219. Raum 3.815cb5f5-006e-41b3-ad72-7762a854ff09.jpg","\\artwork\\219. Raum 3.815cb5f5-006e-41b3-ad72-7762a854ff09.jpg",220,"Raum 2","218. RAUM 2 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the paperback, \"RAUM,\" by Carl Sherrell.

Looking at this drawing of two knights in battle reminds me of the Legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, which was supposed to have happened between the years, 410 and 600 AD. It was during that period of time that the Roman Army had withdrawn from the British Isles, leaving the country without any functioning form of rule. It is referred to as \"The Dark Ages\" because there is no written record of what happened in England during those 190 years between 410 and 600 AD.

In 829 AD a Welsh scholar, Nennius, wrote a short piece about a brave warrior who fought and won twelve battles against the Saxons during that Dark Age period. As years went by, imaginative poets and writers referred to that warrior as \"King Arthur,\" added \"The Round Table,\" and embellished the story to its current legendary status.

Actually, the legend has a sad ending; The Knights of the Round Table are overthrown, and in his last battle King Arthur is defeated, surrendering his sword to \"The Lady of the Lake\". It's a great legend of heroic failure.

J.R.R. Tolkien, was a Professor of Anglo-Saxon history at Oxford University, an authority on that Dark Age period. It was an age of ignorance and superstition and he used it as the background for his own legend; It took him 20 years to complete \"The Hobbit,\" and \"The Lord of the Rings\" Trilogy.","The Challenge.d5ccc729-2f27-4ee5-9821-cdb8db5c31e1.jpg","\\artwork\\The Challenge.d5ccc729-2f27-4ee5-9821-cdb8db5c31e1.jpg",219,"Raum","217. RAUM 1 - An acrylic painting on a 12 x 16 size poster board, circa 2000.

This painting was a private commission based on a b&w drawing I did for the paperback novel, \"RAUM\", by Carl Sherrell.

Back in the mid 1960s I had some doubts about my being able to make it as a part time professional SF illustrator after I retired from working in the aerospace industry. When I thought about the artists I admired in the field, the ones who inspired me to learn to draw, the challenge seemed too great. But there is truth in that old adage that if you compare yourself with others, there will always be those who are greater than you, as well as those who are lesser, but how will you ever know what you can achieve if you don't try!

So I tried! With persistence! And here I am, seemingly just a tick of the clock later, looking back at what I did when the chance came along to be part of this wonderful world of illustration.","Plate 1.06ccff5e-525a-45fc-b324-571a12e56fc6.jpg","\\artwork\\Plate 1.06ccff5e-525a-45fc-b324-571a12e56fc6.jpg",218,"The Children of Lommos","216. THE CHILDREN OF LOMMOS - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book collection, \"TRANSIENTS and Other Disquieting Stories,\" by Darrell Schweitzer, and published by Ganley in 1993.

Here is another drawing that I did in the style of Hannes Bok. He is one of the artists who inspired me to draw, to paint, and to become an illustrator. And once in a while I just couldn't resist doing a drawing his way, even though I shouldn't have, because I know he would have done it better.

And this is where I needed the editor to return the drawing to me with a note saying, \"Don't imitate, do it your way!\"

I have often heard and read a lot about editors who demanded changes to a manuscript before it would be accepted, and Horace Gold, of Galaxy magazine comes to mind as being one of those editors. Though some of the writers hated him for that, others admitted that the changes he asked for made their stories better.

With one exception, I have never heard or read about a SF editor who applied that same degree of \"editorship\" to the illustrations that appeared in his book, or SF magazine. That exception was Tim Underwood of the Underwood-Miller publishing team. I wrote about that in item 115.

When I look at all the drawings I made over my career, I am sometimes tempted to say I could have done better, with this one or that one, changing this part or that part, or doing the entire picture in a different way, But that's hindsight, If I could have done better, I would have. Only an editor could have made my drawings better. But none of them ever asked me to.","216. The Children of Lommos.ba77ceac-7f58-4199-8f26-239c707a274f.jpg","\\artwork\\216. The Children of Lommos.ba77ceac-7f58-4199-8f26-239c707a274f.jpg",217,"Transients - Frontispiece","215. TRANSIENTS: Frontispiece -A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears as the frontispiece in the book, \"TRANSIENTS and Other Disquieting Stories,\" by Darrell Schweitzer, published by Ganley in 1993.

Whenever I drew a picture I tried to give it a look that was unique, not \"typical\". To achieve that in this drawing, I represented the bark on the foreground tree and the middle-ground tree with unusual swirling patterns, and gave the smaller background trees a theatrical stage design look with park lamp-light globes.

I have always thought that illustrations in a book or a magazine should not only be helpful representations for a story, they should also be of interest and an enjoyment unto themselves. That's how the artwork of illustrators like Finlay, Cartier, Bok, Lawrence, Freas, Emshwiller, and so many others impressed me. When I opened a magazine and looked at their illustrations, the stories didn't matter, I would read them later. For me, the illustrations alone could make the magazine worth the cost of buying it. And if the stories turned out to be wonderful too, that was a great issue, one to treasure! And that also goes for books.

And that's what I hoped I could do for any book or magazine in which my artwork appeared. ","215. Transients-Frontis.84d40811-dee0-4b8c-ba99-1ec8a5f5d932.jpg","\\artwork\\215. Transients-Frontis.84d40811-dee0-4b8c-ba99-1ec8a5f5d932.jpg",216,"Transients - Cover","214. TRANSIENTS: Cover - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears on the dust jacket of the book, \"TRANSIENTS and Other Disquieting Stories,\" by Darrell Schweitzer, published by Paul Ganley in 1993.

Some small press publishers, as this one was, do not have a budget large enough to allow for multi-colored artwork to be reproduced in full color, so I did this cover in halftone B&W, which costs the publisher a lot less to reproduce. In this case the publisher decided to use a reddish-tan ink to print this picture on the cover instead of black ink, but the cost is the same. It's the cheapest way to do a \"color\" cover, even though it's only one color.

Actually, I could have painted this picture in full color, even though I was being paid for a halftone B&W drawing. That's because the publisher could have photographed my color painting in halftone B&W, just as he did the halftone B&W drawing I sent him.

Which means I would have had a painting to sell to an art collector later instead of a B&W drawing, and a painting sells for a lot more than a B&W drawing. It can also be of more value in color for possible future reprint possibilities.

Which means that an illustrator needs to think more about his drawings and paintings than just bout their current use in a magazine or book.","Plate 3.64e2cea5-685f-454e-8443-e85508a6e772.jpg","\\artwork\\Plate 3.64e2cea5-685f-454e-8443-e85508a6e772.jpg",215,"Sprite","Computer art in which I changed a horizontal composition to a vertical one.

The original painting is owned by Helen de la Ree. When her husband Gerry was alive, in addition to their mail order business they published art books that showcased Gerry's favorite artists, like Hannes Bok, Edd Cartier and Virgil Finlay.

I think Helen did most of the work involved because Gerry had a lot of physical problems. Besides dealing with all those heavy art books she cleaned their big house, cooked the meals, cut the grass, trimmed the bushes, shoveled the snow and did the shopping!","Sprite.73a1a386-b212-4cf6-a523-d5e3daa60b3b.jpg","\\artwork\\Sprite.73a1a386-b212-4cf6-a523-d5e3daa60b3b.jpg",214,"New Horizons - Icons","212. NEW HORIZONS: Icons - Four black pen and Ink drawings, each on a separate 8 x 10 vellum paper. They appear in the book, \"NEW HORIZONS,\" an anthology of stories originally compiled by August Derleth sometime during the early 1950s that remained unpublished until Joseph Wrzos re-edited the book for Arkham House. It was published in 1998.

I drew several icons for the book, which features stories grouped into specific categories:

Upper left - Title Page
Upper right - Technological Triumphs; The Light Side
Bottom left - Amazing Discoveries
Bottom right - Time Travel","212. New Horizon-Icons.af8e2f51-9a87-4a76-a8e3-d41d2f37cb28.jpg","\\artwork\\212. New Horizon-Icons.af8e2f51-9a87-4a76-a8e3-d41d2f37cb28.jpg",213,"New Horizons","211. NEW HORIZONS - An acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 size canvas board. It appears on the dust jacket of the book, \"NEW HORIZONS,\" a new anthology of old stories compiled by August Derleth, edited by Joseph Wrzos, published by Arkham House in 1998.

According to my dictionary the word, \"illusion\" means, \"erroneous perception of reality,\" and there is no doubt in my mind that all humans go through life bearing a variety of illusions about most of the things they see, read, and think about.

In Samuel Butler's book, \"The Way of All Flesh\" he writes that every man's work is a portrait of himself; what you do is who you are. So I wonder, after seeing my web site, exactly what kind of \"illusion\" have you formed of me in your mind?","2.19p - New Horizons.efe4c161-5475-449a-ba97-9e3effe5da81.jpg","\\artwork\\2.19p - New Horizons.efe4c161-5475-449a-ba97-9e3effe5da81.jpg",212,"Golden Blood - 5","210. GOLDEN BLOOD 5 - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the book, \"GOLDEN BLOOD\" by Jack Williamson, published by Tamerlane Press in 1978.

This novel was first serialized in \"Weird Tales\" magazine starting in the April, 1933 issue. Most of the writers who wrote for the pulps in those days did not expect their stories to survive beyond the issues in which they appeared. Just as most of the artists who illustrated those pulps believed their artwork had no value after appearing in a magazine.

Those pulp writers are gone now, but I'm sure that, were they alive today they would be surprized at how many of their stories still have \"life,\" are still being published in reprint editions today. And the pulp illustrators would be shocked at how much money their artwork is worth today.

I hope the trend to reprint good stories and good art from old pulps continues. Amid all the trash that was published then, there are gems that deserve to live. And after all, a story you have not read before is a \"new\" one, and works of art are timeless.

Note: I used my computer to clip and paste the giant tiger in this drawing onto a blank form to create the CD cover that you see in item No.1","210. Golden Blood 5.adf28712-83b9-47a8-8d70-506d7dce6051.jpg","\\artwork\\210. Golden Blood 5.adf28712-83b9-47a8-8d70-506d7dce6051.jpg",211,"Golden Blood - 4","209. GOLDEN BLOOD 4 - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the book, \"GOLDEN BLOOD\" by Jack Williamson, published by Tamerlane Press in 1978.

There are times when an author provides little in the way of details and the illustrator is challenged to create almost everything he puts in a picture. But sometimes an author writes with a clarity that shows vividly what you are reading about, and in this case I chose to draw a desert warrior astride a camel that was clearly described in the book.

The notes I made on the related manuscript page were; \"headpiece covers face,\" \"wears chained mail,\" \"raised shield,\" \"decorated axe,\" \"sun blazing through swirling sands,\" \"can't see the desert floor\".

The notes made composing the scene easy, the creative part came when I had to design the stuff the warrior is sitting on and draped over the camel. And when I checked the manuscript again I saw that I had underlined other words that even described them! I didn't have to work hard on this picture at all.","209. Golden Blood 4.b32c7500-16b4-4811-bc40-1d3b5cffa517.jpg","\\artwork\\209. Golden Blood 4.b32c7500-16b4-4811-bc40-1d3b5cffa517.jpg",210,"Golden Blood 3","208. GOLDEN BLOOD 3 - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the book \"GOLDEN BLOOD,\" by Jack Williamson, published by Tamerlane Press in 1978.

Anyone learning to draw has to realize at the very first that nothing is visible unless some source of light shines on it. And a beginner should start learning to draw with a single source of light in mind. Later on the phenomenon of reflected light and multiple sources of light can be learned.

In drawing this picture I had to deal with three sources of light, the main one being the blazing torch lying on the floor. If you put your hand over the torch area you will see where the other two sources of light are hidden.","132. Golden Blood 4.f6dc0043-21eb-43ba-995e-8ef5bee0ea39.jpg","\\artwork\\132. Golden Blood 4.f6dc0043-21eb-43ba-995e-8ef5bee0ea39.jpg",209,"Golden Blood - 2","207. GOLDEN BLOOD 2 - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the book, \"GOLDEN BLOOD\" by Jack Williamson, published by Tamerlane Press in 1978.

This novel is a fantastic romantic adventure about a lost world in an ancient desert, in times past, and my drawings were intended to evoke that kind of feeling to the readers of the book.

However, if you enjoy looking at beautiful drawings of ancient worlds, I recommend you obtain books illustrated by David Roberts. I own the boxed set, \"The Holy Land, and Egypt & Nubia,\" which also includes a slim illustrated volume about the artist, David Roberts.

There are some artists whose artwork is so impressive, of such high merit, their works stand supreme, their artwork can never be transcended. Other artists may reach that same high mark, but none of them can be said to be better than the others on that level. David Roberts is that kind of artist. If you appreciate \"drawing,\" You owe it to yourself to look him up.","207. Golden Blood 2.7d82c48f-7264-43be-a9ba-58dadec89992.jpg","\\artwork\\207. Golden Blood 2.7d82c48f-7264-43be-a9ba-58dadec89992.jpg",208,"Golden Blood - 1","206. GOLDEN BLOOD 1 - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in \"GOLDEN BLOOD,\" a novel by Jack Williamson, published by Tamerlane Press (Tim Underwood) in 1978.

In May of 1978, I received a letter from the author, Jack Williamson in which he wrote, \"I just want to take this opportunity to say that I'm entirely delighted with the work you have done for the book. The book-plate is beautiful, and Tim has sent me copies of the other art. I think you have caught the spirit of the book exactly, and I'm looking forward to seeing the finished volume. Best, Jack Williamson\".

That letter made my day. I sat back in my chair and thought about another day, back in 1952 when I was a 22 year old sergeant in the Air Force, teaching a FAX course at Scott Air Force base in Belleville, Illinois. It was evening, I was propped up in my bunk eagerly reading a new science fiction book that I had just purchased, \"SEETEE SHIP,\" by Jack Williamson. It had a dust jacket illustrated by Edd Cartier. How incredible, that 26 years later, here I was reading a letter from Jack Williamson, telling me that he likes the artwork I did for his new book! Amazing!

And then, an even more amazing thing happened a few years later; On a Sunday afternoon I was waiting for Helen de la Ree and Joe Wrzos to come over for our monthly social, and when the doorbell rang I opened the door and there they were with someone beside them, and Helen smiled and said, \"Hi Steve, I hope you don't mind, we brought Edd Cartier with us\". EDD CARTIER ? I could not believe it, this truly great Golden Age artist was about to enter my home! That was a very special day for me, he became a very special friend.

That book I was reading in my bunk back in 1952, \"SEETEE SHIP,\" now rests on a shelf in my library, it is signed by both Jack Williamson and Edd Cartier. Isn't that amazing?","206. Golden Blood 1.4d008396-2f26-43a4-9296-1e649b63bce1.jpg","\\artwork\\206. Golden Blood 1.4d008396-2f26-43a4-9296-1e649b63bce1.jpg",207,"Goals of the Gods","205. GOALS OF THE GODS - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appeared in Dragon Magazine, published by TSR, the Dungeons & Dragons company.

Back in 1978 I received a phone call from Peggy Cooper, who introduced herself to me as being an editor at TSR. She went on to say that she saw my artwork in Galaxy magazine, liked it, and called to ask if I had time to do some black and white drawings for her.

At that time the highest payment I had received for a full page b&w drawing was $35, from Galaxy magazine. I asked Miss Cooper how much she was paying for a full page drawing and when she told me \"$200\" my eyes popped wide open and my ears got red hot! And when I asked her how many drawings were involved, she began listing the quarter pagers, half pagers, and full pagers that she needed for something called , \"The Gazetteer,\" and the total came to $2,300!

Unbelievable! I had hit the jackpot! And until the day I retired in 1992, Peggy kept sending me assignments, one after another. I met her and her husband when they were travelling from the west coast to attend a convention in NY City, and stopped by to say hello.

Peggy Cooper helped my career immensely. I hope she comes across my website and reads this. Thank you Peggy!","205. Goals of the Gods.19f8657e-2d28-4eb9-a08d-1e765c1607aa.jpg","\\artwork\\205. Goals of the Gods.19f8657e-2d28-4eb9-a08d-1e765c1607aa.jpg",206,"Astro-Adventures No.8","204. ASTRO-ADVENTURES 8 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears on the cover of, \"Astro-Adventures No.8,\" published and edited by Robert Price under his \"Cryptic Publications\" imprint.

I decided to do this cover drawing as a sort of tribute to Edgar Rice Burroughs. Although he is mostly known for creating \"'Tarzan,\" he is also famous for writing the scientific romances of; \"Carter of Mars\" and \"Carson of Venus,\" that first appeared in the pulp magazines of the 1930s and 1940s. Those interplanetary tales helped make popular what was becoming a new branch of literature, Science Fiction\".

Burroughs' stories were very popular among the general public, and especially among the young readers of pulp magazines. Though his work has never been taken seriously by literary critics he is one of the authors of that period in our history who had a huge and positive influence on the youth of this country. Perhaps that is why critics have dismissed him, his work appeals to \"juveniles\".

But I have enjoyed reading Burroughs' books just as I have enjoyed reading Heinlein's juvenile novels, they are worth reading at any age. The fact that they are still being reprinted today is proof of how good they are, and I believe they will continue to be reprinted for a long time to come.

Any adult who likes to read, (and if you don't you have not actually fully \"matured\"), ought to have an appreciation for books written to excite the imagination, and it doesn't matter in what generation the book was written, or in what category of literature it appears.","204. Astro Adventures 8.1a407620-a9a4-40be-b25d-bdc32c9d08e3.jpg","\\artwork\\204. Astro Adventures 8.1a407620-a9a4-40be-b25d-bdc32c9d08e3.jpg",205,"Astro Adventures No.7","203. ASTRO-ADVENTURES 7 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. The lettering is part of the artwork.

So one day I got up in the morning, had my breakfast and climbed the stairs to my \"studio,\" ready to start on a new assignment. The project I had finished the day before had been a long struggle, and as I looked at the next assignments on the bulletin board I was hoping for something less taxing.

I picked this one, a cover drawing for Astro Adventures. It's a funny thing about \"cover\" art in the SF and fantasy field, both fanzine and professional magazines often feature cover art that has nothing to do with the stories inside the magazine, and that applied to this cover. All I had to do was draw something appropriate to the title of the magazine. I started by making a few individual rough drawings on a sketch pad, a few common subjects related to SF; a spaceman, a space girl, a robot, and a spaceship. When I was satisfied with them I used tracing paper to transfer each figure onto a drawing paper, in the arrangement you see here on the cover. I completed the united drawing and stopped to have lunch. After lunch I applied the \"press-on\" lettering, and by mid-afternoon I was done with the job.

Back in 1974, when I first started illustrating full time, it took me a lot longer to do this kind of drawing, I would have spent more time thinking of cover scenarios, I would have spent more time drawing more figures, playing longer with the layout and tinkering longer with the details of each of the figures, and wasting time wondering if what I was doing was going to be \"good enough\". But practice and experience reduces the fumbling around time and brings more confidence when approaching a job. When I drew this cover in the early 1980s, none of those anxieties that I had in 1974 were present any more, it took a lot less time to do a drawing like this.","Astro Adventures, No.7.64b227f7-5a13-403b-bd27-4d3a89f62360.jpg","\\artwork\\Astro Adventures, No.7.64b227f7-5a13-403b-bd27-4d3a89f62360.jpg",204,"Astro-Adventures No. 1","202. ASTRO-ADVENTURES 1 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board.

When I look at this cover drawing I am reminded of the \"good old days\" of the early science fiction pulp magazines that are now gone forever. In 1955 I started collecting old SF pulps and at one time I must have had over 1,000 issues. But sadly, I have sold most of them, and have only the 23 issues of Fantastic Story Magazine left sitting on my shelves. I have also sold about half of the digest size magazines that I had collected for years.

I'm glad to see that a few publishers today are reprinting stories from those old pulps. I just ordered some books from Haffner Press who is reprinting the works of Edmond Hamilton and Leigh Brackett, whose stories often appeared in Amazing Stories, Planet Stories, Captain Future, Thrilling Wonder, Startling Stories, and others. I already own the 7 volumes published by Haffner that collected Jack Williamson's works from the old pulps. I hope he continues to reprint more good old days pulp fiction.

Anthony Tollin is reprinting stories from the old pulps like \"The Shadow,\" \"Doc Savage,\" and others. Many of The Shadow\" issues feature the artwork of Edd Cartier, and I really appreciate being able to see them now.","202. Astro Adventures 1.28628359-0613-4697-ad38-507b22b6b9c7.jpg","\\artwork\\202. Astro Adventures 1.28628359-0613-4697-ad38-507b22b6b9c7.jpg",203,"Battle","201. BATTLE - A computer painting, one of fifteen pictures, unused, that I submitted to the editor of Wildside Press for \"The Weird works of Robert E. Howard\".

While working on this picture I took a coffee break and browsed through a fanzine. I came to a letter written by SF writer Charles L. Fontenay and read that he liked to paint in oils now and then as a hobby. One day he read in his local newspaper about an art contest being held at the Civic Center. And since he was dubious about such contests, he decided to put the judges to a test; He stretched the rag that he used to clean his brushes with, over a board, framed it, and entered it in the contest. His \"work of art\" won 3rd prize in the \"Best Modern Art\" category.

Doesn't that tell you something about the world of modern art today? When you look at a picture of a painting in a book of modern art and it appears to be a picture of splattered paint, and the describing text uses esoteric words like, \"this painting is filled with accurate value vibrations,\" or perhaps, \"having a dynamic surrealistic resonance,\" or \"the artist's work represents the new world of vortextual happenings going on today,\" do you really understand what they are doing to you?

I used the word \"esoteric\" above because it means; \"words that are designed to be knowledge by pseudo-intellectuals, understood only by a small, specially initiated group\". The \"group\" includes the art dealers and art critics who, over a few generations, without any kind of organized conspiracy, have nevertheless influenced the art world with \"imaginary\" values. And with their \"imaginary\" values they are able to make the rest of the world believe that a formerly acknowledged crude work of art that no one would consider buying, is actually a great work of art, worth millions.

I never accept anything told to me, at face value. I owe it to myself to learn the truth. I am astonished at how many times critics, politicians, teachers, and friends have told me things that I later learned were not true.","201. Battle.b1fb51e2-b5a5-43f9-94ce-a1a9c57301cf.jpg","\\artwork\\201. Battle.b1fb51e2-b5a5-43f9-94ce-a1a9c57301cf.jpg",202,"Almuric","200. ALMURIC - A computer painting

This picture is one of 15 that I submitted to editor John Betancourt of Wildside Press for use as a dust jacket for one of the 10 books in the series, \"The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard\".

This picture was not one of those selected for the book series. However, I used the figures in this picture to create another computer painting; see item No. 283.","200. Almuric.0a69ba8c-6d81-489d-9d89-59afded76cdc.jpg","\\artwork\\200. Almuric.0a69ba8c-6d81-489d-9d89-59afded76cdc.jpg",201,"The Tower of the Elephant","199. THE TOWER OF THE ELEPHANT - A computer painting based on the B&W drawing in item 85. It is one of the fifteen I submitted to editor John Betancourt of Wildside Press as cover art for the 10 volume series: \"The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard\". It was not one of the ten selected.

The original version of this picture is a black and white drawing I did of Conan fighting the \"Spider God,\" for my art folio, \"The Tower of the Elephant,\" published by Bortner and Kruse. For this picture I added the color and the woman. It appears as plate 12 in my art folio, \"The Stephen E. Fabian Collection, No.14: The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard\".","100. The Tower of the Elephant.7d65738d-efac-451f-9519-d2a5f240414d.jpg","\\artwork\\100. The Tower of the Elephant.7d65738d-efac-451f-9519-d2a5f240414d.jpg",200,"Solomon Kane's Homecoming","198. SOLOMON KANE'S HOMECOMING - A computer painting.

This is the picture I made and submitted to the editor of Wildside Press, after he rejected an earlier one; item No.195 \"BLACK HOUNDS OF DEATH\".

Although editor Betancourt accepted this picture for the dust jacket of book 9 in the 10 volume series, \"The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard,\" he didn't use it! When I got my copies of the book I was a bit stunned to see that he went back and used the rejected picture for the DJ! - I guess he changed his mind.

To make this picture I used my computer to copy and paste parts of other paintings that I did in the past. It now appears as Plate 15 in my art folio, \"The Stephen E. Fabian Collection, No.14: The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard\".

See item No. 189 for another picture where I used this image of Solomon Kane astride his horse.","159. Solomon Kane's Homecoming.04cb77ae-0b78-4936-9ec2-cad32198c2de.jpg","\\artwork\\159. Solomon Kane's Homecoming.04cb77ae-0b78-4936-9ec2-cad32198c2de.jpg",199,"The Jewels of Gwahlur","197. THE JEWELS OF GWAHLUR - A computer painting.

This picture is one of 15 paintings that I submitted to editor John Betancourt of Wildside Press for the 10 volume book series, \"The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard\". It was not selected as one of the ten, and appears here for the first time. The Conan figure was borrowed from a painting I did for the cover of \"Sword & Sorcery Annual Magazine, 1975\".","Jewels of Gwahlur.1ba6dac6-3884-437b-8a56-0a29e1024837.jpg","\\artwork\\Jewels of Gwahlur.1ba6dac6-3884-437b-8a56-0a29e1024837.jpg",198,"The Frost-Giant's Daughter","196. THE FROST-GIANT'S DAUGHTER - A computer painting circa 2004.

This picture was one of over a dozen paintings that I submitted to John Betancourt, editor of Wildside Press, for the 10 volume series, \"The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard\".

The two fighting barbarians were borrowed from my cover art on Stuart Schiff's fanzine, \"Whisper 13-14\". I used my computer to copy and paste them onto a blank form and added the background and the girl.

This painting was not one of the ten chosen by the editor, it appears now only in my Art Folio, \"The Stephen E. Fabian Collection, No. 14: \"The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard,\" and of course, here in my website.","Frost-Giant's Daughter 1.ebbc2538-58e2-458e-abe0-fa2552e2fe94.jpg","\\artwork\\Frost-Giant's Daughter 1.ebbc2538-58e2-458e-abe0-fa2552e2fe94.jpg",197,"Black Hounds of Death","195. BLACK HOUNDS OF DEATH - A computer painting. It appears on the dust jacket of the book, \"BLACK HOUNDS OF DEATH,\" by Robert E. Howard, published by Wildside Press in 2009, book 9 in the 10 volume series, \"The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard\".

When I submitted this painting to the editor he thought it was not suitable as a cover painting, he said it was more suitable as a frontispiece for a book. I assumed therefore, that he would select one of the other paintings I had submitted to him, (see picture No.198). But when the book was published, this rejected painting appears on the DJ. I guess he changed his mind.

The character in this painting is \"Solomon Kane\", the stories about him take place back in the early colonial times when superstition dominates the souls of men, when fear of God and the devil weighs heavy over the villages and hamlets, a time when the people are often ill-prepared to deal with evil-doers. How fortunate for them that the mysterious Solomon Kane roams the land searching for the evil men who dare break \"God's Commandments.","155. Black Hounds of Death.fc81b50b-ca63-4643-8b85-94e0ac3dac3a.jpg","\\artwork\\155. Black Hounds of Death.fc81b50b-ca63-4643-8b85-94e0ac3dac3a.jpg",196,"The Snow Beast","194. THE SNOW BEAST - \".A computer painting circa 2009.

This picture is one of the later ones that I submitted to Wildside Press for their ten volume series, \"The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard\". Editor John Betancourt selected the ten covers from my earlier submissions so this one remains unpublished.

All 15 submissions to Wildside Press are included in my art folio, THE STEPHEN E. FABIAN COLLECTION NO. 14: The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard.

Originally I submitted two pictures to the editor that were titled, \"The Frost Giant's Daughter\". This is the first one, the other is item No.196.

For obvious reasons I have re-titled this one, \"The Snow Beast\".","Snow Bear.e6978559-eabe-4995-854e-7cd96095558a.jpg","\\artwork\\Snow Bear.e6978559-eabe-4995-854e-7cd96095558a.jpg",195,"Hours of the Dragon","193. THE HOURS OF THE DRAGON - A computer painting. It appears on the dust jacket of the book, \"HOURS OF THE DRAGON,\" by Robert E. Howard. It is volume 8 in a 10 book series, \"The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard,\" published by Wildside Press in 2008.

This novel was first published in book form by Gnome Press in 1950, as \"Conan the Conqueror\". It was first published in magazine form as a serial in Weird Tales in the 1930s under the title, \"The Hour of the Dragon\".

The reprinting of this novel, as well as other Conan stories from the early Weird Tales issues, created a whole new genre in literature called \"Sword and Sorcery\". For over 60 years Conan has continued to flourish in the publishing industry and shows no signs of letting up. Other writers today, taking advantage of Conan's popularity have written new Conan adventures while others, using different names for their \"Conan-like\" barbarian hero continue imitating Howard's works. But none of them have been able to equal the power of those original Conan tales written by Howard for Weird Tales.","2.35 - Hours of the Dragon.d3ffd72d-1f45-4a05-8bc5-8de31166bb5f.jpg","\\artwork\\2.35 - Hours of the Dragon.d3ffd72d-1f45-4a05-8bc5-8de31166bb5f.jpg",194,"People of the Dark","192. PEOPLE OF THE DARK - A computer painting. It appears on the dust jacket of the book, \"PEOPLE OF THE DARK,\" by Robert E. Howard, Wildside Press, 2005. It is book 3 in the 10 volume series, \"The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard\".

To make this picture I used my computer to combine \"Conan\" from a private commission painting, and the background creature from a drawing that appears in the book, \"The Dream of X\" by William Hope Hodgson. It also appears as item No. 51 in this website.","192. People of the Dark.67de1fec-79aa-4695-9268-5849742f8a8c.jpg","\\artwork\\192. People of the Dark.67de1fec-79aa-4695-9268-5849742f8a8c.jpg",193,"Moon of Skulls","191. MOON OF SKULLS - A computer painting created in 2005, it appears on the dust jacket of the book, \"MOON OF SKULLS\" by Robert E. Howard, published by Wildside Press. The book is the 2nd in a series of 10 volumes published as \"The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard\".

To make this picture I used my computer to clip the girl from my \"Galaxy Nov. 1974 cover and pasted her on a blank form in my computer. I then used the computer color palette and my computer mouse to add the skull-like face in the background.

Although the editor at Wildside Press accepted this picture for the DJ, for some reason he had the girl deleted and only the Skull-Face appears on the dust jacket. I never asked him why and he never told me why, but still, I wonder . . . Why?","Plate 2 - Moon of Skulls.b0c02bc5-4bbe-4dc2-ae44-0834b058002a.jpg","\\artwork\\Plate 2 - Moon of Skulls.b0c02bc5-4bbe-4dc2-ae44-0834b058002a.jpg",192,"Wings in the Night","190. WINGS IN THE NIGHT - A computer painting done in 2005, it appears on the dust jacket of the book, \"WINGS IN THE NIGHT,\" by Robert E. Howard, published by Wildside Press in 2005, as volume 4 in the 10 volume book series, \"The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard.\"

The painting originally appeared on the cover of the book, \"The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate\" by L. S. de Camp, published by Donning in 1982. However, the swordsman in that painting is a Persian warrior and stands to the right of the woman. For this picture I replaced the Persian warrior with \"Conan,\" and placed him on the left side of the woman. That Persian painting is also item No. 170.","Wings in the Night.c4f70b59-09be-46b1-843f-77b904711896.jpg","\\artwork\\Wings in the Night.c4f70b59-09be-46b1-843f-77b904711896.jpg",191,"Solomon Kane","189. SOLOMON KANE - A computer painting based on a black and white drawing that I did for \"Dragon\" magazine.

I started this painting by \"clipping\" the rider from a \"Dragon\" magazine black and white drawing I did some years ago, and \"pasted'' it on a blank form. I then used my computer mouse as a paint brush to make some changes to the ride by adding a few details and a bit of color. I then used my computer color palette to paint the moody foreground and background. It appears only in my Art Folio, \"The Stephen E. Fabian Collection, No.14: The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard.\"

Note: The image of Solomon Kane astride his horse also appears in picture No.198, Solomon Kane's Homecoming.

My computer allows me to do something unique with my old artwork; I can take a section from one picture, and combine it with sections from another, change colors, sizes, play with the composition and create a whole new painting. Sometimes, when I am done, none of the original art remains. My old paintings and drawings are now my new canvases and my computer is my brush and tubes of paint.","3.3p - Solomon Kane.5e532d4f-bcb4-4685-aeec-596f4ef7a0cc.jpg","\\artwork\\3.3p - Solomon Kane.5e532d4f-bcb4-4685-aeec-596f4ef7a0cc.jpg",190,"Shadow Kingdoms","188. SHADOW KINGDOMS - A computer painting based on a private commission that I did in 2002 titled, \"The Hunters\".

A modified version of this picture appears on the book dust jacket of, \"Shadow Kingdoms\" by Robert E. Howard, published by Wildside Press in 2004.

This illustration is about the end of the \"hunt\" to find a female. The search is over, the cavemen have found their prey. It's twilight time, the purple shades of night are falling, the hunters are heading home . . . to the safety and warmth of their cave . . . and to the taming.","188. Shadow Kingdoms.97b2f68b-657b-4894-a319-2db53b918628.jpg","\\artwork\\188. Shadow Kingdoms.97b2f68b-657b-4894-a319-2db53b918628.jpg",189,"The Red Death 3","187. THE RED DEATH 3 - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the fan press book, \"WHISPERS, Vol.4, No.3-4, 1982,\" illustrating a proposed film presentation titled, \"The Red Death,\" written by Ray Russell, based on Poe's story, \"The Mask of the Red Death\".

Stuart D. Schiff, editor and publisher of \"Whispers\" is a dentist by profession, and one day he phoned to ask if I would be interested in a special commission; he wanted to hire me to design and illustrate a booklet that would be available to his young patients as they sat in the waiting room. The text of the booklet would be written by him with the purpose of easing the fears children have about going to a dentist.

I accepted! And after requesting and receiving photos of the building, the waiting room, the office, the chair, and other equipment, I went ahead and designed the booklet.","187. Red Death 3.beaf1c55-03a9-477f-8597-156c641ab5d8.jpg","\\artwork\\187. Red Death 3.beaf1c55-03a9-477f-8597-156c641ab5d8.jpg",188,"The Red Death 2","186. THE RED DEATH 2 - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the fan press book, \"WHISPERS, Vol.4, No.3-4, 1982, illustrating the proposed film presentation, \"The Red Death,\" written by Ray Russell, based on Edgar Allan Poe's story, \"The Mask of the Red Death\".

Stuart D. Schiff, editor and publisher of \"Whispers\" and \"Whispers Press,\" later edited six \"Whispers\" anthologies for Doubleday. All six volumes reprinted stories and artwork from his original \"Whispers\" fan publications. Since then, Schiff's \"Whispers\" books have been reprinted in paperback editions.","186. Red Death 2.d6c81b88-069a-4256-b0fa-0821231d1967.jpg","\\artwork\\186. Red Death 2.d6c81b88-069a-4256-b0fa-0821231d1967.jpg",187,"The Red Death 1","185. THE RED DEATH 1 - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the fan press book, \"WHISPERS, Vol.4, No.3-4, 1982\". It illustrates a proposed film presentation titled, \"The Red Death,\" written by Ray Russell, based on Edgar Allan Poe's story, \"The Mask of the Red Death\".

In addition to producing \"Whispers\" books, dentist Stuart D. Schiff ventured, unsuccessfully, into the limited edition book publishing business. In 1977 he used the imprint, \"Whispers Press\" to publish, \"Rime Isle\" by Fritz Leiber, and in 1978 he published \"Heroes and Horrors\" also by Fritz Leiber. There was also a signed limited edition book. \"Foundation's Edge\" by Isaac Asimov, that Schiff published in 1982.","185. Red Death 1.449c78a3-d57b-4d55-a699-465931e9a3cf.jpg","\\artwork\\185. Red Death 1.449c78a3-d57b-4d55-a699-465931e9a3cf.jpg",186,"The Red Death - TP","184. THE RED DEATH: Title Page - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the fan press book, \"WHISPERS, Vol.4, No.3-4, 1982\". It is the title page illustration for a proposed film presentation titled, \"The Red Death,\" written by Ray Russell, based on Edgar Allan Poe's story, \"The Mask of the Red Death\".

Stuart D. Schiff is the gent (a dentist by profession) who edited and published, \"Whispers\" fan magazine as a hobby. Although Whispers started out as a quality fanzine, Schiff managed to attract some of the best professional writers in the fantasy field by paying professional rates for stories. He did the same with the illustrators who appeared in his \"fanzine,\" and that included me.

Actually, an issue of Whispers looked more like a book than it did a magazine, and because the stories were written by professionals it seems illogical to refer to Whispers as a \"fanzine\".

But the cost of producing such high quality issues became so great that eventually Whispers collapsed under the weight of all the expenses.

Schiff is a good looking man with a warm and friendly smile, and a collector of all sorts of things in addition to books and art. I have not heard from him for years, but the last word I did hear; he was collecting \"coffins\" for a hobby!","184. Red Death-TP.8de5b8e4-7c6d-4e35-b8ac-086435a049a5.jpg","\\artwork\\184. Red Death-TP.8de5b8e4-7c6d-4e35-b8ac-086435a049a5.jpg",185,"Bookplate 1","183. BOOKPLATE: PAUL GANLEY - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on a 9 x 12 size vellum paper. This bookplate drawing was commissioned by Paul Ganley in 1976.

Writing a book is not easy, most people can't do it, including the most educated. But here I am, trying to write what amounts to one, just to please myself. And one of my problems is dealing with punctuation. A friend of mine, Joe Wrzos, having been an English teacher has pointed out my errors in punctuation, particularly my use of the \"comma\". And that's important because the placement of a comma can sometimes completely change the meaning of a statement. As you will see in this case;

Recently, I read the autobiography of the famous western writer, Louis L'Amour, in which he gives this example of the importance of the placement of a comma; \"Sarah Bernhardt, a great actress of her time went to see a play featuring actress Eleanora Duse and was so impressed by her performance in act one, that she wrote a note to Duce and had it sent backstage. The note read, \"Sarah Bernhardt says Eleanora Duse is a great actress\". Duce read it, but was so busy changing costumes for the second act she didn't have time to write a reply, but she quickly put two commas on Bernhardt's note and had it returned to her. Now the note read, 'Sarah Bernhardt, says Eleanor Duse, is a great actress'.\" The commas turn the compliment the other way around. So, there's a lot to learn about the art of writing, I'm glad I have a good teacher.","Bookplate-PaulGanley.324a6920-dfa8-4b60-b13a-d5f96e39e26e.jpg","\\artwork\\Bookplate-PaulGanley.324a6920-dfa8-4b60-b13a-d5f96e39e26e.jpg",184,"Barbarian On a Quest","182. BARBARIAN ON A QUEST - A black ink and gray pencil drawing that I did many years ago, and forgot to make a copy of it for my files, and eventually forgot about it completely. It may have been made for a fanzine, or perhaps it was a private commission.

I seem to have done this a number of times because now and then, when I'm browsing the internet I find a website that exhibits my artwork and I discover another such forgotten drawing or painting.

The website where I found this drawing gave no details, not even a title, so I gave it one now, \"Barbarian On a Quest\". It would be nice to know who solicited this drawing from me, or where it was published.","Barbarian on a Quest.d4f34523-ed68-48f6-bf0a-afc38cd5dc53.jpg","\\artwork\\Barbarian on a Quest.d4f34523-ed68-48f6-bf0a-afc38cd5dc53.jpg",183,"Mermaid's Treasure","181. MERMAID'S TREASURE - An acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 size canvas board, circa 1990. It was a private commission. The client requested a painting of a mermaid and left all the details to me.

I only accepted private commissions from clients who gave me a general idea of what they wanted, allowing me to do whatever came to my mind that fit their broad description.

I did not accept commissions from clients who wanted to send me photos of themselves and/or family members and include them in a fantasy or science fiction landscape.

However, I did work on one painting that involved a portrait of Helen de la Ree in a fantasy background and I goofed! The painting had been started by Virgil Finlay, and Gerry de la Ree asked me to finish it. I made a huge mistake by trying to blend my work with Finlays because I kept blending and blending until almost none of Finlay's work remained identifiable. It was a dumb thing for me to do, I know Gerry was disappointed.","181. Mermaid's Treasure.b525790c-10be-47f4-b979-e0b03ca25337.jpg","\\artwork\\181. Mermaid's Treasure.b525790c-10be-47f4-b979-e0b03ca25337.jpg",182,"A Thunder of Trumpets","180. A THUNDER OF TRUMPETS - A computer painting circa 2007. It appears on the dust jacket of the book written by Robert E. Howard, published by Wildside Press in 2010. It is the last book in a 10 volume series that collects all of Howard's \"Weird Tales\" magazine stories.

A word about Robert E. Howard; I was disturbed when I read his poem, \"Abe Lincoln,\" in which he harshly condemns Lincoln for \"butchering\" hundreds of thousands of people in the Civil War.

But Lincoln's victory, which kept America as one nation, was important not only to our nation, it was just as important to the rest of the world because only 52 years after the Civil War ended, America was able to assemble a huge military force that helped defeat Germany in WW1. And just 20 years later, the Axis powers; Germany, Japan, and Italy threatened the world. All the nations who were attacked by the axis powers, including England, France and Russia, depended on the \"UNITED\" States to help supply them with war materials. And with American forces fighting all over the planet the allied forces were able to defeat the axis powers.

All free nations in the world today owe their freedom to America. If Lincoln had allowed our country to be divided, I do not believe that the two smaller nations would have been able to unite, as they did as a single nation, to meet the challenges of the two world wars. If the axis powers had won WW2, the heirs of Hitler, Tojo, and Mussolini would now be ruling the world.

But Mr. Howard could not foresee the future, and I do appreciate his mourning the 600,000 American souls who died in the great American tragedy that was the Civil War. But In the end, Lincoln's victory not only preserved the Union and gave freedom to it's black citizens, it allowed a united America to grow and become the great world power that it is today; the only nation capable of keeping freedom alive on this planet. - That is, it WAS . . . Until now . . .","30. Conan the Barbarian.7e333d68-5779-440c-be83-49b82cf0536f.jpg","\\artwork\\30. Conan the Barbarian.7e333d68-5779-440c-be83-49b82cf0536f.jpg",181,"Saint Joan","179. SAINT JOAN - An acrylic painting on a 20 x 28 size canvas board. It was a spare- time painting circa 1998.

I read a magazine article about Loretta Young and the movies she made in 1935. The article featured several photo stills from those films and one of them was from, \"The Crusades\". I was so taken by her beautiful face in that photo that I decided to do a painting of her. I used only Young's pose in the photo, I made up the background and the chalice.

The Crusades of the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries were religious expeditionary wars blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church to restore access to the holy land of Jerusalem, where Jesus Christ had been crucified, and which had been cut off by the Muslim Turks.

It is hard for me to understand all the religious warfare that has been going on over the centuries, perhaps it's because all religions are ruled by men who have added so much of their own moral dogma to their religious \"Books\". Books that acknowledge the existence of God, that teach love and peace, but differ about incidentals ...

All Christians believe in God as a Holy Trinity; that God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost (the spirit of the dead Christ), are one entity. Muslims believe in the same God, primarily refering to Him as \"Allah,\" but they believe that Christ was a preacher of God, but not God himself. Jews also believe in the same God, but they believe that Jesus Christ was just a man, an extraordinary preacher who gave his life to prove his faith in God. Atheists believe that there is no God, that the Universe was created by a spontaneous occurrence and has no meaning.

None of these groups actually knows for sure, that what they believe is factual. If God exists, atheists will be embarrassed and feel foolish when they see the Pearly Gates. If God does not exist, nobody will ever know.","3.4 - St. Joan.06b92b6c-45ae-4539-92ac-aa49be853777.jpg","\\artwork\\3.4 - St. Joan.06b92b6c-45ae-4539-92ac-aa49be853777.jpg",180,"Shaman Woman","178. SHAMAN WOMAN - Looking at this painting brings me to thinking about artists who paint historical or nature subjects. I'm really amazed at the amount of research they are often required to do in order to make a painting, \"authentic\".

To paint this picture all I had to do is reach into my file cabinet and look at some photos of Indians that I've accumulated. The artifacts you see in my painting came from those photos. The painting was not done to represent a real historical Indian woman, it was done as a fictional likeness of one.

I have read biographies of famous artists like Wyeth, Remington, and others like them, who had no file cabinets filled with photos, they went out west to see the things they wanted to paint. That kind of dedication to art is still going on today; right now it is likely that some nature artist is out in the cold wilderness looking for a place on the ice to sit and paint a sleeping walrus, or perhaps there is one climbing a tree on the edge of a cliff somewhere, struggling to get into position so he can see and paint a bird in its nesting place. They are the artists that have always impressed me the most.","96. Shaman Woman.650ae9ed-536f-40d5-893c-f9de6d5f921b.jpg","\\artwork\\96. Shaman Woman.650ae9ed-536f-40d5-893c-f9de6d5f921b.jpg",179,"Stephen King: The Shorter Works","177. STEPHEN KING: THE SHORTER WORKS - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears on the cover of a Starmont
Reader's Guide book published by Starmont House (Ted Dikty).

While I tend to stay away from Stephen King's longer works, I do enjoy reading his short stories. Perhaps it's because his shorter works are compressed down to essentials, leaving out a lot of unnecessary and over-written details that I find in his novels.

I enjoy reading a thought provoking science fiction novel, or a masterfully written fantasy epic, but because I am not a fan of \"Horror\" fiction I tend to keep my reading time on the genre to a minimum,. And that means selecting short horror stories to read rather than novels.

There are exceptions, of course, I recently decided to read Mary Shelly's \"Frankenstein,\" and do not regret the time spent doing it. It is often referred to as the \"first\" true science fiction story!","177. Stephen King - The shorter Works.328be4b7-dcf3-420a-8355-9e2b4dc7fd96.jpg","\\artwork\\177. Stephen King - The shorter Works.328be4b7-dcf3-420a-8355-9e2b4dc7fd96.jpg",178,"Stephen King as Richard Bachman","176. STEPHEN KING AS RICHARD BACHMANA black ink and gray color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears on a book cover published by Starmont House (Ted Dikty).

I don't know if it's true, but I read somewhere that Stephen King has had more books published than any other writer in history, and only the Bible has had more copies published. How can that be? I know that King's books are popular and sell well, I have bought some of his books myself and while I enjoyed reading his scary stories, none of them contains a single line I consider worth remembering. They are like foods and drinks that taste great but have no nutritional value. But that's OK! King writes to entertain you, to thrill you with exciting weird tales, and that's it! I don't think he writes hoping to win the Pulitzer prize for literature. He writes to make a lot of money and he's very good at doing that . . .

But, being \"the most published writer in history\" you would think that King's books were \"important\" in some way, the way that John Steinbeck's book,\"The Grapes of Wrath\" is important because while the \"story\" is imaginary, it is played out against the true and dramatic history of tenant farmers in America in the 1930s during the great depression; Okies (Oklahomans) who fled the dust bowl in search of jobs and a place to live with dignity and a future. \"The Grapes of Wrath\" has value for any American who cares about the history of his country. - Or books like the science fiction novels of Olaf Stapleton or George Orwell that make you \"think\" about the future of mankind. I guess I'm just disappointed that titillating horror books outsell, by far, great works of literature. Which says a lot about our society.

And here, again, Stephen King, like so many other writers who are now famous, went through the experience of early rejection; \"Carrie\" was rejected by 30 publishers before finally seeing print. But he stuck with it and now, according to Forbes magazine, King is the second richest American author at $39 million. James Patterson is noted as the richest, with $94 million. All would-be writers need to learn this important lesson; perseverance is often the key to success.","176. Stephen King 1.a404bdc3-3274-4b59-8a83-0b81330ffa75.jpg","\\artwork\\176. Stephen King 1.a404bdc3-3274-4b59-8a83-0b81330ffa75.jpg",177,"The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate 5","175. THE DRAGON OF THE ISHTAR GATE 5 - A black ink and black pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"THE DRAGON OF THE ISHTAR GATE,\" by L. Sprague de Camp, published by Donning in 1982.

Mr. de Camp is one of my favorite writers, this is one of his five historical novels that I own. It was a pleasure to read and illustrate the book.

de Camp is responsible for bringing back the works of Robert E. Howard. In 1950 he urged Gnome Press' owner Martin Greenberg to reprint Howard's Conan stories in several volumes. The Conan stories were originally published in the 1930s and 1940s in the Weird Tales pulp magazine.

However, in role as editor of the books, de Camp decided that the stories needed some re-writing, and he took on the task. Sadly, the changes he made diluted the power and integrity of Howard's work. It is good to see that current publishers of Howard's stories are restoring his original work.","DragonIshtarGate-Pg117.e34bfd83-70be-49d3-b0e4-01b5cf8d4d69.jpg","\\artwork\\DragonIshtarGate-Pg117.e34bfd83-70be-49d3-b0e4-01b5cf8d4d69.jpg",176,"Dragon of the Ishtar gate 4B","174. THE DRAGON OF THE ISHTAR GATE 4B - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"THE DRAGON OF THE ISHTAR GATE, by L. Sprague de Camp, published by Donning in 1982.

Although this is a separate drawing, it is the right half of a double page illustration, see item 173 for the left side drawing.

I have always thought that when a story is illustrated, the artwork should at least be equal to, or improve upon, the written images by the author. The artwork of some illustrators matches up so well with certain author's stories that when I think of one, I also think of the other;

When I think of R.E. Howard's Conan stories I think of Frank Frazetta's Conan paperback cover paintings.

When I think of Abe Merritt's stories I think of Virgil Finlay's fine pointillist magazine drawings.

When I think of Edgar Rice Burroughs' novels I think of J. Allen St. John's classic book dust jacket paintings and interior drawings.

And when I think of L. Sprague de Camp's stories I remember the marvelous and unique style of Edd Cartier's magazine illustrations.

You probably have similar match-ups in your mind.","Plate 4.7910fba7-f797-4a7c-b6c7-e1c735f5bd58.jpg","\\artwork\\Plate 4.7910fba7-f797-4a7c-b6c7-e1c735f5bd58.jpg",175,"The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate 4A","173. THE DRAGON OF THE ISHTAR GATE 4A - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"THE DRAGON OF THE ISHTAR GATE,\" by L. Sprague de Camp, published by Donning in 1982.

Although it is a separate drawing, it is the left side of a double page illustration, see item 174 for the right side drawing.

Historical novels like this one, obviously require research into the characters and the time period of concern, and in this case de Camp became interested in King Xerxes of Persia, who reigned from 485 to 465 BC.

The difference between my reading a purely fictional adventure story and reading an historical adventure is that I expect the \"history\" in the latter to be true to the real characters and the time period. I expect to learn some \"history\" even though I might take the \"adventure\" with a grain of salt, as they say.

While reading de Camp's historical novels I always felt confident that I was getting reasonably true pictures of the people, the times and the places he wrote about.","173. Dragon in the Ishtar Gate 4.a02b310d-2ab0-4d00-8538-8fb89be1a655.jpg","\\artwork\\173. Dragon in the Ishtar Gate 4.a02b310d-2ab0-4d00-8538-8fb89be1a655.jpg",174,"The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate 3","172. THE DRAGON OF THE ISHTAR GATE 3 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"THE DRAGON OF THE ISHTAR GATE, by L. Sprague de Camp, published by Donning in 1982.

Each drawing in this book is a mantage of two or more elements from the story, their purpose is to give readers a feel for the time, place, and characters, rather than to represent a specific scene in the story.

I'm pleased to write that I enjoy reading de Camp's historical novels as much as I enoy reading his SF and fantasy works. He was one of the writers who made the Golden Age of Science Fiction, the Golden Age.","172. Dragon of the Ishtar Gate 3.9bcb347e-d925-49fb-96ea-99a0eff60d40.jpg","\\artwork\\172. Dragon of the Ishtar Gate 3.9bcb347e-d925-49fb-96ea-99a0eff60d40.jpg",173,"The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate 2","171. THE DRAGON OF THE ISHTAR GATE 2 - A black ink drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. This icon appears in the book, \"THE DRAGON OF THE ISHTAR GATE,\" by L. Sprague de Camp, published by Donning in 1982. It decorates the top of the page for each of the 19 chapters in the book. The chapter numbers and headings were placed inside the \"scroll\" at the bottom of the drawing.

When I met Mr. de Camp at a 1979 SF convention, I was immediately impressed by his bearing and manner; he was tall, trim, impeccably dressed, sophisticated, and yet amiable. A gentleman if there ever was one.

Although de Camp wrote lots of science fiction and fantasy books, I have 32 of them, he also wrote several historical novels, I have 5, and this book is one of them.","171. Dragon of the Ishtar Gate 2.58d127ed-23a2-439c-8173-d5522dad947b.jpg","\\artwork\\171. Dragon of the Ishtar Gate 2.58d127ed-23a2-439c-8173-d5522dad947b.jpg",172,"The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate 1","170. THE DRAGON OF THE ISHTAR GATE 1 - An acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 size canvas board. It appears on the dust jacket of the book, \"THE DRAGON OF THE ISHTAR GATE,\" by L. Sprague de Camp, published by Donning in 1982.

Embarrassing things happened to me in 1979 at the World Fantasy convention. I was there because I had been nominated that year for the \"Best Professional Artist\" award. I was standing in the vestibule outside the room where the award ceremonies were to take place, talking to editor-publisher George Scithers who introduced me to author L. Sprague de Camp and his wife Catherine, referring to me as an \"up-and-coming\" new illustrator. Mrs. De camp shook my hand and warmly told me to keep practicing and maybe someday I might become a professional artist. I wonder what went through her mind when later, at the award ceremonies I was introduced as a nominee for \"Best Professional Artist\".

When I entered the ceremonies hall looking for a table with an empty seat, I spotted my friend Gerry de la Ree. As I sat down in the empty seat next to him a tiny woman at the other end of the table jumped up, ran around to my side and gruffly told me to go sit elsewhere, this table was reserved for \"professional\" people. But here's the good part; at the table behind me sat Joseph Payne Brennan, one of my favorite writers, who saw me rudely being \"shooed away\" and gestured for me to sit down next to him. We had never met before but we soon got to know each other and I had a great time talking to him about art, writing, publishing, and who was who in the room. And that's when I found out that the rude tiny lady who had shooed me away, was Judy-Lynn Benjamin, the boss at Del Rey Books, a major publisher.

Well . . . I did not win the award, the meal was the usual rubber chicken, and the whole event would have been a bummer for me if not for the friendly act of Joseph Payne Brennan.","170. Dragon of the Ishtar Gate 1.3809d06f-5a9f-4408-bf1a-0627a7f84784.jpg","\\artwork\\170. Dragon of the Ishtar Gate 1.3809d06f-5a9f-4408-bf1a-0627a7f84784.jpg",171,"Wolves","169. WOLVES - An acrylic painting on a 24 x 30 size canvas board painted for my son Stephen, Jr. in 2003.

My son, Stephen, is a wolf advocate. His home features wonderful framed wolf art, several of which are 3 dimensional sculptured pieces that extend outward from their frames. They are awesome works of art!

So one day, when I decided to do a painting for Stephen to remember me by, I placed a new canvas on my easel and painted two wolves standing in a snowy landscape.

And that is what you see when you look at my painting.

But I hope that when my son looks at it, he sees me, and the message I put in the painting, \"I love You\". ","Wolves.9dd149c2-df01-4b88-bc12-08e0d4b79192.jpg","\\artwork\\Wolves.9dd149c2-df01-4b88-bc12-08e0d4b79192.jpg",170,"Exiles","168. EXILES - An acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 size canvas board. It appears as one of the plates in my Art Folio, \"Stephen Fabian in Color,\" published by Fax, an imprint used by Ted Dikty of Starmont House.

Dinosaurs! - Archeologists continue to find more fossils almost every time they go out to dig for them, finding new extinct species all the time.

The other day I read, \"in spite of all we know about history, there is far more that we don't know\"! That's true, of course, because the timespan of recorded history is minimal compared to the timespan of unrecorded history. And most of that unknown history will probably never become known.","168. Exiles.5c8b0819-77e7-45d1-af49-65fe0d6262c1.jpg","\\artwork\\168. Exiles.5c8b0819-77e7-45d1-af49-65fe0d6262c1.jpg",169,"Belter","167. BELTER - A black ink and black and gray color pencil drawing on a 12 x 16 illustration board. It appears on the game box cover of \"Belter,\" a board game published by Game Designer's Workshop back in the early 1980s.

The action in this game involves spacemen mining the Asteroid belt that orbits between Earth and Mars. I was glad to get a chance to expand my clientele to include \"Board Games,\" something I had not anticipated when I started dreaming about being a SF illustrator.

Looking at this drawing however, disturbs me, because it reminds me that our misguided government has just about abandoned our space program, they say we can't afford to fund it. This magnificent venture in space has transformed, for the better, the very way we live. NASA has discovered, invented, and advanced several new technologies that keep improving every facet of our lives, it gave urgency to the advancement of the computer and cell-phone ages, and contributed greatly to the world of science and medicine. And it created lots of jobs. How can we NOT fund it? And yet, our government is putting an end to our leadership in space. Most likely Russia or China will become the pioneering nations to lead the human race into outer space. Can you imagine that? It really shakes me up!

Lest we forget . . . The Apollo 11 mission of 1969 . . . Three American astronauts aboard the command ship, \"Columbia,\" became the first men in history to venture from the Earth to the Moon. And on July 20, while Columbia remained in orbit above the moon, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin boarded the attached landing module, \"Eagle,\" separated from the command module and descended to the surface of the Moon. Armstrong was the first to step on the Moon, followed by Aldrin. Michael Collins remained in space with the command ship.

That historical event happened 46 years ago . . . How many Americans today remember or even understand the Glory and importance of it? . . . How many Americans even know about it?","Belter.18fe3a6a-845c-4fff-a9bd-937bc67a35b7.jpg","\\artwork\\Belter.18fe3a6a-845c-4fff-a9bd-937bc67a35b7.jpg",168,"Light On the Sound - TP","166. LIGHT ON THE SOUND 2 - A black ink and black and gray color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. Here are two separate drawings that were used as a double page spread and title page for the story, \"Light On the Sound,\" by Somtow Sucharitkul, in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Aug.1980.

This issue of Asimov's magazine was the last one that contained my artwork. At first I thought that my dis-cordant phone conversation with the art editor, involving the colors on my cover painting was the reason I stopped getting assignments, but I later found out that another company had purchased the magazine and they hired new editors to run the ship. So, I assume that the new editors had other artists in mind to do the illustrations","181. Light On the Sound.bcd65ae4-8513-4c84-a2e9-f0a49a34654a.jpg","\\artwork\\181. Light On the Sound.bcd65ae4-8513-4c84-a2e9-f0a49a34654a.jpg",167,"Light On the Sound","165. LIGHT ON THE SOUND - An acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 size canvas board. It appears on the cover of, \"Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Aug.1980\".

Some of the things I have to consider when designing a magazine cover is the size and placement of the magazine's title, and any story titles, author's names, and any blurbs that may be placed over my painting. I am free to use whatever colors I want, it's up to the art editor to select the colors for all the lettering that will be overlaid on my painting.

Shortly after I sent this painting to the publisher I received a phone call from the art editor. He said he was going to send the painting back to me, he had a color in mind for the magazine title that would not match well with the colors at the top of my painting. He asked if I minded changing the sky color to a dark bluish hue . . .

I composed myself, and as politely as I could manage, I told him that his request was unreasonable. I asked him, \"which makes more sense to you;
that you go through the trouble, expense, and loss of time to mail the painting back to me, making me spend an entire day re-painting the sky and mailing it back to you, OR, that you take just a minute or two to select another color for the lettering, which does not involve any work or expense on anyone's part, and no loss of time?

He paused, then answered, \"OK, I'll select another color, this time. Next time you use the colors I want, I'm the art editor, OK?\" And I responded with, \"Of course!, just let me know what colors you want before I start the painting, OK?\" And he said, \"of course!\" And I said \"OK!\" and he said \"OK!\" And that was how the phone call ended, and that was how my association with this magazine ended.","Plate 1.99f69aba-775d-44d9-8a99-d69dbe8781b5.jpg","\\artwork\\Plate 1.99f69aba-775d-44d9-8a99-d69dbe8781b5.jpg",166,"Gilden-Fire Frontispiece","164. GILDEN-FIRE: Frontispiece - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears as the frontispiece in the book, \"GILDEN-FIRE,\" by Stephen R. Donaldson, published by Underwood Miller in 1981.

This incomplete short story is actually a \"segment\" edited out of Donaldson's epic novel \"The Illearth War,\" because, in the editor's judgement, it had little to do with the goings on in his fantasy story. Donaldson, like Stephen King and many other fantasy authors who write seemingly unending epics have a tendecy to over-write.

Publishers like to take advantage of an author's popularity because their fans buy everything they write. So why let this deleted part go to waste, here it is in an illustrated (by yours truly) limited hard-cover edition, signed and numbered just for Donaldson's fans.","164.Gilden-Fire-Frontis.c2278406-97ac-42b0-bd83-6a6b4d9b1281.jpg","\\artwork\\164.Gilden-Fire-Frontis.c2278406-97ac-42b0-bd83-6a6b4d9b1281.jpg",165,"Encounter","163. ENCOUNTER - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. It illustrates the story, \"Encounter,\" that appears in the paperback, \"Destinies No.3.\"

When I was in the preliminary pencil stage of this drawing and had rendered most of it, I thought it needed something more. I ended up putting in those globes ala Virgil Finlay, who had the habit of filling up many of his drawings with bubbles and/or sparkles. The fact is that my favorite artists; Finlay, Cartier, Lawrence, Raymond, (Flash Gordon) and many others, are inside me and it's a struggle to keep them from popping up and interfering with my artwork. But that's OK, as long as they don't overdo it.","166. Dest-3-Encounter-Pg200.5e16be04-3dda-435a-a3fb-36003e15a87f.jpg","\\artwork\\166. Dest-3-Encounter-Pg200.5e16be04-3dda-435a-a3fb-36003e15a87f.jpg",164,"The Storm King","162. THE STORM KING - A black ink and gray color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It is a double page drawing for the story titled, \"The Storm King,\" by Joan D. Vinge, in the April, 1980 issue of, \"Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine\".

While drawing this picture I thought about all the science fiction magazine titles of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. They are all gone now, a wonderful part of the nostalgic past. I turned around in my swivel chair to look at my collection of those old pulps and realized how fortunate I was to own so many of them . . .

And how unfortunate that here, in 1980, I was illustrating stories for the the few SF magazines that were still being published, but were destined to die soon for lack of sales; \"If Worlds of SF,\" \"Galaxy,\" \"Amazing,\" \"Fantastic\". . .

I wondered, how much longer could I survive as an illustrator . . .

And then the telephone rang. I picked it up and heard a woman say, \"Hi, my name is Peggy Cooper, I'm an editor at TSR. Do you have time to do some illustrations for me? And I said \" yes,\" and she said \"good,\" and for the next ten years Peggy sent me high paying assignments that removed any worries I had about surviving.

Somehow, when I needed them, miracles came to me.","120. The Storm King.56f80cf3-ae8b-49f2-85c0-50a45e91d774.jpg","\\artwork\\120. The Storm King.56f80cf3-ae8b-49f2-85c0-50a45e91d774.jpg",163,"The Civil War","161. THE CIVIL WAR - An acrylic painting on a 14 x 18 size canvas board, started in 2006.

I am working on this painting in my spare time. It's in a tonal stage, mostly in earth colors and I'm just about ready to add other subtle colors throughout. To render my Civil War scene accurately I am relying on Steven Brizek, my nephew, who is an expert on the Civil War, and who has taken part in Civil War re-enactments.

Several years before I began this painting Steven and I stood on the battlefield at Gettysburg. I closed my eyes and imagined it was July 2, 1863, I was among the rebel ranks moving across the open field toward Little Round Top where Union soldiers held the high ground. In my mind I heard the loud popping of thousands of rifles, bullets whizzing by, some thudding into soldiers next to me, the booming cannon fire, the smell of gun smoke, the yelling and the screaming of those charging and those falling. One soldier in front of me was hit and fell back down against my legs, and I opened my eyes to look down at him, and all was gone, all was quiet. It was a beautiful sunny summer afternoon, and my nephew was telling me, \"so it was imperative for the Union troops to take Little Round Top before Lee could get there with his Rebel army\".

It is now 2014 and I'm having difficulty finding time to finish this painting. The truth is, my intention to be accurate about uniform and weapon details and colors has become an obstacle I'm finding hard to deal with, it is something I rarely had to do as a science fiction illustrator. Historical artwork requires research to a much greater degree than does science fiction or fantasy artwork, which is mostly a product of the artist's imagination. My respect for the artists who painted \"The Civil War\" in the past, and those who do so today has grown immensely, it takes a high measure of devotion and integrity to be faithful to the profession of historical painter.","Civil War Painting-tone.43f2c8f0-d257-4900-bd2d-9484b354b899.jpg","\\artwork\\Civil War Painting-tone.43f2c8f0-d257-4900-bd2d-9484b354b899.jpg",162,"Full Moon","160. FULL MOON - A computer painting, circa 2007. It appears here for the first time.

In 2004, John Betancourt, the editor of Wildside Press was planning to publish a uniform set of ten books written by Robert E. Howard, sub-titled, \"The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard\". They were loosely scheduled to appear one at a time over the coming years. I submitted pictures to him in groups of three, periodically, for a total of fifteen, from which he eventually selected the ten he needed.

This werewolf picture is one of those 15 that the editor did not select. I used my computer to create this picture by borrowing the \"wolfman\" from a painting I did for the book, \"The Devil's Auction\". I also borrowed the woman from a B&W drawing I did for a story, \"Misericorde,\" that originally appeared in the magazine, \"Sorcerer's Apprentice\". I added color to her for this computer painting.

The reason why I \"borrowed\" from artwork that I had done in the past, (I did it for the entire series), was that the editor was in a hurry to get started on the project and he had a very low budget to pay for the ten paintings. After some thought I told him I would use my computer to clip and paste parts from artwork that I had done in the past, and do whatever else was needed to make them appear as new paintings. He said OK, so I went ahead and did the job. It took me an average of 10 hours to do each \"new\" painting.","Full Moon.f4c45223-4119-45dd-a334-5d2c128061f4.jpg","\\artwork\\Full Moon.f4c45223-4119-45dd-a334-5d2c128061f4.jpg",161,"The Cabin","159. THE CABIN - An acrylic painting on a 12 x 16 size poster board. circa 2000. It was a private commission.

In 1965, when I was 35 years old I decided to learn how to paint. There was a lot to learn about \"color,\" and the first thing I learned was; \"when the source of light in your painting is the sky, the colors in your sky must be reflected on the objects you are painting because it is those sky colors that are revealing everything in your picture\". If you look closely at my painting you will see where I applied those lessons.","159. The Cabin.f97f7383-2479-4fec-a728-878c1c598fb3.jpg","\\artwork\\159. The Cabin.f97f7383-2479-4fec-a728-878c1c598fb3.jpg",160,"The Sentry","158. THE SENTRY - A spare-time Computer painting. It appears here for the first time. A few years ago I did a half-tone drawing that appeared in a convention program book. It also appears now in my Stephen E. Fabian Collection, No.6, as Plate 11. What you see here is my new computer modified color version of that drawing.

In my comments for picture number 105 I referred to the only painting of mine that was ever rejected by an editor/publisher. I'm going to write about it here. It was really, the only bad episode I ever had in my dealings with a professional publisher. It was truly embarrassing.

It came about in the New York office of Donald Wollheim, owner and editor of DAW books. His wife Elsie was also present. I was there because I had accepted a commission from Mr. Wollheim to do the cover painting for a forthcoming DAW paperback, \"The Beasts of Gor,\" by John Norman. I was asked to include a girl and a beast in the painting. Elsie said to me, \"Please, Steve, put a pretty face on the girl\". So I went home and worked at that painting doing my best to put a \"pretty face\" on the girl.

When I delivered the painting about ten days later, Elsie looked at it and went into an emotional fit, she could not stand looking at such an ugly thing. I took the painting home, reworked the face and brought it back to Mr Wollheim. This time Elsie was not there and Donald accepted the painting. But, it was not used, it was mailed back to me with a check and a note attached to it from Mr. Wollheim which read, \"Sorry, I think the painting is OK, but Elsie just hates the face on the girl, won't let me use it!\"

So there you are . . . I am still amazed at Mrs. Wollheim's emotional tirade. Surely, wouldn't a professional and polite, \"Sorry, Steve, I just don't like it,\" suffice?","158. The Sentry.c440c7f5-6e28-4dba-8029-6a5d1ffb0a9b.jpg","\\artwork\\158. The Sentry.c440c7f5-6e28-4dba-8029-6a5d1ffb0a9b.jpg",159,"Carnifex Mardi Gras 7","157. CARNIFEX MARDI GRAS 7 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"CARNIFEX MARDI GRAS,\" by John F. Carr, published by Pequod Press in 1982.

\"Serendipity - The finding of valuable or agreeable things not sought for\". That is my dictionary's definition of the word. But I object to the words, \"not sought for\".

The preliminary thinking and planning that I do for a picture is, of course, based on the story I am illustrating. But it is all effected by all the information I have that is stored in my mental bank since the day I was born, as well as all the experiences I've had in this world.

So, while I may have a well defined plan before I start on a picture, I am always hoping that as I proceed to sketch or paint, that some accidental stoke or unintended mixture of colors will lead me to continue on in a direction I had not planned on, a direction that will result in a picture that is better than what I had planned on.

I believe that serendipity often lifts craftsmanship to the level of \"art\". It's what inspires an artist to be more creative, to raise his work to a higher level, knowing that his hand can move at times in a way that is magical. It is a great joy to experience.

Perhaps serendipity may \"not be sought for,\" but it is certainly \"hoped\" for.","157. Carnifex Mardi Gras 7.e9a3cdf7-71ad-40b7-b47f-b6a7d58c1205.jpg","\\artwork\\157. Carnifex Mardi Gras 7.e9a3cdf7-71ad-40b7-b47f-b6a7d58c1205.jpg",158,"Carnifex Mardi Gras 6","156. CARNIFEX MARDI GRAS 6 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"CARNIFEX MARDI GRAS,\" by John F. Carr, published by Pequod Press in 1982.

When I drew this picture my plan was to make the viewer (you) look at the girl first, then at the instrument panels across the top, then at the monitor and the chair behind her. The curved shape of the chair is supposed to make your eyes go back to the girl.

Did my plan work? The chair is pointing back to the girl's veiled face, did your eyes follow it there?

The bottom of the panels on the left side of the drawing are angled upward, back to the girl, and the bottom of the panels on the right side of the picture also curve back to the girl.

The drawing was designed so that no matter where your eyes wander in the picture, lines and shapes are there to make your eyes go back to the girl.

I don't know if my designs really worked on you, but I thought I would let you know that some artists use designs in their compositions intended to direct your eyes to where they want you to focus your attention.","156. Carnifex Mardi Gras 6.08be40d3-9e4c-46b7-9bdb-19f888eeafab.jpg","\\artwork\\156. Carnifex Mardi Gras 6.08be40d3-9e4c-46b7-9bdb-19f888eeafab.jpg",157,"Carnifex Mardi Gras 5","155. CARNIFEX MARDI GRAS 5 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"CARNIFEX MARDI GRAS,\" by John F. Carr, published by Pequod Press in 1982.

When it comes to designing space ships or other kinds of futuristic machinery, most science fiction illustrators seem to borrow heavily from their predecessors. In the early days of science fiction magazines, most spaceships seemed to be big balls with portholes, or big cigars with fins. But when Chesley Bonestell came along in the 1950s with his sectional tank-ball-strut designed spaceships, similar designs began to show up all over the place in the artwork of other SF artists. And when John Berkey came along in the 1990s with his \"Fish\" body spaceships divided into intricate structures, other artists began using similar designs for their spaceships.

It is the natural order of progress, each generation stands on the shoulders of previous ones. And from each new generation some men arise to contribute new ideas, new ways of doing things. But after awhile, when generation after generation of SF artists have manipulated geometric shapes in their own unique way, it becomes more and more difficult for an illustrator today, to come up with a shape for a spaceship that has not already been done. And yet, periodically, it happens.

The same goes with drawing any kind of futuristic machinery. In this drawing I tried to come up with designs that would not look familiar to the reader.","155. Carnifex Mardi Gras 5.31ee0ed8-d27c-4a3c-8232-59842561fb1b.jpg","\\artwork\\155. Carnifex Mardi Gras 5.31ee0ed8-d27c-4a3c-8232-59842561fb1b.jpg",156,"Carnifex Mardi Gras 4","154. CARNIFEX MARDI GRAS 4 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"CARNIFEX MARDI GRAS,\" by John F. Carr, published by Pequod Press in 1982.

So here again, I used \"patterns\" to jazz up a drawing; the grillwork in the background, the carvings on the fancy lamp post, the designs on the woman's gown at the right side of the drawing.

In any project that includes multiple drawings, each drawing needs to be unified in some way with the others; by style, by layout, by technique, or even by the design of a common border. The amount of embellishment I would do on a drawing depended on how many drawings were required and how much time I had to do them.","154. Carnifex Mardi Gras 4.944ed0c9-20b4-40d3-9922-41d1d79d57b6.jpg","\\artwork\\154. Carnifex Mardi Gras 4.944ed0c9-20b4-40d3-9922-41d1d79d57b6.jpg",155,"Carnifex Mardi Gras 3","153. CARNIFEX MARDI GRAS 3 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"CARNIFEX MARDI GRAS,\" by John F. Carr, published by Pequod Press in 1982

I was always challenging myself to add something extra to an illustration to make it visually more interesting. I often drew patterns or unique objects somewhere in the composition if I felt free to do so, it depended on the story.

Some authors are very descriptive with their characters and backgrounds making it easier for me to visualize a scene I intend to illustrate. But I once lay down in bed to read the manuscript of a paperback novel for which I was to do a cover painting, I had pencil at hand to underline character descriptions and background details, and to brackett scenes that I would consider painting for the cover.

As I continued to read, the pencil lay still, and for page after page the pencil remained beside me, the pages unmarked. I began to get annoyed, and somewhat worried! And for crying out loud, when I finished reading the novel I had not made a single mark on any page of that manuscript!!! In the entire novel there had been no descriptions of anyone in that story, and not even one exciting scene that caught my attention!

I had to re-read the novel to find \"something\" to paint, and I finally saw a reference to the Oswald assassination of President Kennedy.
It had little to do with the story, but that's what I painted because I thought the \"incident\" was an eye-catcher, would attract readers to buy the book. Which is what my job is all about.","153. Carnifex Mardi Gras 3.a0fc967d-0f2e-4c07-8cf0-2d3218dfdba7.jpg","\\artwork\\153. Carnifex Mardi Gras 3.a0fc967d-0f2e-4c07-8cf0-2d3218dfdba7.jpg",154,"Carnifex Mardi Gras 2","152. CARNIFEX MARDI GRAS 2 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in, \"CARNIFEX MARDI GRAS,\" by John F. Carr, published by Pequod Press in 1982.

A work of art can be evaluated and appreciated on two levels; unique conception, and extraordinary craftsmanship.

Of the two elements, perhaps the most important one is the \"unique concept,\" the inspired idea that comes from an artist's unique imagination. Technique, style and artistic virtuosity are important, they are the tools by which the new concept is made real for us to see. It is the unique concept however, that drives us to bigger and better things.

In Science Fiction the \"new concept\" in a story is the whole point of it's existence, it advances us both intellectually and in spirit, making us better. The wonderful craftsmanship of some artists can stand alone and be appreciated regardless of concept, but there is no doubt in my mind that I was attracted to the SF field because of both; the new concepts I read about and the unusual artwork that was so inspiring. They brought a great deal of pleasure to my life.","152. Carnifex Mardi Gras 2.93b25efc-54db-4f90-aca5-85db039e8799.jpg","\\artwork\\152. Carnifex Mardi Gras 2.93b25efc-54db-4f90-aca5-85db039e8799.jpg",153,"Weirdbook 16","

Ink and black pencil on 11 x 14 coquille board. When I was drawing this picture of Charon, the ferryman to the herafter, I really got mad. Somehow I was given the gift of Life, (well, I know, Mom and Dad did it) but the damned thing has a catch to it, it has a short time span! What kind of gift is that? I'm getting old fast and the older I get the faster time goes! And now all those thousands of things I want to do I'll never be able to do, so I'm really mad! I feel like Rutger Hauer, the android in the movie \"

","151. Weirdbook-16.1dc2dd12-9cc1-4b04-9b48-32698915ef8d.jpg","\\artwork\\151. Weirdbook-16.1dc2dd12-9cc1-4b04-9b48-32698915ef8d.jpg",152,"Carnifex Mardi Gras 1","151. CARNIFEX MARDI GRAS 1 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears on the dust jacket, and as a frontispiece opposite the title page in, \"CARNIFEX MARDI GRAS,\" by John F. Carr, published by Pequod Press in 1982.

Sometimes an author can find no book company willing to publish his novel and ends up financing the publishing of his book, himself. It's referred to as a \"vanity\" press book.

\"Carnifex Mardi Gras\" is one of those \"vanity\" books. Carr's brother came up with the funds to get the novel published. They used, \"Pequod Press\" for their publishing imprint. In 2013 Pequod Press also published a sequel to this novel, \"A Certain Flair for Death,\" which I also illustrated.

Vanity press books are not necessarily bad books just because they were rejected by publishers, lots of great books were rejected many times before finally seeing print; Frank Herbert's famous DUNE novel was rejected by 23 publishers before he eventually sold it for a few bucks to Chilton, a small publisher of business magazines and car manuals. It is now, of course, a classic of Science Fiction, and is considered to be the most profitable SF book ever published.

And the Harry Potter books? Poor author J.K. Rowling's first Potter novel was rejected by 12 publishers before one finally published it because his eight year old daughter read the first chapter and insisted her father publish it. And now the once poor J.K. Rowling is richer than the Queen of England and can afford to buy Buckingham Palace. I wonder at those publishers who rejected books that later turned out to make millions, were they fired? Did they resign and go on to do things they were more suited for? Or are they still at work rejecting more future million dollar classics?","Carnifex Mardi Gras.c7efb872-2326-48b2-9541-ceb95b9e93c3.jpg","\\artwork\\Carnifex Mardi Gras.c7efb872-2326-48b2-9541-ceb95b9e93c3.jpg",151,"Eye of Cat","150. EYE OF CAT - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears as the frontispiece opposite the title page in, \"EYE OF CAT,\" by Roger Zelazny, published in 1982 by Underwood-Miller.

Although my original drawing is in gray tones I decided to present it here in the red tones as it was printed in the book.

Roger Zelazny the writer, had three heads; one of them wrote richly textured, complex tales like, \"Lord of Light'\" based on Hindu mythology. Another head wrote science fiction action stories like, \"Damnation Alley. And his third head wrote humorous tales like, \"Doorways in the Sand,\" which is a dim-wit espionage story involving zany aliens.

You had to like at least one of his heads.","150. Eye of Cat.f54c160d-abe7-4a2f-a1b5-7ac3dfcd1f73.jpg","\\artwork\\150. Eye of Cat.f54c160d-abe7-4a2f-a1b5-7ac3dfcd1f73.jpg",150,"The Green Pearl - BC","148. THE GREEN PEARL - BC - An acrylic painting on a 14 x 20 size canvas board. It was once the left half of a horizontal painting used as a wraparound dust jacket for, \"THE GREEN PEARL,\" by Jack Vance. (see item 147)

Jack Vance is a unique science fiction writer who has won two Hugo Awards; one for, \"The Dragon Masters,\" and the other for, \"The Last Castle\". I believe they were both published in Galaxy magazine. And yet, just as I think of Ray Bradbury not being just another SF writer, neither do I think of Jack Vance that way. Vance's writing style is filled with unusual words and colorful phrases that reveal an elegance and sophistication, often with touches of humor, that you don't see in most other SF writers.

Reading Vance, like reading Bradbury, is not the same experience that you get from reading other SF writers, their stories take you to another special level of reading pleasure and enjoyment. If you read Vance's, \"Dying Earth\" stories I think you will see what I mean.","148. The Green Pearl-BC.6ceb2861-ebc2-4c8c-b6aa-037a15b3d18c.jpg","\\artwork\\148. The Green Pearl-BC.6ceb2861-ebc2-4c8c-b6aa-037a15b3d18c.jpg",149,"The Green Pearl - FC","147. THE GREEN PEARL - FC - An acrylic painting on a 14 x 20 size canvas board. It appears on the front of the dust jacket for, \"THE GREEN PEARL\" by Jack Vance, published by Underwood-Miller in 1985.

Originally, the painting was a 28 x 20 horizotal layout designed as a wraparound DJ. What you see here is only the right half of the painting which shows up on the front of the DJ. The left half of the painting became the back of the DJ, which you can see in item 148.

This right half side of the painting is a completely different scene from that of the left half. When the publisher returned the painting to me I cut it in half to make two paintings. It is the only time I did that to an original painting.","2.4p - The Green Pearl.a2c10187-a7bd-41f0-acfa-4f5d130f6487.jpg","\\artwork\\2.4p - The Green Pearl.a2c10187-a7bd-41f0-acfa-4f5d130f6487.jpg",148,"The House of the Wolf - P15","146. THE HOUSE OF THE WOLF: P15 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. This drawing combines two chapter heading icons from the book, \"THE HOUSE OF THE WOLF,\" by Basil Copper; \"Death Strikes Again\" and \"The Watcher in the Shadow\".

Please remember that the drawings of \"The House of the Wolf\" that I show here in my website are not the ones that appear in the book. For these drawings I have combined parts of the drawings that appear in the book, these are montage previews of the contents in the book.","146. House of the Wolf-P15.14663d71-532c-4d30-b922-e47771b241a8.jpg","\\artwork\\146. House of the Wolf-P15.14663d71-532c-4d30-b922-e47771b241a8.jpg",147,"The House of the Wolf - P13","145. THE HOUSE OF THE WOLF: P13 A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. This drawing combines two chapter heading icons from the book, \"THE HOUSE OF THE WOLF,\" by Basil Copper; \"Fear in the Night\" and \"Nadia\".

An illustrator is obligated not to reveal in the artwork any surprises or secrets in the story, it spoils the reading experience. However, in this case the \"werewolf\" is no secret, it's given away in the title of the book. My concern when I was creating each of the 42 chapter icons, was not to reveal which of the guests in the castle was the werewolf.

If you don't mind, I will once again refer to William Faulkner's words about \"writers\" -

\"I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among the creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance. The writer's duty is to write about these things. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past. The poet's voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.\"- ","145. House of the Wolf-P13.f7c53b6c-57e2-40d9-82be-6714fae607e5.jpg","\\artwork\\145. House of the Wolf-P13.f7c53b6c-57e2-40d9-82be-6714fae607e5.jpg",146,"THE HOUSE OF THE WOLF - P8","144. THE HOUSE OF THE WOLF: P8 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. This drawing combines two chapter heading icons from the book, \"THE HOUSE OF THE WOLF'\" by Basil Copper; \"Fact or Fiction?\" and \"Selecting a Rifle\".

The first record in history, of a \"werewolf\" appears during the middle ages, in Germany, in 1591. Most people of that time and place lived in small towns near wooded areas. They were ignorant and filled with superstition. In the small town of BedBurg, villagers began to be killed in monstrous ways, their half-eaten body parts found scattered near the woods.

For some time there was a constant fear of going outdoors as more such bodies were found every day, until a small group of villagers gathered enough courage to go out with crude weapons and their dogs, to hunt down who or whatever was committing the horrors.

They caught him! And it turned out to be one of their own, a villager named, Peter Stubbe. This monstrous man would strap a wolf's head over his own, tie pieces of wolf pelt to his body, and go out to lure villagers into the woods with his voice, where he did his unspeakable acts.

But the ignorant and superstitious people began to twist what they heard about the murders when they retold the tale to others. And it didn't take long before Peter Stubbe's name was not even mentioned. Instead, someone refered to the monster-killer as \"werewolf,\" and it stuck! So that's where the werewolf myth began.","144. House of the Wolf-P8.8df29055-5f15-41c9-8cf3-d26453389f95.jpg","\\artwork\\144. House of the Wolf-P8.8df29055-5f15-41c9-8cf3-d26453389f95.jpg",145,"The House of the Wolf - P12","143. THE HOUSE OF THE WOLF - F: P12 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. This drawing combines the icons of two chapter headings from the book, \"THE HOUSE OF THE WOLF\", by Basil Copper; \"A Toast to the Emperor,\" and \"Wolf or Werewolf\"?

Creating the right atmosphere in these icon drawings was essential, the people had to look European, they had to appear natural to that time and place. I spent a lot of time rough-sketching them all before I settled on the ones you see in this series.

European people. So many of them came to America in hope of a better life that eventually \"they\" made America what it was up to the middle 1900s. I went to a fellow worker's wedding many years ago, his parents and the parents of his bride came from a small country in Europe, I think it was Rumania, and it seemed like everyone at the wedding was from there. I felt out of place, a young American lad, a stranger among foreigners.

But at the reception, when toasts were being made, a small old woman stood up when her turn came, I think she was my friend's grandmother. She placed her drink down slowly, on the table, and began by admitting her age, 92, and then she talked about how she and her young husband came to America so very long ago, hoping he could find a job so they could live a decent life. And he did, and life for them has been good here, and for the children they raised, and for their grandchildren. Here, in America.

And I watched as this old woman reached down to raise her glass and said, \"So let us toast, not only to the bride and groom, but to the country that makes everything possible. Please stand and join me in singing, \"God Bless America\".

And as the guests all stood up and sang, I no longer felt like a stranger there, that old woman was not a \"foreigner,\" she was as American as I, and so were they all.","143. House of the Wolf-P12.a26fa397-3e53-4b1d-810b-50154d2d6fd2.jpg","\\artwork\\143. House of the Wolf-P12.a26fa397-3e53-4b1d-810b-50154d2d6fd2.jpg",144,"The House of the Wolf - P2","142. THE HOUSE OF THE WOLF: P2 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. This icon drawing is the \"Prologue\" heading in the book, \"THE HOUSE OF THE WOLF,\" by Basil Copper.

The novel was a good read even though it has a plot common in the mystery field; a small group of people are gathered in one isolated place, and one of them starts murdering the others, one at a time. The mystery is, which one of them is the killer?

In this book the place is an old European castle, and the people who were invited to spend the weekend there are being murdered one at a time by one of the guests, a killer who is also a werewolf!

Actually, this thing could have been a 1940's movie! Can't you see it? With guests starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello? And Lon Chaney Jr., Pasty Kelly, Mary Beth Hughes. And Fay Bainter, Beulah Bondi, maybe Victor Jory and C. Aubrey Smith? And of course, Jack Norton the actor who played a rubbery legged drunk in every movie he ever made!

It was a very good book, it diverted my attention from the lousy news of the day and gave me a few hours of reading pleasure. And it was fun to illustrate.","142. House of the Wolf-P2.58888b80-a6c7-491e-8ac1-7997815c0a95.jpg","\\artwork\\142. House of the Wolf-P2.58888b80-a6c7-491e-8ac1-7997815c0a95.jpg",143,"The House of the Wolf - Icon","141. THE HOUSE OF THE WOLF - Icon - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. This icon drawing appears on the title page of the book, \"THE HOUSE OF THE WOLF,\" by Basil Copper.

\"Icons,\" also called \"spot\" drawings, usually appear somewhere in a book as small decorations. I usually draw them small, typically 3 x 5 inches, but for this book I made all 42 chapter icons much larger, about 6 x 9 inches. I explain why in my remarks for drawing No.140.

I doubt that many illustrators in the past, or even nowadays, think about their drawings the way I did, I always had the science fiction and fantasy fans in mind, those who really appreciate art and often buy original artwork from their favorite illustrators. The greatest compliment you can pay an artist is to buy his artwork and hang it on a wall in your home. So, even though publication requirements were often detrimental to a pictures composition, I tried to make my drawing large enough to satisfy a viewer, and designed it to look good in a frame, just in case someone bought it.","141. House of the Wolf-icon.c923ffc6-3def-445f-a1d4-d92395b4b8eb.jpg","\\artwork\\141. House of the Wolf-icon.c923ffc6-3def-445f-a1d4-d92395b4b8eb.jpg",142,"The House of the Wolf","140. THE HOUSE OF THE WOLF - An acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 size canvas board. It is the dust jacket
painting for, \"THE HOUSE OF THE WOLF,\" by Basil Copper, published by Arkham House in 1983. It has recently been reprinted on the DJ of Copper's new book, \"DARKNESS, MIST & SHADOW, Volume One, published by PS publications in 2010.

Before I received the contract for this Arkham House book I had discussed the assignment briefly on the phone with editor, Jim Turner, he agreed to give me a free hand with the interior art, I could do whatever I wanted. So, when I got the contract to do the book, obviously it was not specific as to how many drawings I was to do, or what sizes they had to be. But, the total payment for interior art was equivalent to the cost of two full page drawings. Typically, I would have done a frontispiece drawing to face the title page, and a full page drawing to fit somewhere inside the book.

But it didn't turn out that way. Instead, I ended up doing a half-page drawing for each chapter, and the book had 42 chapters! And, I also added a spot drawing! Why did I do so many drawings when I only had to do two? Well, the fact is, every job provides me with 2 income payments; the first of course comes from the publisher who sends me the job. The second comes from someone who buys the original art after it has been published. So, any time I can add some extra artwork to an assignment, even though the publisher isn't paying for it, my income goes up from the sale of the original art. In this case I had 43 drawings to sell instead of just two. This works with book publishers when they are able to add some pages to the book to accommodate my extra artwork. However, this \"extra\" stuff does not work for magazines because the editor works with a limited number of pages and once his layout is done there is no room for extra material.","House of the Wolf.f1ddfff1-ccbc-43e0-9cc4-d7026cc504b8.jpg","\\artwork\\House of the Wolf.f1ddfff1-ccbc-43e0-9cc4-d7026cc504b8.jpg",141,"Evening Star","139. EVENING STAR - An acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 size canvas board. It was a private commission.

I was asked by an art collector to paint a fictional exotic queen from ancient times, and once again I turned to the novels of H. Rider Haggard for inspiration. Haggard wrote his ancient mysteries in the late 1800s, when there were still large, unexplored areas on Earth, and his novels reflect that \"mystery of the unknown\" .

One of Haggard's famous fictional \"queens\" was \"SHE,\" (Ayesha) who had the secret of eternal life. He wrote four novels about Ayesha, also known as \"She who must be obeyed\"; They were;

\"She,\"
\"Ayesha, the Return of She,\"
\"She and Allan,\"
\"Wisdom's Daughter\". (about Ayesha's early life)","139. Evening Star.12b4ff42-7f08-4701-b457-6c6acfbd237b.jpg","\\artwork\\139. Evening Star.12b4ff42-7f08-4701-b457-6c6acfbd237b.jpg",140,"Morning Star","138. MORNING STAR - An acrylic painting on an 18 x 24 size canvas board. It was a spare-time painting circa 1985.

Artists, like writers, are often asked, \"Where do you get your ideas from?\" Obviously when I'm illustrating a story, the ideas come from the author. Otherwise, there is no specific source. In this case I was inspired to paint \"Morning Star\" after reading H. Rider Haggard's novel, \"Ayesha, the Return of She\".

I have about a thousand books in my library, mostly science fiction and fantasy. I've probably read about a thousand more that I discarded over time because my bookshelves are full, so when I buy a new one, an old one has to leave.

Every book collector I know has the same problem; finding a place for books he continues to buy. And it doesn't help to buy a bigger house with more rooms. There is a law in physics, \"nature abhors a vacuum\", that seems to also apply to book collectors; whatever space you aquire, books will flow in rapidly and fill it up!","3.6p - Morning Star.14aab1a5-b3ea-4c32-89ff-31c29c077e38.jpg","\\artwork\\3.6p - Morning Star.14aab1a5-b3ea-4c32-89ff-31c29c077e38.jpg",139,"Shudder Stories No.1","137. SHUDDER STORIES No.1 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board.

This booklet was edited and published by Robert Price during the early 1980s, using his \"Cryptic Publications\" imprint. He came to my home occassionally to talk about the artwork he wanted me to do for his fanzine booklets. Robert was a minister but I never learned any details about his congregation or where his church was located. He was always dressed in casual clothes when he came and our talks always went directly to the world of science fiction, fantasy, and the Lovecraft branch of literature. Price is primarily a horror fiction fan, he is in fact a scholar of the genre.","137. Shudder Stories1.17b30395-1931-4dd6-a541-11468c394a69.jpg","\\artwork\\137. Shudder Stories1.17b30395-1931-4dd6-a541-11468c394a69.jpg",138,"Risque Stories No.4","136. RISQUE STORIES No.4 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board.

This booklet was edited and produced by Robert Price in the early 1980s under his \"Cryptic Publications\" imprint. Reverand Price liked to \"spoof\" the pulp magazines published during the 1940s and 50s with story titles on their covers like the one you see on this cover, \"Love-Slaves of the Sandanista Torture Squad\".

I never read any of those stories, but Price told me they were never as salacious as the titles implied, that they were far less \"risque\" than stories you are liable to read in books today, or the stories you watch on TV or see in the movies nowadays.

* * *

No one would consider these kinds of stories to be great literature, but most people don't know what great literature is, so here is William Faulkner to tell us;

\"Great literature - the kind you cannot afford to miss - speaks
to problems of the spirit, the \"human heart in conflict with
itself,\" and nothing less. It lifts our eyes to the virtues we
possess and the nobility we would acquire, and helps us to prevail.\"

How odd, it seems to me that those are the kinds of stories I read in
the many science fiction magazines I bought.","136. Risque Stories 4.86f965ee-000c-42b7-834d-fd7cc9f3c9e3.jpg","\\artwork\\136. Risque Stories 4.86f965ee-000c-42b7-834d-fd7cc9f3c9e3.jpg",137,"Risque Stories, No.2","135. RISQUE STORIES No.2 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board.

Before I put this drawing on my website I added the red color with my computer. The drawing includes all the lettering. Between 1976 and 1980 I did a lot of cover drawings for editor-publisher, Robert Price's fanzines. Most of the stories in those issues were written during the 1930s and 1940s. Although some of them were labeled as \"risque\" they would hardly be considered so by today's low moral standards. I don't think we have any, any more . . .

It was fun drawing all those fanzine covers, and the payment that I received for them was more than I received from some of the professional magazines like, Amazing Stories, and Fantastic Stories.

* * *
I often found myself facing new challenges as an illustrator, and when some doubts entered my mind about whether I should do them or not, I went and re-read these lines from Edgar Guest's poem;

\"The things that haven't been done before
May be things worth doing today;
Are you of the flock that follows, or
Are you one that shall lead the way?
Are you one of the timid souls that quail
At the jeers of a doubting crew,
Or dare you, whether you win or fail,
Strike out for a goal that's new?\"","7.2 - Risque Stories 2.103917aa-b82f-4ef8-b9a5-d7cf020c1b90.jpg","\\artwork\\7.2 - Risque Stories 2.103917aa-b82f-4ef8-b9a5-d7cf020c1b90.jpg",136,"Pulse Pounding Adventure Stories No.1","134. PULSE POUNDING ADVENTURE STORIES No. 1 - A black Ink and black pencil drawing on a 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears on the cover of, \"Pulse Pounding Adventure Stories, 1\"

Publisher and editor Robert Price must have had a lot of fun coming up with titles for his \"Cryptic Publications\" fanzines. During the 1980s he probably produced around 100 titles before he stopped doing them. They were priced from $3 to $4.50 each, with print runs of usually 500 copies per issue. They show up nowadays on eBay with winning bids as high as $50 to $150 or more.

Bob not only paid me for the cover art, he also gave me 5 complimentary copies of each title, and I just gave them away to my friends. So let's see, if I had held onto those free copies I would now have over 100 issues, and if I put them all on eBay with a starting bid of about $50 each. . . Ouch!

I should have known better! When I was a kid I also gave away, or traded, my comic books; the first issues of Action Comics, Batman, Superman, I had them all! What I did not have at that age was the smarts to know that someday they would all be worth a fortune!

Do you know how depressed I am about this? Not only did I have all those early comic books, I also had dozens of the very first baseball trading cards produced in the 1920s and 1930s; Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth, on and on, all worth a lot of money today. I even had a Pete Gray baseball card. Do you know who \"Pete Gray\" is? He was a one-armed baseball player who made it to the Major Leagues in 1945. He played for the St. Louis Browns. My oh my, the wonderful things I owned as a kid, and just gave away . . . - ","Pulse Pounding Adventure Stories, No.1.40bba39b-f8df-4653-a1ba-0f36bd5a7f89.jpg","\\artwork\\Pulse Pounding Adventure Stories, No.1.40bba39b-f8df-4653-a1ba-0f36bd5a7f89.jpg",135,"Bellerophon","133. BELLEROPHON - An acrylic painting on a 18 x 22 size canvas board, circa 1995. It was a private commission based on a black and white drawing that I did for a story, \"Bellerophon\" that appeared in the paperback, \"Destinies, Vol.2, No.2\".

Sometimes, when I can't seem to decide on the color scheme for a painting I just do it in monotone because after it's finished it's easy to add colors. I did this painting using just raw sienna, burnt umber, and white acrylic paint.

When I was finished with the monotone stage I stepped back to look at it and to think about what colors to apply, but after a few minutes I decided it didn't need any more colors. And when I sat back down to sharpen an edge or two, I ended up adding just a tiny bit of delicate pink color to the girl's robe.","Bellerophon.eeacf378-fc31-469c-a09d-a34a946d5946.jpg","\\artwork\\Bellerophon.eeacf378-fc31-469c-a09d-a34a946d5946.jpg",134,"Ballerina","132. BALLERINA - An acrylic painting on a 14 x 18 size poster board, circa 1980.

A long time ago I saw a photograph in a magazine that showed a group of ballet dancers on stage. It was break time at an audition for a forthcoming ballet show at Lincoln Center in NY. I don't recall the title of the show. Off to one side in the photo was a young girl in her tutu sitting on the stage, resting, no doubt hoping to get a part in the show. In my mind I imagined her being a famous ballerina. Her sitting posture on the stage floor drew my attention, it seemed like a good pose for a painting.

Strange, that I thought about her after so many years. I don't know if that young girl succeeded in getting a part in the show, I don't even know her name. But that young ballet dancer has remained in my memory all these years. I finally decided to do a painting of her, and this is it.","132. Ballerina.98bf0bda-3b6d-4029-a4a0-f835e5761c03.jpg","\\artwork\\132. Ballerina.98bf0bda-3b6d-4029-a4a0-f835e5761c03.jpg",133,"Jupiter Run","131. JUPITER RUN - An acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 size canvas board, circa 2000. It was a spare time painting.

It may seem to you, from all the \"spare-time\" artwork that you see on my website that there were many times when I must have had no jobs on hand, but that was not so. I began my full-time carreer as an illustrator in 1974 when phone calls and letters started coming in regularly, soliciting artwork from me. I used a spare room in my home as a \"studio\" and had a bulletin board on which I pinned up all the assignments as they came in. For the 20 years, until the day I retired, there was never a day when there were less than 4 or 5 assignments pinned up on that board. At one time I remember counting 14 assignments waiting to be done, and worrying whether I could meet all the deadlines.

The spare times came when I was about to start on the next job but had no enthusiasm for any of the assignments pinned up on that board. And, if I was confident that I could take a day or two off and draw or paint something I had in mind, and still get back to those assignments and meet the deadlines, then that's what I did. So, actually, I should not call them \"spare-time\" paintings, I should refer to them as \"time-out\" paintings. They never caused me to miss a deadline.","44. Jupiter Run.118ca5ad-d61e-4623-9fd0-aa90afe8c13e.jpg","\\artwork\\44. Jupiter Run.118ca5ad-d61e-4623-9fd0-aa90afe8c13e.jpg",132,"WOUDMAGIE","130. WOULDMAGIE - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in a paperback book, \"Shangri-La,\" which was published by Meulenhoff, Amsterdam, Netherlands, in 1982. It illustrates the story, \"Woudmagie,\" by Archie Goodwin. Although the book was published in the \"Dutch\" language, the manuscript I received of the story I was to illustrate was in English. The title in English is \"Woodmagic\".

Whenever I received an assignment from a professional publisher, there was either an oral or a written contract made between us that gave the publisher \"First North American Printing Rights\" and limited the publisher to make no other use of the printing rights other than for the purpose stated in the contract.

\"Reprint Rights\" are sold to publishers who know that the artwork has already been printed somewhere, at some time, but want to print it again. Usually, the \"reprint\" rights are sold for a lesser amount than they were for the \"First\" printing rights.

However, I did receive a larger \"Reprint\" fee once for one of my pictures that had been published years earlier on the cover of \"Amazing Stories,\" and for which I had been paid only $150. The publisher who emailed me wanting to reprint that picture, asked for my \"Reprint\" rates. And because I was aware of the going reprint rates among several publishers, I usually asked for an average amount, which was $25 to $50 per picture, depending on the picture's particulars. But for some reason, when I received this email asking for my reprint rates, I was a bit depressed at the time and replied, \"make an offer\".

I just about fell out of my chair when the email reply came and the amount offered was \"$2,000\". Which I quickly accepted! So you can bet your boots that from then on my reprint rates became, \"MAKE AN OFFER!\"","130. Woudmagie.bcc591c8-0f74-498d-821b-a1403fc2873e.jpg","\\artwork\\130. Woudmagie.bcc591c8-0f74-498d-821b-a1403fc2873e.jpg",131,"DAUGHTER OF THE BRIGHT MOON 3","129. DAUGHTER OF THE BRIGHT MOON 3 - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the paperback, Daughter of the Bright Moon\" by Lynn Abbey.

After the paperback was published I received a phone call from the author's father. He wanted to obtain one of the original drawings from the book for his daughter, I believe it was her first published work. But he just asked me to send him one of the drawings, and proceeded to give me his address. I interrupted him, to inform him that my drawings are not \"free\", and when I asked $100 for one of the drawings he got quite upset. He didn't think that I would actually charge him a fee for it! I replied that I am a professional illustrator, I do this stuff to earn a living, it's not my hobby. So finally, but reluctantly, he gave in and paid me $100 for one of the drawings.

Actually, if the author herself had phoned and asked to buy one of the drawings I would have sent it to her with my compliments, no charge. I've done that several times with other writers. And even in this case, if her father had called and offered to buy one of the drawings I may have given him one without charging a fee because I liked the idea that he thought about pleasing his daughter. But he was so damned \"assuming\" with his request, and so abrasive when I asked for payment, that I stayed with asking for payment.","129. Daughter of the Bright Moon 4.de4b3c3c-cf7c-4e83-81f8-2f0fe33c6769.jpg","\\artwork\\129. Daughter of the Bright Moon 4.de4b3c3c-cf7c-4e83-81f8-2f0fe33c6769.jpg",130,"DAUGHTER OF THE BRIGHT MOON 2","128. DAUGHTER OF THE BRIGHT MOON 2 - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper.

Although it was my intention to avoid light shading in these \"Daughter of the Bright Moon\" drawings because of the poor reproduction values in paperbacks, in this drawing I decided to risk putting some delicate light shading around the dark sun. I was surprised to see that it actually turned out to look OK in the paperback.

When I did these drawings I decided to emphasize something that occurs in the real world when you look at objects in the distance; they become lighter, their colors fade. And that's because of all that air between your eyes and the distant object you are looking at . . .

Air contains tiny bits of dust particles which you can often see in your home when sunlight comes through a window, and together with air molecules they create a cloudy filter between you and whatever distant object you are looking at. It is not noticeable at close distances, but think of the amount of air between you and a mountain you're looking at in the far distance. All those accumulated air particles diffuse the reflected light that carries the mountain image to your eyes. The result is that the mountain looks lighter, its color faded. The further the object the more dramatic the effect . . .

So, if objects in the distance look lighter, I decided to use that natural effect in my pictures; I drew the girl on horseback in the foreground with lots of black color (dark), and drew the man on horseback in the background mostly all gray (light). That color contrast should give the illusion of space (distance) between the two fighting figures, help giving the picture the look of having three dimensions.","128. Daughter of the Bright Moon 2.f87dc4c8-f269-4323-9b4a-8b737857b52e.jpg","\\artwork\\128. Daughter of the Bright Moon 2.f87dc4c8-f269-4323-9b4a-8b737857b52e.jpg",129,"DAUGHTER OF THE BRIGHT MOON 1","127. DAUGHTER OF THE BRIGHT MOON 1 - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper.

The drawings I did for \"Daughter of the Bright Moon\" were going to appear in a paperback, and paperbacks are not really suited for reproducing artwork. So I decided to use only one shade of gray instead of using several delicate intermediate shades of gray.

When the pb was published I saw that the drawings came out fairly well, but they were not centered properly on the pages, they were all shifted to the right of center so that the right side of the drawings were cut off. And that bothered me because someone in the layout department did not do a proper job of positioning the illustrations on the pages.

In my opinion, the standard size paperback book is not suited for interior illustrations, the pages are too small to do justice to the artwork at that small size, the viewer cannot see enough of the artwork to appreciate it's quality, if it has any. And secondly, the poor pulp quality of the paper used by some publishers is not suitable for reproducing artwork, much of which is lost in the soft, rough texture of the paper.","123. Daughter of the Bright Moon 1.8ad7fbe7-c86e-41cc-b7c6-16dfb61ec6b8.jpg","\\artwork\\123. Daughter of the Bright Moon 1.8ad7fbe7-c86e-41cc-b7c6-16dfb61ec6b8.jpg",128,"WHITE SYBIL","126. WHITE SYBIL - An acrylic painting done on a 16 x 20 size canvas board. A private commission.

This picture was later published as a color photo print, size 11 x 14, by Loci Lenar Studios, in a 25 copy edition.

\"White Sybil\" was originally drawn in black and white for an art folio, \"Fantastic Nudes 1,\" published by Gerry de la Ree. He also used it on the dust jacket of my art book, \"Fantasy by Fabian\".

TRIVIA - \"Trivia make perfection and perfection is no trivia\" - Michelangelo -

","126. White Sybil.e06ed88f-c068-4b2d-8572-0897be01bff4.jpg","\\artwork\\126. White Sybil.e06ed88f-c068-4b2d-8572-0897be01bff4.jpg",127,"MOON OF ICE","125. MOON OF ICE - An acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 size canvas board. It appears on the cover of \"Amazing, March, 1982,\" and illustrates the story, \"Moon of Ice,\" by Brad Linaweaver.

When I was working on the figure of \"Hitler\" in this painting, my mind went back to my youth, when I was 12 years old. World War 2 was going on and every day seemed filled with danger; in school we practiced huddling under our desks when an air-raid test signal went off. In my First-Aid class we practised making tourniquets to keep blood from flowing out of the body. While some girls knitted 9 inch squares of wool, other girls sewed the squares together to make blankets for our men in service. Boys like me carved \"spotter\" airplane models for servicemen so they could learn to differentiate between allied and enemy planes flying overhead. Women went to work in factories to build jeeps, planes, ships and tanks, and everyone was filled with patriotism.

The war continued, and when I became 14 years old I joined the Civil Air Patrol Cadets in high school expecting someday to join the Army Air Force and fly a P-40 fighter plane in combat against a German or a Japanese enemy pilot. But just one year later the war was over and I never got to do what I swore I would do when I was that 12 year old kid; I swore to avenge the death of Colin Kelly.

Colin Kelly is considered to be the first American hero of WW2. A few days after Pearl Harbor was attacked on Dec.7, 1941, he flew his B-17 bomber out to sea to attack the Japanese fleet. With just 3 bombs he managed to sink one of the ships before Japanese fighter planes got to him. He struggled with the controls, managing to hold the plane steady until the last of the 6 men in his crew bailed out. And then, while he was still at the controls, the Japanese fighter planes got to him again and his plane blew up. Colin Kelly was my hero back then, and I still think of him, every December 7.","125. Moon of Ice.8ac87aa6-61ae-498e-8fa5-a5de51f3c072.jpg","\\artwork\\125. Moon of Ice.8ac87aa6-61ae-498e-8fa5-a5de51f3c072.jpg",126,"PALACE OF DREAMS","124. PALACE OF DREAMS - An acrylic painting on a 24 x 36 size stretched canvas. It was commissioned by Loci Lenar, and is one of the four Fabian paintings that he published as an art photo folio in 1990, \"Stephen Fabian Fantasy Collection\".

Mr. Lenar tried to get the artwork in this folio published in the \"American Artist Magazine,\" as well as a few other art magazines. If he had done so it would have been great, it may have led to lots of sales for the folio. But to his dismay, and to my surprise, those art magazines don't pay for the artwork they print in their pages. No, no, they charge the artist a fee to publish his/her artwork in their magazines. And it's expensive! Too expensive for Mr. Lenar.

So, no deal. Gee, when I think of all the art magazines I looked at over the years, I thought the publisher paid the artist for the printing rights. I was wrong, it's the other way around! - What a bummer!","3.7 - Palace of Dreams.2f6f86d5-81f6-467f-8750-ebcbc26ea42f.jpg","\\artwork\\3.7 - Palace of Dreams.2f6f86d5-81f6-467f-8750-ebcbc26ea42f.jpg",125,"Solitude","123. SOLITUDE - An acrylic painting on a 24 x 36 size stretched canvas. It was a sparetime painting purchased by Loci Lenar Fine Arts Studio.

Mr. Lenar purchased four of my paintings and made photo copies of them that he published as a set, in an art portfolio in 1990. He titled the folio, \"THE STEPHEN FABIAN FANTASY COLLECTION\".

Loci Lenar earns his living building fences. In his spare time he buys and sells limited edition science fiction and fantasy books, as well as original artwork. He also produced two photo art portfolios; mine and another featuring four paintings by Jeff Jones.

I assume his spare time ventures are intended to earn him some extra money, but in the case of these two folios I think he went a bit too far; Each art folio has just four 8 x 10 photos, and he priced these folios at $90 each! Now, sometimes when I got involved with a publisher I had to decide whether to accept a lump sum fee, or opt for royalty payments based on sales figures. In this case I felt that with the $90 price tag, not many folios would be sold, so I decided to take a lump sum payment.

I don't know if I made the right decision because I don't know how many copies of the folio were sold. And because I did not opt for getting royalty payments, Mr. Lenar was not obliged to send me sales figures. So, If he sold all or most of the folios, then he made out very well and the last laugh's on me!","77. Solitude.4b9dee4f-1944-49f6-917b-61ad12d338c3.jpg","\\artwork\\77. Solitude.4b9dee4f-1944-49f6-917b-61ad12d338c3.jpg",124,"Home From the Stars","122. HOME FROM THE STARS - An acrylic painting on an 11 x 14 illustration board. It was a private commission, a color version of a black and white drawing I did for my book, \"The Best of Stephen Fabian\". The title of that drawing is, \"Burial in Space,\"

The scene shows a Starship that has returned to Earth from deep space. Three crew members are placing their dead Captain in orbit, where he will circle the Earth for eternity.

The scene was inspired by a verse I read in Robert A. Heinlein's story, \"Requiem\". It appears in his book, \"THE MAN WHO SOLD THE MOON\". The verse begins with these lines, \"On a high hill in Samoa there is a grave. Inscribed on the marker are these words written by Robert Louis Stevenson for his own epitaph\" -

\"Under the wide and starry sky
Dig me a grave and let me lie
Glad did I live and gladly die
And I lay me down with a will!

This be the verse which you grave for me:
Here he lies where he longed to be,
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.\"","122. Burial in Space.47c4b24b-194c-4bd9-a061-a47c4a28a95d.jpg","\\artwork\\122. Burial in Space.47c4b24b-194c-4bd9-a061-a47c4a28a95d.jpg",123,"The Iron Coach","121. THE IRON COACH - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the booklet, \"Guinevere & Lancelot\" by Arthur Machen, published in 1986 by Purple Mouth Press (Cuyler W. Brooks, Jr.)

An illustrator's job is to select a scene that will represent the nature and mood of the story, and that means the inclusion of key elements that are in the story. In this case, the title of the story made my selection obvious, and so did this action scene in the story. The real problem was selecting a viewpoint in the action that would show all the elements I listed in my notes; The night of the full moon, the Iron Coach, the hands throwing flaming darts, the young boy, the coachman, the horses, and the old church.

I put my movie director's cap on, and with the night of the full moon in the sky, I went back far enough with my camera-eye so that I could place all the elements listed, between me and the moon. I ended up with the composition you see here.

Recently, I pulled a magazine from my bookshelf and while looking through the pages I stopped at the title page of a story, \"The Golden Princess\". There was a title page illustration and two other illustrations that accompanied the story, and none of them showed \"The Golden Princess\". ??? - It seems to me that the artist was obligated to show her, if not on the title page, then in one of the other drawings.

Readers may not be aware of, or even care about the effort I put into the making of my illustrations. But I care! And that's what readers should expect from me, and deserve when they put their money down for a magazine or a book that I illustrate.","121. Iron Coach.811d140d-69f7-4f1b-b5e7-2c9442fb6dbb.jpg","\\artwork\\121. Iron Coach.811d140d-69f7-4f1b-b5e7-2c9442fb6dbb.jpg",122,"Dark Agnes - Portrait","120. DARK AGNES: Portrait - An acrylic painting, size 9 x 12. A spare time painting based on the sword woman character created by Robert E. Howard.

When I received this commission from Zebra Books to illustrate a paperback book, \"The Sword Woman,\" my color sketch of the lead character, Dark Agnes, was based on her description in the story, which takes place in a fictional world comparable to that of The Three Musketeers; swordsmen with feathered wide-brimmed hats, pantaloons, and fencing swords. The stories were written by Robert E. Howard who is most famous for his stories about Conan, the barbarian.

The editor at Zebra Books had asked me to do some preliminary sketches for approval, and this portrait, which was in a rough color state, was among a half dozen other sketches that I did representing scenes from the stories in the book. She rejected them all, she wanted Dark Agnes to look like a female Conan, and every one else to look like barbarians! Though I argued against it, I eventually gave in and did it the \"boss's\" way.

So, Imagine yourself reading the story . . . Dark Agnes threw her wide brimmed feathered hat aside, flung her cape over her left shoulder, and flashed the point of her fencing sword at the evil, smirking face of Renault d'Valence . . . While my illustration on the facing page shows her wearing a metal helmet, metal breastplates, and wielding a huge broadsword! . . .

Robert E. Howard deserves an apology from the editor, and me.

A few years later, in my spare time I finished that initial rough color sketch of Dark Agnes. You see it here, framed.","Dark Agnes.0b12fa0e-9e51-44b6-b710-49a873c47e1d.jpg","\\artwork\\Dark Agnes.0b12fa0e-9e51-44b6-b710-49a873c47e1d.jpg",121,"Guinevere and Lancelot - 3","119. GUINEVERE & LANCELOT, 3 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the booklet, \"Guinevere & Lancelot,\" by Arthur Machen, published in 1986 by Purple Mouth Press (Cuyler W. Brooks, Jr.)

Coquille board is a drawing paper featuring tiny dimples that stick up from the surface forming a \"texture\" that allows an artist to delicately shade a drawing from dark to light, as I've explained elsewhere.

Lancelot and the other Knights of King Arthur's Round Table devoted their lives to defeating evil men, but in the end they lost the battle;

\"It's easy to fight when you're winning,
When the glory of success is beginning.
But to fight bravely and heroically while losing,
There is the man of God's choosing\".
- adapted from the verse, \"Carry On\" by Robert Service -","119. Guinevere-Lancelot 3.efdd55d1-9e5f-4138-86a4-e7e7daceb7b7.jpg","\\artwork\\119. Guinevere-Lancelot 3.efdd55d1-9e5f-4138-86a4-e7e7daceb7b7.jpg",120,"Guinevere and Lancelot - 2","118. GUINEVERE & LANCELOT, 2 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the booklet, \"Guinevere & Lancelot And Others,\" by Arthur Machen, published in 1986 by Purple Mouth Press (Cuyler W. Brooks, Jr.)

If you look at the top of the drawing you will see a stone-framed opening that is supposed to be part of a castle wall, but it appears here floating in empty space…

When I came to that part of the picture I intended to include the castle wall to fill in the empty space. But I hesitated, looked at it a while and decided to leave it as is, to help keep the viewer's eyes concentrated on the battle. That's called, \"artistic license\". It is a common practise in the world of illustration.","118. Guinevere-Lancelot 2.013b9ec1-87f3-4365-8f0a-fe5503a61d3f.jpg","\\artwork\\118. Guinevere-Lancelot 2.013b9ec1-87f3-4365-8f0a-fe5503a61d3f.jpg",119,"Guinevere & Lancelot","117. GUIEVERE & LANCELOT - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on a 9 x 16 illustration board. It appears as a wrap-around cover on the booklet, \"Guinevere & Lancelot,\" by Arthur Machen, published by The Purple Mouth Press in 1986.

After publication, Ned Brooks the publisher, made a comment in his fanzine indicating that he did not see any relevance in my cover art to the contents of the booklet, but decided to use it anyway. Well, it's true that my cover drawing does not illustrate a specific scene from the title story (there are several stories in the booklet) but it was not intended to be a \"specific\" scene; I designed the wraparound cover so that the scene on the front and the scene on the back were independent of each other, with both images \"representative\" of the contents; the image on the front cover is a collection of objects representing the title story, \"Guinevere & Lancelot,\" while the back cover image represents items found in the other stories.

I did not respond to Ned's comment at the time because it's no big deal, but I thought I'd mention it here to point out that an illustrator does have those two approaches, \"specificity\" and \"representation,\" to consider.

Another magazine editor once phoned to tell me that the scene I drew for a story he sent me to illustrate was not in the story; in the story, one of the chapters ends with a man in a hotel room packing his bags in readiness to go to the spaceport to board a spaceship. The next chapter opens with the man already aboard the spaceship. My idea for the drawing was to \"bridge\" those two chapters by showing the man holding his suitcase and walking the tarmack toward the spaceship. So, I argued, that though the scene I drew was not actually described in the story, it can be assumed that it did happen and was therefore a legitimate representation of the story. The editor was convinced and decided to use the drawing.","Guinevere-Lancelot-wrap.640b71e3-59e4-415c-a483-9f7ecc06372d.jpg","\\artwork\\Guinevere-Lancelot-wrap.640b71e3-59e4-415c-a483-9f7ecc06372d.jpg",118,"Over My Shoulder","116. OVER MY SHOULDER - An acrylic painting done on size 16 x 20 canvas board. It appears on the dust jacket of the book, \"Over My Shoulder,\" by Lloyd Arthur Eshbach, published by Oswald Train in 1983.

Mr. Eshbach was the founder of FANTASY PRESS, one of the small press book publishers that started producing science fiction books in the mid 1940s. Over the ensuing years book sales were not high enough for him to keep his publishing company going, and in the early 1960s he decided to stop publishing.

In \"Over My Shoulder\" Eshbach writes about his venture into the book publishing business, and goes on with a history of the other small press publishers who struggled to survive at that time.

In 1950 I began to read and collect science fiction books, and of all those small press publishers that were active then, I consider the \"Fantasy Press\" books as having the perfect size and format; they are all uniform in size, with cloth bindings, gold lettering on the spines, good paper stock and an easy reading type-font. The authors were the great ones, like Heinlein, E. E. Smith, Campbell, Williamson, Weinbaum and Van Vogt. The artists used for the dust jackets and interior drawings were often my favorites, like Edd Cartier and Hannes Bok.

In the 1940s and 1950s, major book publishers produced very few science fiction titles, so Fantasy Press along with the other small press outfits were something special to SF readers like me. Book stores rarely displayed SF titles so I ordered all my books through a Julius Ungar ad in \"Astounding SF,\" taking advantage of his offer; \"buy 2 books, get a third one free\". It was exciting to get those books in the mail, I still have most of them. I am disappointed though, that the fans did not buy more of those small press books to help keep them in business.","172. Over My Shoulder.890d38dc-203e-45e6-ae20-e89f66f66b71.jpg","\\artwork\\172. Over My Shoulder.890d38dc-203e-45e6-ae20-e89f66f66b71.jpg",117,"Anne McCaffrey","115. ANNE MCCAFFREY - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears on the cover of \"STARMONT READER'S GUIDE No. 30\".

Anne McCaffrey had a long and successful career writing her popular dragon-world \"Pern\" novels, and other works of fantasy. I have read only one of her stories, a short novel titled \"Coelura,\" because I was hired to do interior illustrations for the book. It was published by Underwood-Miller in 1983, but the illustrations are not mine, they were done by Ned Dameron!
What happened? I don't know . . . and I never found out!

* * *

Question 1 - If you made yourself a better person, would that make this a
better world?
Question 2 - If every person in the world became as good as you, and not
one iota better, would this be a better world?

I answered both questions; \"Yes, I think so.\"
And I felt a ghostly slap on the back of my head.
Apparently, I have some issues . . .","115. McCaffrey.f4530b00-1cdd-4f97-adbb-b122ef659bc5.jpg","\\artwork\\115. McCaffrey.f4530b00-1cdd-4f97-adbb-b122ef659bc5.jpg",116,"Hal Clement","114. HAL CLEMENT - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears on the cover of \"STARMONT READER'S GUIDE No. 11\".

His real name was Harry Clement Stubbs. He lived the kind of life most men should envy. He was born in 1922 and grew up to graduate from Harvard with a degree in Astronomy, went on to Boston University and earned a degree in Education, then went on to earn a degree in Chemistry from Simmons College.

And while he was accomplishing all that scholarly stuff, he started writing science fiction stories. He managed to sell them to the best and highest paying magazine, \"Astounding SF\" using the pen name \"Hal Clement\".

During World War Two he piloted a B-24 Liberator bomber and flew 35 missions over enemy territory in Europe with the 8th Air Force. Those missions had very high casualties rates, he was lucky to survive the war. After the war he taught Astronomy and Chemistry at Milton Academy in Massachusetts, and continued to write and sell SF stories in his spare time.

As Hal Clement he wrote \"hard\" science fiction, meaning that his stories feature humans, or aliens, who are challenged to overcome difficult scientific problems. His best known story is, \"Mission of Gravity,\" a \"hard\" SF drama that has become the standard by which all other hard SF stories are measured.

In 1996 his story, \"Uncommon Sense\" won the \"Hugo\" award for best short story of the year. And in 1998 he received the \"Grand Master\" award from the SF Writers of America, for his life-long contribution to the SF field. He died in 2003 at age 82.","114. Clement.3617210e-0255-42ba-bfc1-15e783c3c623.jpg","\\artwork\\114. Clement.3617210e-0255-42ba-bfc1-15e783c3c623.jpg",115,"Fritz Leiber","113. FRITZ LEIBER - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears on the cover of \"STARMONT READER'S GUIDE No. 8\".

Fritz Leiber is another of the unfortunate writers who managed to make a name for himself in the fantasy and science fiction field, but was unable to make a decent living doing it. He was born in 1910 to parents who were actors in a traveling road show, \"Fritz Leiber's Shakespeare Company\". Leiber studied philosophy at the University of Chicago, graduating with honors, and for a short time he was a lay preacher before turning to a writing career. Among his classic works are, \"Conjure Wife,\" and \"Gather Darkness\". In 1936 he married Jonquil Stephens, and for years he struggled to earn a living at writing while dealing with alchoholism.

When his wife died in 1969, Leiber went on a 3 year binge writing nothing and living a life of poverty on skid row. Others said he was simply penurious and spent whatever money he had on dining out and going to the movies. When he returned to writing he barely earned enough to survive until TSR, the publishers of Dungeons & Dragons (for whom I did a lot of artwork for a while) purchased the printing rights to his \"Fafhrd & Gray Mouser\" stories. That sale allowed him to spend the final years of his life in relative comfort.

Fritz Leiber died in 1992 at the age of 82. He was an honored writer who produced several classic works in the genre. But though he achieved fame for his work, he deserved a better deal from fate.","113. Leiber.a56c736b-36d2-45e9-82d6-f0b070ca69c3.jpg","\\artwork\\113. Leiber.a56c736b-36d2-45e9-82d6-f0b070ca69c3.jpg",114,"Joe Haldeman","112. JOE HALDEMAN - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears on the cover of, \"STARMONT READER'S GUIDE No. 4\".

Incredible, Joe Haldeman has been around for a long time now but I have not read a single story he has written. My drawings for the Starmont House author series are based on photos sent to me by the publisher. In the photo of Haldeman he is wearing a space suit, but I have no idea why because I don't believe he's an astronaut. He may however, be connected to the Space Program in some other capacity.

And speaking of the Space Program, here is what Arthur C. Clarke predicted in 1999; \"By the year 2095 the development of a true \"space-time\" propulsion system will make the rocket engine obsolete and permit velocities close to the speed of light. The first human explorers will set off to near-by star systems; human history will begin\".

Indeed it will, Mr. Clarke, I can see it now; Men, women, and children with their dogs and cats and birds, eager passengers in a long wagon train of incredible starships leaving Earth. Ships filled with all the necessities of life, all bound for the stars. And with the sound of a thousand trumpets blaring, I can hear them all shouting, \"HERE WE COME!\" God Almighty won't that be something!","112. Haldeman.7806ae17-06b3-46a8-b5e5-96fbae205364.jpg","\\artwork\\112. Haldeman.7806ae17-06b3-46a8-b5e5-96fbae205364.jpg",113,"Frank Herbert","111. FRANK HERBERT - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears on the cover of \"STARMONT READER'S GUIDE No. 5\".

Frank Herbert became rich and famous for writing \"DUNE\" books. I read the first two Dune novels when they were originally published as magazine serials in Analog SF back in the 1960s. The first \"Dune\" novel was great. The second; \"Dune World\" was very good. I never got around to reading all the other Dune sequels.

Way back in the early 1950s, when the public had no idea that flying to the moon was possible, I was having lunch at work at the Curtiss Wright Electronics Division in NJ. And while eating my sandwich I read, \"The Martian Chronicles,\" a paperback by Ray Bradbury. A co-worker frowned when he saw the title and commented, \"You read science fiction? How can you waste your time reading about people who never lived, doing things that never happened?\"

Well, I believe that any work of fiction that is worth reading says something meaningful about us humans and the way we live, something worth knowing or thinking about. A good writer uses his fictional people and their story to do that. And that is what I told my co-worker.

After reading the first two Dune novels I sensed that Herbert was going to ride his giant sand worms into an endless series of books that led to no conclusion, and I was not prepared to follow him. I decided that Dune had nothing more for me worth thinking about. As the saying goes, I have so many other books to read, and so little time . . .","111. Herbert.a7b9f421-2795-4f57-b763-f2e09274229a.jpg","\\artwork\\111. Herbert.a7b9f421-2795-4f57-b763-f2e09274229a.jpg",112,"Jack London","110. JACK LONDON - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears on the cover of \"STARMONT READER'S GUIDE No. 15\".

I have read most of Jack London's short stories, several novels, and his biography. The last story of his that I read was, \"Before Adam,\" and that was at least 30 years ago. London was such a powerful writer that his stories still remain vividly in my mind. He was a great writer, which is why his stories continue to be reprinted generation after generation.

Here is the ending to one of London's unforgettable short stories, as I remember it;

Location - A log cabin in the remote Canadian wilderness.

Scene - Inside the cabin a mean old bastard of a man has a rope tied around his neck that hangs from a ceiling beam. His hands are tied behind him, his feet barely reach the seat of a chair that his enemies left under him. He's been in this precarious position for hours.

Storyline - This mean old bastard had cheated the men who strung him up, but they had no intention of kicking the chair out from under him. They were leaving that honor to someone else . . .

Diablo - At the far end of the cabin floor a big black dog lies with his head down on his fore paws looking up at the rope, at his master, at the chair. For Diablo's entire life his master has beaten or kicked him whenever things went wrong, often for no reason at all, just out of plain meanness. The memory of the blows and the pain of the broken bones he suffered passes across his mind. He looks into the eyes of his master . . .

Justice - In this world where evil men are often able to do evil things with impunity, justice lies hidden like the hare from the hunter. But it will not lie hidden today. While still looking into the eyes of his master, Diablo rises and slowly moves toward the chair . . .

The mean old bastard sees what the dog intends to do and begins screaming curses at him . . .

No one was there to see the chair slide across the floor,
No one was there to see the mean old bastard's body and feet dangling above the floor, jerking awkwardly, the rope choking the life out of him . . .

No one was there to see the struggle come to an end, the body slowly swaying, finally coming to a stop . . .

Only Diablo the dog was there . . . when the Mounties discovered the body.

","110. London.5e682d4e-8d0b-49ae-8260-0d27e622a7f5.jpg","\\artwork\\110. London.5e682d4e-8d0b-49ae-8260-0d27e622a7f5.jpg",111,"Marion Zimmer Bradley","109. MARION ZIMMER BRADLEY - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears as the cover of \"STARMONT READER'S GUIDE No. 27\".

I never met Marion Zimmer Bradley, I never talked to her on the phone. I did the interior illustrations for her science fiction novel, \"SURVEY SHIP,\" published by Ace Books in 1980. Shortly after the book was published she sent me a card on which she thanked me for \"enhancing\" the looks of her book, and closed with the words, \"I love you\".

I have been very fortunate over the years to have received letters from authors, or postcards like the one from Ms Bradley, whose novel I illustrated. They were all very complimentary and really lifted my spirits. But I am especially honored by the people today, after so many years have passed by, who take the time and write to thank me for the years of pleasure I gave them with my artwork. How special is that! - I'm really, a very lucky guy.

They remind me to keep my attention focused on the positive side of life;

\"Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, what-
ever is pure, whatever is beautiful, whatever has excellence and
is worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.\"

* St. Paul *
","109. Bradley.f63fb7e3-3a31-4574-8d0f-628673807584.jpg","\\artwork\\109. Bradley.f63fb7e3-3a31-4574-8d0f-628673807584.jpg",110,"J.G. Ballard","108. J.G. BALLARD - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears as the cover of \"STARMONT READERS'S GUIDE No. 26\".

I have read only a few short stories by Ballard, and one novel. I read that novel because Avon Books was going to publish it, \"The Crystal World,\" and they asked me to do the cover painting. The novel is about a world catastrophe where everything on earth is crystallizing, the rivers, the oceans, plant life, everything. When I read the story I was absorbed with it from page one right through to the last page. Wonderful story!

But in this real world that we live in, we are not under the threat of some global environmental catastrophe, in spite of the constant warning that the sky is falling because of theoretical Global Warming. The great tragedy we face today is this; Every person in America is now in danger of being shot down or blown up in a public place. Which sounds like an hysterical thing to write . . .

But not to those who went to work in the Oklahoma City Federal building on April 19, 1995 . . .
Not to those who went to work at the Twin Towers in NY, or to the Pentagon, or were passengers on airliners used as bombs by terrorists on 9/11/2001 . . .
Not to those near the finish line at the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013 . . .
Not to the 6 year old children who were mowed down in their classroom . . .
Not to the men and women at a church meeting who were gunned down . . .
Not to that beautiful young lady who was walking with her father in San Francisco and was shot dead by an illegal alien . . .

And certainly NOT to the terrorists who are, right now, planning to place a few bombs inside a shopping mall. Or, to the lunatic armed with guns, who is headed for the same movie theater that you are driving to . . .

What is frustrating to me, is that I know what to do about all this, but I don't have the power to do it! I bet you feel the same way . . .","26-Ballard.f5f1365d-00ac-46f3-a7ed-973cf880d525.jpg","\\artwork\\26-Ballard.f5f1365d-00ac-46f3-a7ed-973cf880d525.jpg",109,"Philip K. Dick","107. PHILIP K. DICK - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears on the cover of \"STARMONT READER'S GUIDE, No. 12,\" published by Starmont House.

I enjoyed reading most of Dick's short stories, but his novels always disappointed me. Perhaps it's because his shorter works tend to concentrate on a single idea within a limited framework, written with clarity. His novels tend to mix psychedelic concepts in unreal worlds that I found difficult to appreciate.

I read that a lot of his writing was done while he was under the influence of drugs, experiencing paranoia, schizophrenia, and transcendental hallucinations. He wrote 44 novels (most of them were published after his death), and about 122 short stories. All while living mostly in poverty. He died of heart failure in 1982, at age 53.

Since his death, nine of his stories have been made into movies including, \"Blade Runner\" and \"Total Recall\". Remarkably, In 2005, Time magazine named his novel, \"Ubik\" one of the one hundred greatest English language novels since 1923. Only literary egotists can make judgments like that. And even more surprisingly, Dick became the first science fiction writer chosen to be included in the acclaimed \"Library of America\" series. Incredible, there are so many other SF writers I think are more deserving of that honor.

I don't know if Dick's novels have any merit or not, his admirers consider him the greatest of writers, while others call him a drug-influenced charlatan. Subterranean Press has been reprinting his short stories, and so far there are 4 volumes, which I have purchased and started reading. I am pleased that in re-reading these shorter works, I still find them interesting and entertaining.","112. Philip K. Dick.b3443c9a-241a-4ced-b83e-657fc2b077e8.jpg","\\artwork\\112. Philip K. Dick.b3443c9a-241a-4ced-b83e-657fc2b077e8.jpg",108,"Arthur C. Clarke","106. ARTHUR C. CLARKE - A black ink and gray pencil drawing with press-on lettering, on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears on the cover of, \"STARMONT READER'S GUIDE No. 1,\" published by Starmont House.

I did 43 Reader's Guide covers for Starmont House. I used the same format for all of them so they would appear as part of a set.

I have read most of Sir Arthur C. Clarke's stories and have enjoyed most of them, but I have been far more rewarded from reading his non-fiction books, those containing collected essays featuring autobiographical revelations that he wrote during his middle and later years; \"Profiles of the Future,\" \"The View From Serendip,\" \"1984: Spring,\" and others.

Although Clarke is known as a science fiction writer, he was a man of science with an extraordinary vision, imagination, and a poetic writing talent. It was an incredible experience reading his informative essays on science, on mankind, and of the wonders of the Universe.","01-Clarke.25d311df-9694-443c-86a5-13b1b5d93863.jpg","\\artwork\\01-Clarke.25d311df-9694-443c-86a5-13b1b5d93863.jpg",107,"Robots and Murder","105. ROBOTS AND MURDER - A black ink and gray color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears on the cover of \"Science Fiction Review, No.32\".

This is the only drawing over my entire career that was rejected by an editor. George Scithers was the rascal's name, and at that time, he was editing \"Isaac Asimov's SF Magazine\". He had asked me to do an illustration for an article to be titled, \"Robots and Murder\".

Years ago I read Asimov's novel, \"The Caves of Steel,\" wherein a robot detective and his human detective partner solve a crime that had appeared to be impossible; a robot programmed to protect humans from harm, had murdered a human being. I did not remember the details of the story but I decided to use those two Asimov characters and put them in an unusual \"murder\" scene, and that's the drawing you see here.

Scithers however, rejected the drawing because, he said, it was too specific, he wanted something more generic. He decided instead, to use a drawing by Jack Gaughan.

Some time later, Scithers phoned to talk about a cover painting he wanted me to do for his magazine, and midway he interrupted himself to say that he regretted not using this picture for that article and hoped I was not too upset about it. George Scithers was a fine gentleman and a very good editor, and though I was disappointed when he rejected the drawing, I was not \"upset\" about it, I respected his decision and told him so. And besides, I added, Richard Geis the editor of SFR recently paid me to use it as a cover for his fanzine, so I really have no cause to be upset.

During my career I also had one painting rejected. It was rejected by owner-editor, Donald Wollheim, of DAW books, but that's another story for another time.","SFR32.9be672b7-ee64-476d-95c7-71da7479cbbb.jpg","\\artwork\\SFR32.9be672b7-ee64-476d-95c7-71da7479cbbb.jpg",106,"Superluminal","104. SUPERLUMINAL - An acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 size canvas board. It appears on the dust jacket of the book, \"SUPERLUMINAL,\" by Vonda McIntyre, published by Houghton Mifflin in 1983.

Somewhere along the way an artist has to decide when his painting is done. At first it is a difficult thing to do because it seems that there is always something about a painting that can be improved. \"Detail\" is always a problem. Some artists are so caught up in detail that every inch of their artwork is filled with detail, every blade of grass is carefully stroked, every pore in the skin is revealed, like James Bama's \"Doc Savage\" torn shirt paperback cover art, and in his western portrait paintings of old time weatherworn cowhands and indians. They all feature that kind of incredible detail.

But most art teachers usually frown on too much detail, they suggest you throw your small brushes away. One teacher even suggested (humorously, I hope) that before an artist has a chance to add more detail to finish a painting, he should be shot!

In Norman Rockwell's biography he recalls how his art teacher used to circle around the students in class as they sat at their easels and sketched the figure of a model posed on the dais. He had packed his cheeks with tobacco, and if he was displeased with a drawing he would lean over the student's shoulder and spit a wad of tobacco juice onto the drawing and say something like, \"Too tight, too much detail, keep it loose, start over\".

So, how much detail is too much detail? Regardless of what the teachers say, there is no finite answer, it's entirely up to the artist to satisfy his own mindset. Too often though, I do tend to go on and on with details and \"deserve to be shot\". Well, at least my smaller brushes should have been taken away from me!","104. Superluminal.a4710780-deef-4b9f-9e4c-e1de8185cd36.jpg","\\artwork\\104. Superluminal.a4710780-deef-4b9f-9e4c-e1de8185cd36.jpg",105,"Tiger Skins","103. TIGER SKINS - An acrylic painting on a 20 x 28 size canvas board.

This painting was a private commission. I received a phone call one day from a client who asked me to do a painting for him based on the opening line of the story, \"Bottle Party,\" by John Collier. It goes like this; \"Franklin Fletcher dreamed of luxury in the form of tiger-skins and beautiful women\".

Notice that my painting features a \"woman,\" not \"women,\" as stated in Fletcher's dream. For some men, one woman is not enough, they go through life behaving as if it were a man's duty, as a \"man,\" to try to seduce every woman on Earth! - When I painted this picture I assumed that my client was not one of those men. I could be wrong, but he never called to complain . . .

Sometimes I'm asked by a client to paint a subject that has nothing about it that inspires me to want to paint it, but I had no problem at all getting inspired with this one. After all, the most inspirational thing in the whole universe is a beautiful woman. Isn't that why all art schools feature a nude woman posing on a dais in their art classes?","Tiger Skin.52febdc3-ca01-4a95-9bb1-6313365b76b5.jpg","\\artwork\\Tiger Skin.52febdc3-ca01-4a95-9bb1-6313365b76b5.jpg",104,"The Moon Bog","102. THE MOON BOG - An acrylic painting on a 12 x 16 size illustration board. I painted this picture for a fan back in 2001. He saw my original black and white version of this scene in my art folio, \"Forbidden Reality,\" and asked me to do a painting of it. So I did, adding a woman in the scene.

Though I prefer reading science fiction to fantasy or horror tales, I appreciate a well written story regardless of the genre. I am particular partial to stories about strange happenings in strange places, and when I began thinking of what to draw for that art folio, I thought of Manly Wade Wellman's story, \"Frogfather\" that I had read the night before, about a weird bog in the moonlight, and the strange things that moved in the swampwater.

After thinking about that story a bit, I came up with this moody landscape of a bog and included the ruins of a church to add human history and mystery to the ancient place. The picture is supposed to inspire you to create your own story about what happened in that eerie Bog so many ages ago, and what's happening there now.

Any good work of art should activate your mind into thinking about something, or feeling some kind of emotion. If it does not, it's value is minimal.","Moon Bog.cbf46170-520b-4b99-941a-03e35f886c93.jpg","\\artwork\\Moon Bog.cbf46170-520b-4b99-941a-03e35f886c93.jpg",103,"Fantasy Newsletter No.58","101. FANTASY NEWSLETTER, No.58 - A black ink and black and grey color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears of a fanzine cover.

This was another of those \"draw what you want\" assignments, and as I usually did in such cases, I turned my swivel chair and scanned the books in my library, searching for inspiration. I stopped when I came to my Abe Merritt books because an image popped up in my mind; a figurine I saw in an antique shop in Vermont a long time ago. That figurine reminded me of Merritt's story, \"The Moon Pool\". I decided to do the cover drawing based on my vague memory of that figurine.

As I drew the picture my thoughts went back in time to a meeting I attended at the Wayne Public Library in NJ. I was a member of the Eastern Science Fiction Association, and we met monthly at the library. The guest speaker was science fiction historian and anthologist, Everett F. Bleiler who gave a lecture on the works of Abraham Merritt. He mentioned book titles like, \"The Moon Pool, \"The Ship of Ishtar,\" \"Dwellers in the Mirage,\" and \"The Metal Monster,\" telling us how thrilled he had been as a youth, reading Merritt's stories and discovering that \"sense of wonder\" which was so awesome back then in the 1930's and 1940s.

But then Mr. Bleiler went on to say that he was now an older, wiser, and a more astute reader, and had come to realize how terrible the Merritt works of fantasy really are. That bothered me because I read those novels years ago and thought very highly of them. So, a few days later I decided I would re-read Merritt's novel, \"The Metal Monster,\" to check out Bleiler's thesis. But I still found the novel an exciting read, so I don't buy his thesis, I do not accept his elderly and scholarly analysis, there are times when the beauty of a thing is lost on a jaded mind.","152. Fantasy News-58.6f9f25cc-9c07-45e8-9a47-bd8db833cdc4.jpg","\\artwork\\152. Fantasy News-58.6f9f25cc-9c07-45e8-9a47-bd8db833cdc4.jpg",102,"Fantasy Newsletter No.48","100. FANTASY NEWSLETTER, No.48 A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears on the fanzine cover, Fantasy Newsletter No. 48.

I read somewhere, a long time ago, that when science becomes so beyond public comprehension it becomes indistinguishable from magic. It seems to me that today, we are living in just such a world because a lot of the things we use daily are so beyond our understanding of how they work that they are really magical things, just like the flying carpet in my drawing.

Science and technology are advancing at so rapid a rate that in the foreseeable future the making of a flying carpet will probably become a reality. Don't scoff, what man can imagine, man can do, it just takes a little time.- ","100. Fantasy Newsletter-48.08be8957-36b9-4fca-ab3e-c0ea2299b626.jpg","\\artwork\\100. Fantasy Newsletter-48.08be8957-36b9-4fca-ab3e-c0ea2299b626.jpg",101,"

100. Ink and pencil drawing on 11 x 14 coquille board. I grew up during the 1930s and 40s and I think of them as the \"wonder\" years. It seemed like day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, I was seeing magical things happen. I watched as electric light was introduced to our apartment house, I listened with earphones to the first crystal radio the neighber next door had purchased, we all ran outside to see, for the first time, an aeroplane noisily flying overhead. And one night, us kids in the neighborhood ran to the ballpark and found a place to sit on the large stone steps that served as stands, and watched as a huge flatbed truck parked in the infield, with a huge silver screen raised up, and as night fell we watched in awe as the screen lit up and we saw our first movies, with sound, \"Steamboat Willie\" and \"Betty Boop\" and a bunch of sing-a-long shorts. And so it went. And so it goes today except that now, the young seem to ccepted as routine technological advances, not as miracles.

","Fantasy News-48.dd7c1cdb-65fe-4b3f-b6b6-73e01308ed46.jpg","\\artwork\\Fantasy News-48.dd7c1cdb-65fe-4b3f-b6b6-73e01308ed46.jpg",100,"Fantasy Newsletter No.32","99. FANTASY NEWSLETTER No.32 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears on the fanzine cover, \"Fantasy Newsletter No.32\".

Before 1950 there were very few science fiction books and paperbacks published during the year, you could actually read every one of them that did appear in print. Not so today.

A few years ago I was in the office of Jim Baen who was then the editor at Ace paperback books, he was busy assembling the next batch of books to be published the following month. He had to come up with 46 new titles. His job was to produce that many titles every month, though I'm not sure how many of them were actually SF titles. Ace Books is only one publisher among many, so how can anyone keep up with all the SF books being published every month, year after year.

Amazingly, I know someone who is trying to do just that. His home is jam- packed with books and magazines, there seems to be no more room left in the house to put them, even the basement is overloaded. And yet almost every day except Sunday, the postman delivers more books and magazines to him, books in print and out of print. And he regularly orders books forthcoming. He can't buy every SF book, magazine and comic book ever published, but he sure seems happy trying.","158. FantasyNews-32.13987491-6080-43c3-a94b-9a8ceffdbcd2.jpg","\\artwork\\158. FantasyNews-32.13987491-6080-43c3-a94b-9a8ceffdbcd2.jpg",99,"Spock","

Ink and pencil on 11 x 14 coquille board. Appears on the cover of the Star Trek fanzine, \"Enterprize Incidents.\" I've been a fan of science fiction literature since 1950, reading and collecting SF books and magazines with a passion, my house is full of them. But I was never a fan of the Star Trek TV series. Though I have enjoyed some of the episodes, more often than not, I have been disappointed at the storylines that fell far short of my expectations. I had hoped that the series would deal with the kind of problems man would really have to deal with in exploring the universe. The real dangers and difficulties of traveling through interstellar space, the problem that \"time\" presents, the discovery of new and different life forms with all sorts of possible ramifications, all this was ignored in favor of stories that were more fantasy than science fiction.

","99. Spock.40cd327c-7ced-4ec2-aae7-747315939921.jpg","\\artwork\\99. Spock.40cd327c-7ced-4ec2-aae7-747315939921.jpg",98,"Fantasy Newsletter No.28","98. FANTASY NEWSLETTER No.28 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It is a fanzine cover drawing. The original drawing is B&W, the editor, Paul C. Allen added the background color with an overlay sheet.

Occasionally, as in this case, an editor would alter the appearance of my artwork before printing it. Since the original drawing is physically not affected by the alteration, I usually don't mind. In this case I think the added color enhances the esthetics of the image.

I did have problems with the ethics of one editor who paid me a small fee to do a small quarter page illustration, and then printed it as a full page illustration! That's cheating, I should have received 4 times the amount I was paid.

The legality of the matter is this; The size of an original drawing or painting is irrelevant, the publisher is paying for the size that the artwork will appear in the magazine or book. For example, a publisher's contract may have the following rates for artwork; $100 for Full page, $50 for half page, $25 for quarter page. Therefore, if an artist's contract calls for a quarter page drawing it does not matter how small or large he makes the drawing, he will be paid $25 and the artwork will be printed as a quarter page illustration. The rate for cover art may be $2,500, the artist can use any size canvas, illustration board, or paper he chooses to do the cover art.

I complained to that editor that he paid me $25 for a quarter page drawing but he printed it as a full page illustration, so I should be paid $100. He replied that the drawing was a small one and was not worth a $100 fee, I told him that by contract he was paying for the \"printed size\" of the artwork, not the artwork's original size. Reluctantly, he sent the balance due me.","94. Fantasy Newsletter 28.0ee1ea4f-fd30-4096-b33f-9238388f2ca0.jpg","\\artwork\\94. Fantasy Newsletter 28.0ee1ea4f-fd30-4096-b33f-9238388f2ca0.jpg",97,"Fantasy Newsletter No.24","97. FANTASY NEWSLETTER No.24 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. Fanzine cover drawing. My original drawing does not have the blue color you see here, the editor had the color added on with an overlay.

Science fiction fanzines are a way for fans to communicate with each other, mostly to share their opinions about authors, books, editors, and illustrators. When I started illustrating in the field there were lots of them around, I received at least one every week for years, asking me to contribute some artwork. Somewhere along the way they stopped coming. I suppose the Internet has taken their place.

There is a fundamental need for our species not only to breathe and eat, but to connect with each other mind to mind, with both speech and the printed word. People are talking on the radio and Television twenty four hours a day, printing presses are turning out books and magazines at a non-stop pace, and on the Internet it's a tidal wave of billions of voices from every nation on the planet, quack-quack-quacking at each other non-stop. It's a bit disconcerting to me to realize that I have now joined in all that quacking!

With my computer and the internet I have connected my mind to yours. And to how many others? That used to be a science fiction concept, it isn't any more.

The reality of the whole thing is mind-boggling! Especially when you consider all the \"crazies\" out there that now have access to your mind!

It's a bit scary, isn't it?","97. Fantasy Newsletter-24.15034d4c-cd5d-4c52-95c1-37dfb1406fc0.jpg","\\artwork\\97. Fantasy Newsletter-24.15034d4c-cd5d-4c52-95c1-37dfb1406fc0.jpg",96,"Fantasy Newsletter No.23","96. FANTASY NEWSLETTER No.23 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It is a fanzine cover drawing based on Fritz Leiber's sword and sorcery characters, \"Fafhrd and Gray Mouser\".

A six volume set of \"Fafhrd and Gray Mouser\" books was published by Gregg Press in 1977. They sit on a bookshelf in my library next to the books of other outstanding fantasy writers.

Though these six books fit into the \"Sword & Sorcery\" genre created by Robert E. Howard, Leiber did not imitate Howard's very popular \"Conan\" tales, as so many other fantasy writers have done. Leiber's \"Fafhrd and Gray Mouser\" are unique characters in a very different fantasy world from Howards, their weird adventures have a completely different aura to them. Which is why I did this drawing so \"un-like\" those that I did with Howard's Conan character. ","96. Fantasy Newsletter 23.f8801158-7045-4bb8-8d42-f597b7f12929.jpg","\\artwork\\96. Fantasy Newsletter 23.f8801158-7045-4bb8-8d42-f597b7f12929.jpg",95,"Necropolis Title Page","95. NECROPOLIS - Title Page - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears as the title page in, \"Necropolis.\" by Basil Copper, published by Arkham House in 1980.

One of the problems an illustrator has to deal with occassionally, is the requirement to leave room in a drawing for lettering, some kind of text. Since this drawing was going to be used on the title page of the book, I had to leave space for lettering on the right side of the drawing; at the top-right I left space for the title and author's name, and on the bottom-right I left space for the publisher's name and address.

The drawing is therefore skewed, by neccessity, and when it was returned to me I had an urge to finish it. I've sold just about all the drawings and paintings that I've done throughout my career and I've always been tempted to \"finish\" them after publication. I only did it a couple of times, but I did not touch this one.

An Illustration, as a work of \"Art,\" can therefore be handicapped because of restrictions made on it by the publisher. Nevertheless, it is still a work of art and can be judged by the quality of its rendition.","97. Necropolis Title Page.8e429343-e3f9-47f7-8990-224fceae6609.jpg","\\artwork\\97. Necropolis Title Page.8e429343-e3f9-47f7-8990-224fceae6609.jpg",94,"Siva","94. SIVA - An acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 size canvas board. It appears on the cover of the paperback, \"SIVA\" written by Walt & Leigh Richmond, published by Ace Books.

Did you know that in the history of the publishing industry, as far back as the 1800s, perhaps even earlier, and up to about the 1960s, most publishers, as well as the artists who contributed artwork to them, considered the original artwork to be worthless after it had been prepared for printing? The originals were often thrown into trash bins after publication.

Thankfully, some of those artists cared enough about their artwork to ask that it be returned to them after publication. And we can also be grateful to those art-lovers who rescued some drawings and paintings from those trash bins.

Even in Hollywood, during the early years, many of the magnificent original movie poster paintings were periodically taken to a vacant lot and burned. I shudder to think of all the marvellous original artwork that was so senselessly destroyed!

Around the early 1960s things changed. Heightened appreciation of original popular art gave value to original drawings and paintings, and fans began buying and collecting them in large numbers. How much are they worth today? Well, If you purchased a few Frank Frazetta paperback cover paintings back in the 1960s, you probably paid, at most, a few hundred dollars for each one. Today, if you sold those Frazetta paintings you would become a MILLIONAIRE!","Siva.8e23d2b5-cfbc-40f5-8a26-eefe57efab2d.jpg","\\artwork\\Siva.8e23d2b5-cfbc-40f5-8a26-eefe57efab2d.jpg",93,"Crypt of Cthulhu No.61","93. CRYPT OF CTHULHU No. 61 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It is the cover on a fanzine published by Robert Price. Here again, as he did for Crypt No.16, the editor, Robert Price, asked me to spoof an \"EC\" comics title; in this case, \"MAD\" magazine.

I always made an effort to be versatile as an illustrator, from job to job I used a variety of papers; smooth, textured, scratchboard, watercolor. And I used a variety of drawing instruments; pen and ink, color pencils, brushes, and scratchboard tools. I used different techniques, different styles. The subjects I illustrated ranged from straight science fiction to fantasy, to comic book art . . .

One day I was reading a fanzine, \"Energumen,\" which featured a drawing of mine on the cover, and in the editorial the editor wrote nice things about my artwork, but ended with the comment that my artwork lacked \"versatility\". Which shook me up a bit, I lacked versatility? . . .

Years later I attended a SF convention in Buffalo NY where I met this editor for the first time, in a vestibule at the convention hall. He had a drink in his hand and was a bit unsteady on his feet. I took him gently by the elbow and led him to a nearby cushioned chair and said to him, \"better sit down Mike\". He sat down, took another sip of whatever he was drinking, looked up at me and said, \"Shteven, the thing I like mosht about your work is your vershatility\".

So there you are, the things you write for the public may be read by many, but they don't get to hear the things you say in private, when you have changed your opinion. That's why I think twice about writing something negative about someone in my website. And if you think I've been unfair to anyone, let me know. ","93. Crypt of Cthulhu No.61.f821d934-ce8e-4b00-a272-aeabf8933b79.jpg","\\artwork\\93. Crypt of Cthulhu No.61.f821d934-ce8e-4b00-a272-aeabf8933b79.jpg",92,"Crypt of Cthulhu No.25","92. CRYPT OF CTHULHU No.25 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It is the cover art for the fanzine booklet edited and published by Robert Price under his Cryptic Publications imprint. As with all the cover art that I did for Price's booklets, the artwork included all the lettering.

The lead story in this booklet, \"Gateway to Forever,\" by Frank B. Long is a sequel to his earlier story, \"The Hounds of Tindalos,\" that appears in a book by that same title, published by Arkham House in 1946. The dust jacket art for that book was drawn by Hannes Bok, so I used his style to make the cover of this booklet. It was my way of uniting the two publications.

Hannes Bok had a unique style that he used to create drawings and paintings for the world of fantasy and science fiction. His artwork added a special aura to every story he illustrated, he made every magazine and book that featured his artwork something special to own.

Centipede Press has published a huge collection of Bok's artwork, \"A Life in Illustration,\" if you admire Bok's art it will be worth the cost to you to own it.","157. Crypt of Cthulhu, No.25.3ef41384-7380-4390-9589-98106be771dd.jpg","\\artwork\\157. Crypt of Cthulhu, No.25.3ef41384-7380-4390-9589-98106be771dd.jpg",91,"Tales From the Crypt of Cthulhu No.16","91. TALES FROM THE CRYPT OF CTHULHU No.16 - A black ink drawing on 11 x 14 size vellum paper. For presentation on this web site I used my computer to add color to the drawing. Robert Price, the publisher and editor of this fanzine asked me to make the design of this cover look like that of the revered \"EC\" comic book cover designs of the 1950s, so I did.

USING LOGIC - I was taking a break one day, sitting on a chair sipping coffee on the back deck of my home, watching two sassa birds that were perched next to each other on the deck railing. Their backs were toward me and they were looking up at a tall tree in the neighbor's yard . . .

The Sassa bird on the left said to the other one, \"We can't do it Noah, it's impossible for us to fly up to the top of dat tree!\" Looking up at the tall tree Noah asked, \"Why is dat, George?\"

\"Because,\" said George, \"If we take off and stop when we're half way there, there's gonna be another half way point between us and the top of dat tree! And when we stop at dat half way point and look up, there's gonna be another half way point between us and the top! Dontcha see, Noah? Every time we stop at a halfway point there's always gonna be another half point left for us to fly!\" Noah didn't seem convinced. He said \"I'm not convinced, George!\"

At which point I attracted their attention with a throat-clearing, \"Ahem!\" And when they turned to face me I suggested, \"Why don't you two birds use a little logic to solve your paradox problem?\"

\"Logic?\" \"Paradox?\" Skeptically, Noah asked, \"How do we do dat?\"

I stood up from the chair and said, \"When you take off, don't stop at the half way points, just fly from the railing strait up to the top of the tree!\"

I watched them take off, took my last sip of coffee, and went back to work.","91. Crypt of Cthulhu, No.16.b6d852c6-fd79-4ef2-93f7-c663c94c7e28.jpg","\\artwork\\91. Crypt of Cthulhu, No.16.b6d852c6-fd79-4ef2-93f7-c663c94c7e28.jpg",90,"Backlash - Bookplate","90. BACKLASH, BOOKPLATE - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. A bookplate made for Peter Cushing.

When Philip Cushway sent me this commission, around 1980, he also offered me a commission to paint a poster for the notorious rock group, \"THE GRATEFUL DEAD\". At that time they were at the forefront of the drug culture, and you have no idea how much I despise that kind of life-style. So I decided not to accept the commission.

But my friend Sam Moskowitz, the SF Historian, chastised me for not accepting the job, pointing out to me that as a professional illustrator I do not have to like the people for whom I do artwork, just as a defense lawyer does not have to like a client in order to defend him, even if he knows the man is guilty. True, but it's still a choice, not an obligation, and I did have a lot of assignments ahead of me, so turning down the Grateful Dead job was not that hard a decision to make.

I know that decisions lead to consequences, and perhaps if I had painted a successful Grateful Dead poster it may have led me to bigger and better things. Maybe not. I have made three decisions in the past that changed my life dramatically; in 1949 I enlisted in the USAF and that decision took me into the world of electronics where I earned a living for 20 years. In 1955, I decided to marry a girl named Dorothy, and for 60 years I've been sharing my life with her. In 1974 I decided to make a major switch from electronics to illustration, not really knowing where I was going. But the truth is that the vehicle of life has no \"destination\". Choosing forks in the road of life is what its all about, until you run out of gas. So, when I came to the fork in the road where the sign said, \"Grateful Dead - that way >\" I turned the steering wheel and came THIS way, and here I am. No regrets.","90. Backlash Bookplate.1cd0c377-554e-479f-8621-ff4a7e3a964d.jpg","\\artwork\\90. Backlash Bookplate.1cd0c377-554e-479f-8621-ff4a7e3a964d.jpg",89,"Arms Out of Mind","89. ARMS OUT OF MIND - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"Far Future Calling\" by Olaf Stapledon, published by Oswald Train in 1979

Stapledon wrote four science fiction novels, the first of which appeared in 1930; \"Last and First Men,\" followed by, \"Starmaker,\" \"Odd John,\" and \"Sirius\". Reading Stapledon is a mind-bending experience, it is likely that after Stapledon's books were published, most of the inventive ideas that show up in the works of science fiction writers who came after him, probably had their genesis in his novels.

In fact, Stapledon's imagination is so incredibly immense and impressive in scope, it is hard to find any other science fiction writer to compare to him. Not Wells, not Verne, not Clarke, no one!

I will say this about what he wrote concerning man and his destiny in the far future; In his story of mankind, over time, the human race meets and adapts to all kinds of disasters that produce new environments to which men continue to adapt. And each adaptation produces meaningful changes to the very nature of who and what a \"man\" is. In the very far future, somewhere in deep space, men no longer look like, speak like, think like, or are even motivated to behave like, men of today . . .

So, who are they? Are they even \"human\" any more? I don't think so, all things we call \"human\" about ourselves they have probably eliminated from their consciousness. I cannot \"relate\" to Stapledon's man of the future.","89. Arms Out of Mind.005d1c7f-264b-4938-ae2e-c90a0174eeff.jpg","\\artwork\\89. Arms Out of Mind.005d1c7f-264b-4938-ae2e-c90a0174eeff.jpg",88,"Far Future Calling","88. FAR FUTURE CALLING - An acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 size canvas board. It appears on the dust jacket of the book, \"FAR FUTURE CALLING,\" by Olaf Stapledon, published by Oswald Train in 1979.

Oswald Train was one of the first publishers to hire me. I never met him in person or even talked to him on the phone. The Internet was just beginning to evolve, neither of us had a computer at that time, so email was not a possiblity either. A US Postman connected us, and when he delivered this assignment to me from Mr. Train I was very pleased, especially when I saw that the author was \"Olaf Stapledon\"!

Olaf Stapledon is widely considered the man who possessed the greatest imagination of the 20th century; in his book, \"Last and First Men,\" he wrote, in incredible detail, about the future of the human race over the next two billion years! Including future changes in philosophy, music, art, architecture, sports, religion, biology, sociology, and science. He inspired many modern day science fiction writers who read his books. His name belongs next to the great masters of imaginative literature; Edgar Allan Poe, Jules Verne, and H.G. Wells.","Far Future Calling.49cceb9b-dcee-473b-9e10-29815f67e725.jpg","\\artwork\\Far Future Calling.49cceb9b-dcee-473b-9e10-29815f67e725.jpg",87,"The Tower of the Elephant 5","87. THE TOWER OF THE ELEPHANT 5 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears as Plate 5 in my art folio based on the story by Robert E. Howard, \"THE TOWER OF THE ELEPHANT\". The folio was published by Bortner & Kruse in 1977.

Go take a walk in the woods and you will see dirt, rocks, plants, trees, and perhaps a pond. When the first men on Earth began living on this planet in just their bare behinds, that is all there was, just nature in the raw! Think of the challenge they faced! Day by day, year by year, decade by decade, they figured out a way to use nature's materials, to \"eat!\" to make \"clothes!\" to make a \"house!\" a \"light bulb!\" a \"car!\" a \"skyscraper!\" a \"computer!\" a \"spaceship!\" and all the other incredible inventions that make our lives easier than it would otherwise be. We are the beneficiaries of all that good stuff but nobody today ever thinks to thank them.

Today, nature is no longer the challenge for a person, society is. Think of how many years it takes you just to become educated enough to enter a trade or profession by which you can earn enough money to live comfortably in our society! You have to spend at least the first quarter of your life getting there!

For an artist it is tougher than you can imagine, few have the stamina, the perseverance to see it through. Mostly, an artist is alone, depending on his talent and determination to meet the challenge of earning a living. A lifetime of effort may go by without his ever achieving the reward of success. I read, recently, that only one in four would-be artists manages to earn a living with his artistry, the other 75% have to seek employment doing something else.

In the end an artist who makes it through life doing his \"thing\" should be satisfied that his lifetime of work was done honestly, with conviction and without self delusion. He should know that his artwork will eventually cast its own shadow on the field and seek it's own level of merit among the other created works of mankind.

\"When all else fades away in time, what will remain of mankind will be his art\". - Quotation found on a calendar page, beneath a mouth-painting by a handicapped artist.","131. Tower of the Elephant.f5eef08f-c955-42f2-84dd-ab3d229121b2.jpg","\\artwork\\131. Tower of the Elephant.f5eef08f-c955-42f2-84dd-ab3d229121b2.jpg",86,"The Tower of the Elephant 2","86. THE TOWER OF THE ELEPHANT, 2 - A black ink and black color pencil on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears as Plate 2 in my art folio based on the story by Robert E. Howard, \"THE TOWER OF THE ELEPHANT,\" published by Bortner and Kruse in 1977.

The moon in this drawing reminds me of the time, way back when most of my artwork was appearing on fanzine covers or inside their pages. One day I received a letter from a fan in which he wrote that I was a \"Lunatic,\" moon-crazy! He wrote that of the last ten drawings of mine that he saw in the fanzines, nine had a \"moon\" in them! . . .

Around that same time, give or take a couple of months, I received a letter from another fan informing me that the cover drawing I did for a specific fanzine he referred to, was all wrong; that the composition I started out with was circular, but I had broken the pattern near the top of the drawing. \"And that\" he wrote, was not acceptable in the art world . . .

I also remember someone telling me, around that same time period that the gun-fighter cowboy I drew in Robert E. Howard's book, \"The Vultures,\" was obviously copied from a photo of Chuck Connors, star of TV's, \"The Rifleman\".

So, believe it or not, there were times when I was about to add a moon in one of my drawings, but that \"lunatic\" letter came to mind and it made me pause to think whether I should, or should not add a moon in the picture. As for the \"circular composition\" letter, I just ignored it because being told what was \"not acceptable\" in the art world was ludicrous. And about my cowboy drawing being a copy from a photo of Chuck Connors, it is simply not true. And, I just remembered, it was Gerry de la Ree who made that claim, and though I swore to him that I did not copy Connors' photo, he did not believe me . . .

Critics! Though they are important, they can also be insufferable.","86. Tower of the Elephant P6.290cb2b6-3484-43fb-8d5f-8fbbea1c6abd.jpg","\\artwork\\86. Tower of the Elephant P6.290cb2b6-3484-43fb-8d5f-8fbbea1c6abd.jpg",85,"The Tower of the Elephant 4","85. THE TOWER OF THE ELEPHANT, 4 - A black ink and black color pencil on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in, \"THE TOWER OF THE ELEPHANT,\" my art folio based on a story by Robert E. Howard, and published by Bortner and Kruse in 1977.

Shortly before I started to work on this drawing I thought about all the \"composition\" lessons that I had read about in my Andrew Loomis art instruction books; all the geometric patterns that can be associated with any work of art.

So when I started to work on this drawing I decided to lay out a geometrical pattern to use for my composition. I began with the basics; I drew a vertical line from top to bottom about a third of way in from the left side of the paper. Then I drew a horizontal line from the left side of the paper to the right side, about a third of the way up from the bottom. And finally, I drew a diagonal line from the upper right corner to the bottom left corner.

If you can, imagine those pencil lines on this drawing. You will see that I placed all the objects to the left of the vertical line, and below the horizontal line. I then placed Conan along the diagonal line.

I seldom contained a drawing so strictly within a geometrical layout, but they are supposed to produce compositions that are naturally comfortable to the viewing eye, so I tried it. And it seems to be true, they \"Feel\" right.

This scene also appears in Item 199","85. Tower of the Elephant P4.1ca5b6f5-abf0-4df4-a5e1-fc648d99bb96.jpg","\\artwork\\85. Tower of the Elephant P4.1ca5b6f5-abf0-4df4-a5e1-fc648d99bb96.jpg",84,"The Tower of the Elephant 1","84. THE TOWER OF THE ELEPHANT, 1 - A black ink and black color pencil on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in, \"THE TOWER OF THE ELEPHANT,\" my art folio based on a Robert E. Howard story, published by Bortner and Kruse in 1977.

Whenever I did a drawing containing multiple figures, I first drew a rough sketch of each figure on a separate piece of tracing paper. I then positioned all the tracing papers onto a coquille board, moving all the figures around, reversing some, raising or lowering others, searching for an arrangement that looked balanced, trying to find a composition that \"feels\" right. And when I found one that satisfied me I stopped, transferred the figures onto the coquille board, and continued to work on the drawing to completion. That's how this picture was composed, as well as many others I drew that contained multiple figures and objects.","84. Tower of the Elephant P2.0aca4999-5c56-42f7-967a-617723c9c494.jpg","\\artwork\\84. Tower of the Elephant P2.0aca4999-5c56-42f7-967a-617723c9c494.jpg",83,"The Tower of the Elephant - Title Page","83. THE TOWER OF THE ELEPHANT: Title Page - A black ink and black color pencil on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears as the Title Plate in my art folio, \"THE TOWER OF THE ELEPHANT,\" based on a story by Robert E. Howard, and published by Bortner and Kruse in 1977.

When I received the offer from Bortner and Kruse to do this Art Folio I had to decide whether to accept royalty payments based on sales figures, or to opt for a one-time full payment. At this particular time my car was old and dying, so I decided to take full payment now and use the money to buy a new car.

Actually, the one time payment was half payment in advance, and the other half on delivery of the artwork. It took me two weeks to do the artwork and mail it to the publishers, and a few weeks later I went to pick up my brand new car.

I'll never know if I would have made more money by selecting royalty payments, but time and circumstance dictated which payment plan I chose, and once I made the decision I didn't worry about it.","83. Tower of the Elephant 1.b4f6c45f-0c8d-4e9b-ba46-4a4423ef2332.jpg","\\artwork\\83. Tower of the Elephant 1.b4f6c45f-0c8d-4e9b-ba46-4a4423ef2332.jpg",82,"Return of the Seafarer","82. RETURN OF THE SEAFARER - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. Fanzine illustration, publication unknown.

From the very beginning the effort I made in drawing a picture for a fanzine was no less than it was for a professional publisher. I don't ever remember working on a drawing quickly and saying to myself, \"good enough\" and mailing it off to a publisher. A very long time ago I learned that when you finish a job and say \"good enough,\" it probably means you did something less than you are capable of doing.

I had a phone conversation with writer Jack Vance, once, and asked him if he ever looked back at a published story of his and regretted not having done a better job of it, and he answered, \"of course! But, though we always strive for perfection it is just not attainable. So sorry, Steve, but you do actually reach a point when you just have to stop and tell yourself, \"good enough,\" because you can go on forever trying to make it better\".

So, I had to learn when to stop, when to decide that the artwork is finished. And now, since I had that phone conversation with Jack Vance, I sit back after I'm done with a drawing, or painting, look at it and say, \"Good enough, Jack!\"","Return of the Seafarer.58cd7069-67a9-483f-b9fc-cf9475768b0e.jpg","\\artwork\\Return of the Seafarer.58cd7069-67a9-483f-b9fc-cf9475768b0e.jpg",81,"81. SPOCK - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears on the cover of the Star Trek fanzine, \"ENTERPRISE INCIDENTS\".

When the Star Trek series began on TV so many years ago, I looked forward to watching the show, but as the series progressed from week to week I became less and less impressed by it and never became a \"Trekie\". I don't recall a single episode that had anything to do with the exploration of space in the Universe I know is out there.

They did indeed go \"where no man has gone before,\" but no man will ever go where they went. In one episode for example; they discover a distant world on which a \"human\" looking young man with super-mental powers is able to kill you by just willing you dead. He turns out to be the spoiled child of some super-duper parents who exist somewhere outside the universe, and because he is mis-behaving so badly, they whisk him back to wherever they exist. I was insulted by such nonsense.

The stories never met my expectations. But, the wonderful creation of the Star Trek crew, with Captain Kirk, Spock and the other crew members, and the \"transporter,\" carried the show to the popularity that it finally achieved. Lots of people enjoyed the series and loved the crew but I was never able to join them and be a part of that joy.","99. Spock.aba25cca-0688-4bea-80ac-4e07125638fd.jpg","\\artwork\\99. Spock.aba25cca-0688-4bea-80ac-4e07125638fd.jpg",80,"Black Vulmea's Vengeance","80. BLACK VULMEA'S VENGEANCE - A computer painting. This picture is the result of my reworking the image of an original acrylic painting that I did for the cover of a softcover book, \"Black Vulmea's Vengeance,\" by Robert E. Howard, published by Baronet Books. On that book the picture has a wrap-around format with the pirates on the front cover and the ship on the back cover.

When I delivered that painting to the publisher, whose office was in New York City, I experienced something that disturbed me, and for about 10 minutes I sat in a chair in front of the editor's desk wondering why I became an illustrator. He looked at the painting and said, \"I don't know good art from bad, so I always ask my secretary to decide if it's OK,\" and buzzed her on the intercom . . .

The secretary came in, took the painting without saying a word and left the room. I asked the editor why she couldn't make her decision here, in the office? He replied, \"Well, she actually doesn't decide all by herself, she takes the painting to some of the other offices in the building and shows it around to people she knows and gets their opinion. Sometimes she even goes out in front of the building and stops people passing by and asks them, \"If this picture was on the cover of a book would you buy the book?\"

I don't know what those people who looked at my painting said, but when the secretary came back she gave an affirmative nod to the editor who then told her to write me a check for the printing rights, as per contract.

When I told my friends at the monthly social meeting of how my artwork came to be accepted by Baronet Books, most of them thought it was a pretty good method! - But I don't!","149. BlackVulmea.d0fb9bbc-5ca5-49fd-8a6c-25ff806812e9.jpg","\\artwork\\149. BlackVulmea.d0fb9bbc-5ca5-49fd-8a6c-25ff806812e9.jpg",79,"Darktouch","79. DARKTOUCH - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appeared in, \"Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine,\" Jan. 1980 as a double title page illustration for the story, \"Darktouch,\" by Somtow Sucharitkul.

Knowing that this drawing would be a double page spread in the magazine, I divided the composition so that the center of the picture would contain nothing of importance visually because that section of the drawing would be lost in the \"gutter,\" where the staples in the spine would squeeze the center of the picture.

You would be surprised at how many times a picture in a magazine is destroyed visually, because the main subject in the drawing is squeezed in the gutter. Even as a young SF fan, when I was buying and collecting SF magazines, I would get annoyed when I saw the most important part of a drawing lost in the gutter.

Sometimes the artist is at fault because he knows that the drawing will be used as a double page spread, so why he would place the most important part of his drawing in the center of the composition is beyond me.

And sometimes the magazine layout person is at fault, I have seen a single full-page drawing positioned in the middle so that half of it is on the left side page and half on the right side page. The center of the picture is buried in the stapled gutter of the magazine. That really irks me, especially when the drawing is a portrait and I am looking at a face squeezed in the gutter!

By the time I became a freelance illustrator I was already aware of the problem and did my best to avoid it.","79. Darktouch.4d2338dd-7b4d-4f9c-b9e0-b86908edb0d0.jpg","\\artwork\\79. Darktouch.4d2338dd-7b4d-4f9c-b9e0-b86908edb0d0.jpg",78,"Hellhole 2","78. HELLHOLE 2 - A black ink and grey pencil drawing on 11 x 14 size coquille board. It illustrates the story, \"Hellhole\" by David Gerrold, published in \"Asimov's Science Fiction Adventure Magazine, Fall,1979.

Once in a while a story is published that contains a lot of the trappings that are associated with SF, like spacemen, alien planets, or time travel, but in my opinion, the story is not actually \"science ficion\" because the concept on which the story is based is commonplace, as is the plot in this story . . .

\"Hellhole,\" is a story in which a bear-like space-alien crashlands his spaceship on one end of an island on an alien planet. The crash starts a raging fire that begins to spread across the island. To save himself and other creatures who live on the island, the alien runs ahead and starts a controlled line of fire to burn out an area across the path of the approaching fire. When the raging fire reaches that burnt out area it has no more fuel to burn so it dies out and every one on the island is saved. Now, this method of fire control is not new, Firemen have used it for ages. Science fiction stories are supposed to feature original ideas, so I don't know why the editor accepted this story.

When I sent my drawing to the editor I did not include a note pointing out this problem with the story, as I might have done before. I had discovered earlier in my career that editors do not like to be edited. And, I did not want to interfere with the author's sale of the story.","Plate 4.91629753-df3b-4a12-8758-57b380ed5507.jpg","\\artwork\\Plate 4.91629753-df3b-4a12-8758-57b380ed5507.jpg",77,"Hellhole - 1","77. HELLHOLE 1 - An acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 size canvas board. It appears on the cover of, \"Asimov's Science Fiction Adventure Magazine, Fall, 1979\".

This picture is based on the story, \"Hellhole\" by David Gerrold. Sadly, this painting was lost while in possession of the publisher, and when that happens the contract requires the publisher to pay me for the loss, an amount equal to what I was paid for printing rights. Some time later I painted a second version of this scene for an art collector, but I did it on a smaller canvas size, 12 x 16.

I worked an average of five hours a day and don't remember ever working weekends. But there is this fact about my life as an illustrator, and it is probably true of other artists and writers; the creative work I did, the thinking part, was not limited to the time I sat at the drawing board. I spent time sitting at a table during a wedding reception thinking about the approach I was going to take with the Hodgson story I was illustrating. I spent time watching a movie on TV but not really paying attention to the movie, I was thinking instead, about the paperback cover I was working on. And, I spent time sitting on a toilet seat at a casino in Atlantic City thinking about the kind of drawings I should do for a book I was about to illustrate. And there were entire nights spent thinking about a project, instead of sleeping.

I did a lot of such \"thinking work\" before I went upstairs to my studio to draw or paint. Saying that I worked an average of 5 hours a day is misleading, those were the \"physical work\" hours only, they do not include the hard \"thinking\" hours. Actually, I don't believe that any artist, or writer, or any creative person, ever limits their work to a fixed time schedule of any kind. We are at \"work\" ALL the time.","Hellhole-1.b8d20392-3cb3-4add-8165-92f3e30c1479.jpg","\\artwork\\Hellhole-1.b8d20392-3cb3-4add-8165-92f3e30c1479.jpg",76,"Queen of the Black Coast - Title Page","76. QUEEN OF THE BLACK COAST, TITLE PAGE - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears on the title page in my art folio based on the story by Robert E. Howard, \"QUEEN OF THE BLACK COAST,\" published by Bortner and Kruse in 1976.

39 years have passed since I drew this picture of Conan in 1976, and still, this character created by Robert E. Howard way back in the 1930s for \"Weird Tales\" magazine, is popular today.

Incredible. When Howard wrote his Conan tales back then he had no idea how popular both he and his Conan stories would become in the future. His \"rediscovery\" began in 1950 when L. Sprague de Camp convinced publisher Martin Greenberg, of Gnome Press to publish an obscure pulp novel, \"Conan the Conqueror\" by Robert E. Howard. Imagine, 62 years later the reprinting of all of Howard's work is still going on.

Artists like myself have also taken advantage of Conan's popularity; beginning in the late 1960s the drawings that I made of Conan for fanzines alone provided enough income to sustain me during those early years when I began freelancing. So I owe thanks to Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague de Camp, and Martin Greenberg.","76. Queen of the Black Coast 6.8aaa030b-5a4a-4fe6-ad3e-331e8f34fc6f.jpg","\\artwork\\76. Queen of the Black Coast 6.8aaa030b-5a4a-4fe6-ad3e-331e8f34fc6f.jpg",75,"Queen of the Black Coast 6","75. QUEEN OF THE BLACK COAST 6 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears as Plate Six in my Conan art folio based on the story by Robert E. Howard, \"QUEEN OF THE BLACK COAST\". The folio was published by Bortner and Kruse in 1976.

When it came to working with black ink and a black color pencil on coquille board, there was no chance of erasing mistakes, every detail had to be worked out in the early pencil stage. In this picture my concern with making mistakes had to do with finishing the ghostly figure of Belit emerging between Conan and the winged ape. I took my time and did some very delicate shading to the lower part of her figure to show her ghostly transparency.","75. Queen of the Black Coast 5.e845be3f-d070-460a-9586-09c659f99bd5.jpg","\\artwork\\75. Queen of the Black Coast 5.e845be3f-d070-460a-9586-09c659f99bd5.jpg",74,"Queen of the Black Coast 4","74. QUEEN OF THE BLACK COAST 4 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears as Plate 4 in my 1976 Conan art folio, \"QUEEN OF THE BLACK COAST,\" based on the story by Robert E. Howard, published by Bortner & Kruse.

In this picture, Conan is preparing Belit for burial at sea. I had difficulty deciding whether the expression on his face should be mad, or sad.

* * *

Death in fiction mirrors death in real life.
In real life when someone dies . . . a bell tolls;

No human is an island unto itself, we are all part of the main,
Anyone's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee . . .
John Donne","74. Queen of the Black Coast 4.0c9a6247-bd34-4c5e-b32d-137753ff5c56.jpg","\\artwork\\74. Queen of the Black Coast 4.0c9a6247-bd34-4c5e-b32d-137753ff5c56.jpg",73,"Queen of the Black Coast 5","73. QUEEN OF THE BLACK COAST 5 - A black ink and black color pencil on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears as Plate 5 in my art folio based on the story by Robert E. Howard, \"QUEEN OF THE BLACK COAST,\" published by Bortner and Kruse in 1976.

When I was learning to draw I sometimes came across a \"how to\" art book written and illustrated by an artist who did not believe it was necessary to learn about all those bones and things that are inside the bodies of humans and animals. What you see, they wrote, is all you need to know.

And that is true if you are painting a portrait and are looking at a person posing for you. Or you are out in the wilderness painting an animal in it's natural habitat. But for an illustrator like myself, models and wilderness treks are not part of our modus operandi. I ignored those \"You don't need to know\" instructions, and went ahead and learned a few things about anatomy.

In most cases I had to create the people and animals I drew, as well as having to place them in poses and situations dictated by the story I was illustrating. As in this case, where I created a scene from the story in which hyenas are attacking Conan. I did not have \"models\" to look at. So, unless I had some fundamental knowledge about the skeletal structure inside people and animals it is unlikely that I could draw them convincingly.

That's also why every illustrator needs to have a picture file, sometimes called a \"morgue,\" to collect pictures of everything as source material. Though I had pictures of hyenas in my morgue, none were in poses I needed. But I studied the pictures to learn where the joints of the hyena's shoulders and feet were, and how their spinal curves flowed, in order to imagine them properly in the poses I gave them.","73. Queen of the Black Coast 3.49e813cf-8767-4012-9135-28f2e08334b1.jpg","\\artwork\\73. Queen of the Black Coast 3.49e813cf-8767-4012-9135-28f2e08334b1.jpg",72,"Queen of the Black Coast 1","72. QUEEN OF THE BLACK COAST: 1 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears as Plate 1 in my folio, \"QUEEN OF THE BLACK COAST,\" based on the story by Robert E. Howard, published by Bortner & Kruse in 1976. The drawing was reprinted on the cover of the fanzine, \"REH: Two-Gun Raconteur, No.5\".

Whenever a drawing I was working on involved a violent scene I had to decide how far to go with the \"gory\" details. Today, violence on film, on television, and in comic books sometimes reaches a level of grossness I find hard to stomache. When this drawing was in the first pencil sketch stage I had Conan's sword swinging down just above the native warriors head, I did not go so far as to show the head being lopped off, I thought that would be too gross. But when the sketch was about done I looked at it and changed my mind, against my better judgment I decided that the scene was truly a bloody one and I needed to show that. So I did, and \"whop\" went the head! Sorry about that!

Art has this in common with the way we go through life doing things; In Art, as in Life, it is knowing \"where to draw the line\".
- G.K. Chesterton -","Queen of the Black Coast 1.36145b42-9b22-4e4d-a611-7ef461f49234.jpg","\\artwork\\Queen of the Black Coast 1.36145b42-9b22-4e4d-a611-7ef461f49234.jpg",71,"Queen of the Black Coast 2","71. QUEEN OF THE BLACK COAST 2 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears as Plate 2 in my art folio that is based on the story, \"QUEEN OF THE BLACK COAST,\" by Robert E. Howard.

As an illustrator I also pretended to be a movie director when designing a particular scene to draw (shoot). For this picture I decided to place Conan at the back of the ship, put Belit up on the Poop deck covered with animal furs, and place my camera angle (your viewing angle) so that both Conan and you would be looking up at Belit as she does her dance.

Learning about \"composition,\" increased my appreciation of what movie directors do. When I watch a movie now, not only am I following the storyline, the actors, and any special effects going on, I am also aware of the director's placement of the camera, his viewing angle and scene compositions. I doubt if most movie goers are aware of, or appreciate the director's input, which is a subtle part of the film and a very important part of the viewing experience.","71. Queen of the Black Coast 1.f1579c0c-4163-4093-ad8c-b0c4f68748ea.jpg","\\artwork\\71. Queen of the Black Coast 1.f1579c0c-4163-4093-ad8c-b0c4f68748ea.jpg",70,"Night Mares","70. NIGHT MARES - A black, white and grey acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 size canvas board. This spare-time painting was done circa 1980.

The inspiration for this painting came when I glanced at the title of Nelson Bond's book \"Nightmares and Daydreams\". I read the first word in the title as \"Night Mares,\" and thought of wild stallions stampeding in the moonlight. I decided to paint it.

When my son Steve found out that I had sold the painting he was a bit disappointed, he had seen the painting when I was about three quarters of the way done with it and had hoped I would give it to him. I didn't know that, so later, since he is a supporter of the \"Save the Wolves\" activists, I painted \"Wolves\" for him (picture 169) and I feel good about that.

Actually, my website was created and designed by Steve, he's been involved in computer science and technology for over 20 years and is often invited by companies and organizations, both in the USA and abroad, to lecture on the subject.

One Christmas day after finishing a delicious meal prepared by Steve and his wife, Debi, we all gathered in the living room as is our annual custom, to open our presents. One of the presents handed to me was an 8.5 x 11 inch envelope containing a photo of the opening graphic presentation of this website. Above the photo were the words, \"Merry Christmas Dad! We've bought you a new home, an online home, that is. Your website address is: http://www.stephenfabian.com - Love Debi, Steve and all the Puppies.\"

So that's why you are able to visit me here at my internet home.","3.12 - Night Mares.3712c6dc-281c-4df2-8f94-51eb480328b0.jpg","\\artwork\\3.12 - Night Mares.3712c6dc-281c-4df2-8f94-51eb480328b0.jpg",69,"Piper's Wait","69. PIPER'S WAIT - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the magazine, \"Worlds of Fantasy and Horror, Spring, 1995.

The design of a drawing is important because it is an essential part of the esthetics of the artwork, it helps make the drawing more appealing to the eye. Many golden age illustrators embellished their drawings with decorative designs. So I thought I would do the same on this drawing.

In addition to drawing a decorative design to unite the two figures, I also decided to put the entire black and white drawing against a grey background with a black border to add one more element to the esthetics of the drawing.","Plate 14.8b34a9be-dd91-4194-83a5-92b4fc5efa92.jpg","\\artwork\\Plate 14.8b34a9be-dd91-4194-83a5-92b4fc5efa92.jpg",68,"And Afterward the Dark","68. AND AFTERWARD THE DARK - A black ink and color pencil drawing on a 9 x 12 size poster board. It appears on the dust jacket of the book, \"And Afterward the Dark\" by Basil Copper, published by Arkham House in 1977.

Jim Turner was editor at this time and when he phoned to offer me $1000 to do the DJ art for this book, he asked for a preliminary color sketch first for his approval. When he got it he phoned and said, \"This is good enough to use as is, Steve, no need to do a finished painting.\" So I got paid $150 for the preliminary sketch instead of the $1000 I would have earned had I gone ahead with a finished painting. Turner did that to me three times before I wizened up and made my preliminary sketches so rough that he had no choice but to ask me to go ahead and do a finished painting.

Actually, for most book and magazine cover assignments I was not asked to do preliminary sketches, only Turner at Arkham House and the editor at Zebra Books asked for them.","2.31 - And Afterward the Dark.8fe8283b-0d41-408e-b5ee-c44feaced5ea.jpg","\\artwork\\2.31 - And Afterward the Dark.8fe8283b-0d41-408e-b5ee-c44feaced5ea.jpg",67,"Ballet Dancers","67. BALLET DANCERS - .A scratch-tool drawing on a 9 x 12 size white scratchboard sheet That I did for my book, \"The Best of Stephen Fabian,\" published by Loompanics in 1976.

Drawing the human figure correctly is fundamental to anyone who wants to be a professional illustrator. There are exceptions of course, Mel Hunter was not very good at drawing people but he managed to have a successful career because he was outstanding at painting astronomical scenes, alien landscapes, and spaceships. The great Chesley Bonestell also concentrated on painting astronomical scenes, any humans he painted were usually in miniature form hidden inside bulky spacesuits.

But, if you want to broaden the field for your illustrations you need to be good at drawing and painting the human figure. When I began learning to draw I had every intention of being able to draw any subject, and the first important lesson I learned was that my sense of observation had to improve, I had to become more aware of the nature of the subject I was looking at. The art instruction book I was reading directed me to look at my own fingers and to notice that each finger has three bones, and that each bone on a finger is progressively shorter toward the tip of the finger. That arrangement gives the hand muscles leverage over the fingers, the strength for grasping things.

In this scratchboard drawing I was careful to apply three other lessons given in that book: The first one; There are no straight lines in nature, including the human figure, restrict your straight lines to those in man-made objects. The second one; Light and shadow reveal the form of things, let the \"light\" guide your hand as you draw the shapes of things. And the third one; \"Emotion,\" is important when drawing humans. If you put \"feelings\" into your characters, the viewers will experience that \"feeling\". Look at the dancers in my drawing, can you feel the emotions I put into them?","67. BalletDancers.2050452e-1066-424b-a006-a260a9248b79.jpg","\\artwork\\67. BalletDancers.2050452e-1066-424b-a006-a260a9248b79.jpg",66,"She","66. SHE - A black ink and gray color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It was drawn for my book, \"The Best of Stephen Fabian\", published by Loompanics in 1976.

I used a movie photo to draw the likeness of Ursula Andress who played the title role in the film, \"SHE\". Shortly before I drew the picture I had read a statement in an art magazine by an artist who wrote, \"If you can do a good drawing or painting of a beautiful woman, you should have no problem selling your artwork\".

With that bit of knowledge in mind I made a special effort at drawing beautiful women. And over the years I have found it to be true, any picture I drew or painted of a beautiful woman sold as soon as I made it available for sale. It was really good to be able to take advantage of that knowledge, and whenever I needed some extra cash I would draw or paint a picture of a beautiful woman, and sure enough, when some art collector phoned, as they frequently did to ask if I had any artwork for sale, I had that beauty ready to show them, and they bought it.","She.74559cfe-e5d0-4b3b-8297-28ef2104509f.jpg","\\artwork\\She.74559cfe-e5d0-4b3b-8297-28ef2104509f.jpg",65,"Rescue in Space","65. RESCUE IN SPACE - A scratch-tool drawing on a 9 x 12 size black scratchboard sheet. It was done for my art book, \"The Best of Stephen Fabian\" in 1976.

This drawing was an early effort I made at using scratchboard materials. While scratching away at this drawing I wondered what it felt like to be weightless in space, to see planet Earth floating in the immensity of space. I recalled watching television in 1969, seeing Neil Armstrong walk on the moon and I felt overwhelmed with pride as an American. But things have changed since then, and my pride is waning . . .

Where once we led the world in Space exploration, we have stepped back and allowed other nations to take the lead.
Where once we led the world in industry, most of the products we used to make in America, are now being made in other countries.
Where once we were the richest nation in the world, today we are 18 trillion dollars in debt, and half the people in America now depend on some form of government assistance to survive!
Where once our children were rated among the best educated in the world, they now rank down among the mediocre on the list of nations. We have been raising masses of shamefully ignorant Americans for several generations.
Where once we had the best health-care system in the world, the government has taken control of it, and because bureaucrats are the worst managers in the world, our health care systen is now becoming \"un-manageable\" for most working middle-class Americans.
Where once we had the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion, those freedoms are now being restricted.
Where once our nation was the only nation on earth capable of holding evil nations and evil organizations in check, we now shirk from the responsibility. And when the good step back, the evil step up . . . Behold the rise of Isis . . .

Last night I had a dream. I saw the Statue of Liberty turn around on her pedestal. She extended her torch up and over the entire nation, and with a frown on her face and frustration in her voice, she shouted, \"WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON HERE?\"","Space Rescue.ad728c57-fb2c-4c4d-ba5a-b0d20a949f4c.jpg","\\artwork\\Space Rescue.ad728c57-fb2c-4c4d-ba5a-b0d20a949f4c.jpg",64,"A Letter From God","64. A LETTER FROM GOD - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the Ace Paperback, \"DESTINIES, Winter, 1981\".

There is a small booklet titled, \"One Solitary Life,\" that tells a story about a man who lived over two thousand years ago. He never owned anything, never had a family of his own, never went to school, never traveled more than 200 miles from the place of his birth. He did none of the things that great men of history are noted for. He is noted for delivering a message from \"God\". But he was called a troublemaker by his enemies and they pressured the Roman Authorities to get rid of him. They did, he was arrested, convicted, and nailed to a cross.

But such are the ways of men that twenty centuries have passed since he was crucified, and yet the memory of that \"Man\" and the meaning of the \"Message\" are still with us, to inspire and influence our progress. All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the kings and governments that ever ruled, put together, have not affected the life of man as much as that \"One Solitary Life\".

Think of the difference between the lives of men; from the many whose destiny is to accomplish nothing and be completely forgotten and unrecorded in the history of man, to those few in each generation whose influence on the destiny of mankind is profound. The difference between the two is like the distance between the stars.","Letter From God.70f33f9a-0fec-4eaa-b435-d19fac163149.jpg","\\artwork\\Letter From God.70f33f9a-0fec-4eaa-b435-d19fac163149.jpg",63,"Balik","63. BALIK - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears on the cover of \"Balik\", a fanzine that was written and published by Clifford Bird, assisted by his wife, Sheila.

In the mid 1970s I was attempting to use a variety of drawing papers so I could try a variety of drawing techniques. This drawing was done on coquille board which is a \"dimpled\" paper, it has a texture that allows an artist to achieve the illusion of \"shading\" on a drawing, to make an area appear to go from dark to light even though \"black\" is the only tone in the shaded area. You achieve this effect by pressing the black pencil down on the area where you want it to appear dark, crushing the dimples so that none of the white of the paper appears in that area. As you go toward the area you want to appear light, you lessen the pressure against the dimples so that some of the white of the paper begins to appear, and as you continue to lessen the pressure more white appears. Eventually, you are pressing just hard enough to blacken the tips of the dimples in the lightest area.

This technique, often referred to as \"stipple,\" is useful when a publisher uses cheap, low quality paper that is incapable of reproducing pictures with delicate shades of \"gray\". On this textured (stipple) paper the smallest dot is still \"black\", so there is less chance of losing any of the light shaded parts of a drawing. I used coquille board often, for both fanzine and professional publications.

The famous illustrator, Virgil Finlay did not use coquille board to do illustrations for the pulps, but he did use a stipple technique to overcome the inadequacies of the cheap paper they used. He used a very thin pen-point that he dipped into an ink bottle and made each dot on a drawing one at a time; thousands of dots in a relatively dark area, reducing the number of dots as he \"shaded\" his way to the lightest area. I don't know where he got that kind of patience, and amazingly he did it over his entire career. I consider the best of his drawings to be masterpieces.","Balik-Fanzine Cover.15face09-7084-4804-9187-c6f1c30d3ce2.jpg","\\artwork\\Balik-Fanzine Cover.15face09-7084-4804-9187-c6f1c30d3ce2.jpg",62,"Outworlds","62. - OUTWORLDS - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x14 size coquille board. It appears on the cover of, \"Outworlds, No.28-29,\" a fanzine published by Bill Bowers in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Bill Bowers was one of that first group of fanzine editors who gave me a place to show my artwork, he even featured a \"Fabian\" page in each issue. \"Fanzines\" are magazines printed and financed by a \"fan\" of science fiction as a hobby, primarily devoted to some aspect of science fiction and fantasy. They publish articles, letters, and lots of artwork, with contributions by both fans and pros.

I often received a sample copy of a SF fanzine with a note from the publisher/editor asking me to contribute some artwork to him for a future issue. I always looked through these sample issues before deciding if I wanted to draw something for that specific editor, and early on I rarely turned them down. Having my drawings printed in those fanzines was like getting free advertising of my artwork.

With Outworlds however, it seemed that the contributors were not really fans of science fiction literature, they seemed to be \"groupies\" who went around the country attending SF conventions, and most of the contents of \"Outworlds\" had to do with their social activities which had nothing to do with science fiction. But, I liked Bill so I contributed to his fanzine until he stopped publishing after a couple of years.","Outworlds-28-29bw-2.3165003d-11ac-4327-831c-f1ab1d055225.jpg","\\artwork\\Outworlds-28-29bw-2.3165003d-11ac-4327-831c-f1ab1d055225.jpg",61,"The Dark Destroyer","61. THE DARK DESTROYER - An acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 size canvas board. It appears on the cover of, \"Amazing Jan.1976,\" and is based on the lead story, \"The Dark Destroyer,\" by Jack Williamson.

Jack Williamson passed away in 2006. He was the last of the great pioneers of American science fiction. He began selling stories to the pulp magazines way back in 1928, and amazingly, he was able to keep up with the changing times. For decade after decade he competed with new young writers that came along generation after generation and for over 75 years his wonderful stories appeared regularly in magazines and books. I can't think of any other writer who managed to be so good for so long. It was an honor to read and illustrate some of his stories.","AMZ-76-01.afc875fd-173e-4f6b-9676-c41fe34bf8c3.jpg","\\artwork\\AMZ-76-01.afc875fd-173e-4f6b-9676-c41fe34bf8c3.jpg",60,"Beyond Illusion","60. BEYOND ILLUSION - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears on the cover of the fanzine, \"Beyond Illusion,\" published in 1980. The drawing was my tribute to artist, Hannes Bok. It is not a \"copy,\" of one of his drawings, I created the scene. But, I imitated Bok's style to do my \"tribute\" drawing, and that's OK in the art world.

Hannes Bok highly admired the wonderful artwork of Maxfield Parrish, a giant in the publishing industry during the Golden age of magazine and book publication, mostly between 1920 and the 1940s. The influence that Parrish had on Bok is evident in the landscapes Bok painted. He visited Parrish at his home once and I can imagine how inspired Bok became after talking with Parrish and looking at his original paintings.

But it's sad to think of how Bok's precious life was spent in hopeful dreams of having a successful art career that was destined never to happen. By the late 1950s all the pulp magazines were gone, and so were most of the small press fantasy book publishers. Bok was left with almost no place to sell his artwork. Tragically, he ended up writing articles for astrology magazines, a poor and undernourished recluse. He died of a heart attack in 1964. He was only 49 years old.","60. Beyond Illusion.5dd254b1-993b-4d45-a40c-ea2d7e0fc72b.jpg","\\artwork\\60. Beyond Illusion.5dd254b1-993b-4d45-a40c-ea2d7e0fc72b.jpg",59,"Dat Tay Vao","59. DAT TAY VAO - A black ink and grey pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in \"Amazing, March, 1987,\" as a double page spread illustrating the story \"Dat Tay Vao\" by F. Paul Wilson.

I also did the lettering you see in the upper left part of the picture. It was done on a clear overlay sheet so it is not part of the drawing. Since the picture area there is dark and my lettering was black, I included instructions to print the lettering in white ink. I don't know why it wasn't done, someone in the editors office was sleeping on the job.

This is the kind of story that tests an illustrator's professionalism. It relates to a specific time and place in real history, and in this case the story location is Vietnam. The old Vietnamese man, the boat, and the soldiers that I decided to draw had to look authentic. And after going through my \"morgue\" files and coming up empty I took a trip to my local library. I managed to find a few books dealing with the Vietnam war that contained photos of all the subjects I needed for drawing my picture.

All my resource files (the morgue) are contained in a two-drawer file cabinet. But I must tell you that I once received a phone call from illustrator Dan Adkins who told me that he actually had \"23 Four-drawer\" file cabinets filled with resource material. I just can't imagine the room that those 23 cabinets took up, but what kind of index system does he have to find things in all those cabinets, because most pictures often contain several subjects of interest, like a picture featuring a great looking wild animal, an impressive landscape, good figures of a man and a beautiful woman in hunting attire, under a unique dramatic sky. In what folder do you put it?","154. AMZ-87-03-DatTayVao.13d42bb7-3ee2-464d-a368-3b9614cc968c.jpg","\\artwork\\154. AMZ-87-03-DatTayVao.13d42bb7-3ee2-464d-a368-3b9614cc968c.jpg",58,"Amazing, March 1987","58. AMAZING, MARCH 1987 - An acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 size canvas board.

This cover reminds me of the long ago times when I was a young man who would stand at magazine racks in candy stores looking for SF magazines to buy. I always anticipated seeing wonderful cover art on the new issues, but sometimes I was really disappointed. I remember looking at the cover of the January, 1950 issue of \"Astounding SF,\" it featured a hairy hand reaching into space. It was so ugly I thought about tearing it off. At another time I picked up the April, 1961 issue of the \"Magazine of Fantasy & SF\". It featured a half peeled banana floating in space on the cover. How on Earth could the editors of these two magazines think that that cover art would attract and entice me, or anyone else for that matter, to want to buy the magazine?

I've always thought that a magazine cover should not only feature artwork designed to attract readers, it should have a quality high enough that someone would want to buy the original artwork, or at least a copy of it to frame and hang on a wall in their home. I recently spent some time browsing through my collection of SF and fantasy magazines dating back to the 1940s, and I'm pleased to see that very few of the covers are as unattractive as the covers I described above. And while browsing I was once again treated to the wonderful artwork of Virgil Finlay, Rudolph Belarski, Baumhofer, Rozen, Bergey, Hannes Bok, Edd Cartier, Kelly Freas, Ed Emshwiller, R.G. Jones, Lawrence, Hubert Rogers, and others.

When the editor asked me to paint an Octopus writing on the wall of a cavern beneath the sea, I was not very happy because I relied on the sales of my original paintings and drawings to beef up my total income. I didn't think my usual clients would be interested in an octopus painting. But, I was wrong, I sold it soon after the magazine was published.","58. AMZ-87-03.c88103de-5005-41d1-aada-1dddc1ec1f8a.jpg","\\artwork\\58. AMZ-87-03.c88103de-5005-41d1-aada-1dddc1ec1f8a.jpg",57,"STALLIONS OF THE MOON","57. STALLIONS OF THE MOON - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on 11 x 14 coquille board. It appears in the book, \"In Mayan Splendor,\" by Frank Belknap Long, published by Arkham House in 1977.

I've always enjoyed reading Mr. Long's SF and fantasy stories. He wrote most of them during the \"Golden Age\" of pulp magazines, the 1930s and 1940s, but he barely managed to earn a living. When that period ended in the 1950s and there were no more pulp magazines being published, he struggled to survive as a writer as best he could, selling his stories to a paperback market that paid very little, unless you were a \"best-selling\" author. His few hardcover books sold in small numbers so I doubt there were any royalty payments. I saw Mr. Long at a World Fantasy Convention once, he was in the last years of his life. I'm sorry I did not go over and introduce myself, after all, I liked his work and I did illustrate his book!

Frank Belknap Long's career actually spanned seven decades during which he wrote some wonderful stories. His work was admired by his peers; In 1977 he was named to the \"First Fandom Hall of Fame\". In 1978 he was given a \"Lifetime Achievement Award\" at the World Fantasy Convention. And in 1987 he was given another \"Lifetime Achievement Award'\" by the Bram Stoker Society.

For all those years that he spent writing noteworthy stories, they gave him awards, but he did not earn enough money to live a decent life. And when he died in 1994 he had no money at all, so they buried him in a potters field for indigents.

The shame of it made his few friends gather enough money to move his remains to Woodlawn Cemetery in NY. His wife Lyda died shortly after, her ashes were spread over his grave.","Stallions of the Moon.e575dede-eb63-4e2f-8a13-bad2be013d60.jpg","\\artwork\\Stallions of the Moon.e575dede-eb63-4e2f-8a13-bad2be013d60.jpg",56,"In Mayan Splendor","56. IN MAYAN SPLENDOR - A Black ink and black color pencil drawing on 11 x 14 size coquille board. It is the frontispiece in the book, \"In Mayan Splendor,\" a book of early verse by Frank Belknap Long, published by Arkham House in 1977.

One day while I was working on a drawing I received a phone call from an elderly woman who identified herself as \"Lyda,\" the wife of author Frank Belknap Long who wrote this book. She called to tell me how much she adored the artwork I did for Frank's book and then went on to tell me about the book that she, herself, had written, her autobiography, and how sure she was that it would be a best-seller. Big-time publishers were offering her sinful sums of money for the printing rights, Broadway producers were calling, wanting to do the book as a musical, Hollywood agents were frantically trying to reach her. It was all so thrilling!

She then turned to the real reason for calling; she wanted me to illustrate her book and suggested we meet at the Russian Tea Room in NY to discuss it. And, If we had time we might also talk about my doing the stage sets for the broadway musical that she was sure would be made.

It was all so sad because some time ago friends had told me about how Frank and Lyda were living in poverty, how Lyda was phoning people she thought might help, asking them to meet her at a popular NY restaurant to discuss her wonderful book. There was no book! The publishers, producers, agents, they were all delusions she was suffering. She thought of herself and Frank as \"bohemians,\" happily living in a world of art and the theatre.

Somehow I managed to tell her that regrettably, I was too busy, I just didn't have the time. I told her how happy I was for her, wished her good luck and politely said goodbye. When I went back to work I wondered why I felt so bad . . .","130. In Mayan Splendor.228f2f7e-e7a5-4088-b55f-73cbc7937c70.jpg","\\artwork\\130. In Mayan Splendor.228f2f7e-e7a5-4088-b55f-73cbc7937c70.jpg",55,"The Last Redoubt","55. THE LAST REDOUBT - A computer generated painting. It appears in the book, \"Masters of the Weird Tale: Hodgson'\" by William Hope Hodgson, published by Centipede Press in 2009. It is one of the \"Night Land\" illustrations.

\"The Night Land\" is a long masterful fantasy novel that belongs on every fantasy lovers bookshelf. The story takes place in the very far future when the sun is dying, the Earth is in darkness, and the last survivors of the human race are huddled in two huge pyramid-like structures separated half a world apart. Between them the landscape is desolated, filled with horrors unimaginable. Among the survivors in pyramid one lives a man called \"X,\" and among the survivors in the other pyramid lives Naana, the woman he loves. \"X\" decides to leave the safety of his pyramid and cross the \"Night Land\" to unite with his love, and the incredible adventure begins.

I prefer the shorter version, \"The Dream of X\" because in the longer version, \"The Night Land,\" the terrible adventures that \"X\" experiences while crossing the long and dangerous landscape go on and on until they begin to wear on your mind, and as good as the novel is, the continual confrontation of horrors come dangerously close to becoming tiresome. No doubt other Hodgson fans disagree with my opinion.","2.11 - The Last Redoubt of Human Life.727fd9e4-4682-4bb6-8983-933600db29d0.jpg","\\artwork\\2.11 - The Last Redoubt of Human Life.727fd9e4-4682-4bb6-8983-933600db29d0.jpg",54,"The Lesser Redoubt","54. THE LESSER REDOUBT - A black ink and gray color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the book, \"The Dream of X,\" by William Hope Hodgson, published by Grant in 1977. This drawing also appears in the new collection of Hodgson stories titled, \"Masters of the Weird Tale: Hodgson,\" published by Centipede Press in 2009.

One of the challenges I had to deal with in this book, was in creating the right feeling for each scene that I decided to illustrate. No matter how unusual a scene, it has to look convincing, and since I was creating these drawings strictly from my imagination, they were not likely to look convincing unless I had some vivid images in my mind regarding the landscapes, and making the effort to draw them carefully into a unified set.

One of the scenes I chose to illustrate was this one, when the man called \"X,\" after a long and hazardous journey across half the Earth, finally sees the \"Lesser Redoubt\" in which his great love, Naana resides. My intention here was to give the reader a sense of the long journey that has transpired, and the enormity of the challenge he still faces to get to the Lesser Redoubt. To do that I made him very small in size and placed him deep into the landscape.","54. The Lesser Redoubt.3702e49f-eb0d-4d30-a9cf-394d446bdea6.jpg","\\artwork\\54. The Lesser Redoubt.3702e49f-eb0d-4d30-a9cf-394d446bdea6.jpg",53,"Watcher of the South","53. WATCHER OF THE SOUTH - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the book, \"The Dream of X,\" by William Hope Hodgson, published by Grant in 1977. This drawing also appears in \"Masters of the Weird Tale: Hodgson,\" by Centipede Press, 2009.

Is it possible for some form of \"life\" to exist other than the kind we living creatures on Earth experience? A soul-less thing having awareness and volition? That alien concept was what I had in mind when I drew the strange creatures in this novel.

One of my goals in this website was to inform you of how I went about drawing some of the pictures that appear here. But the fact is, no matter what tools I used, or what art principles I applied, or what concept I came up with, it was the visual esthetic quality of the drawing that I produced, that mattered. And the key producer of artwork is \"talent,\" which is that mysterious bugger inside us that I cannot explain.

There are no strict rules about producing pictures and no two artists go about illustrating a book in the exact same way because each artist has a different mind-set, imagination, and craftsmanship.

No other artist, in the past, in the present, or in the future, could have produced the artwork that I did for this book. Which is why this book is unique, which is why any book produced by any artist is unique.

What really matters is that I enjoyed reading and doing the artwork for this book, and I hope that those who purchased it not only enjoyed the reading experience, but also enjoyed looking at my artwork.","53. Watcher of the South.89cd4bc2-19d2-4844-bd51-df612d6be060.jpg","\\artwork\\53. Watcher of the South.89cd4bc2-19d2-4844-bd51-df612d6be060.jpg",52,"I Took Her Into Mine Arms","52. I TOOK HER INTO MINE ARMS - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears in the book, \"The Dream of X,\" by William Hope Hodgson, published by Donald Grant in 1977.

This drawing also appears in the book, \"Masters of the Weird Tale: Hodgson,\" published by Centipede Press in 2009.

This picture is one of my favorites; it implies a great love between a man and a woman, it implies a great struggle overcome to unite that love, it implies a heroic nature in human souls that may very well give meaning and purpose to life and the universe.

* * *

Desideratum 1:
In this infinite universe in which I live, everything is moving along as it should. As I move along with it I empty my mind of anxiety, of fear, of insecurity, of worry. All things will come to me in my journey through time and space as I need them.","92. I Took Her Into Mine Arms.98ad79bb-09bd-4223-906c-0198485ebbe0.jpg","\\artwork\\92. I Took Her Into Mine Arms.98ad79bb-09bd-4223-906c-0198485ebbe0.jpg",51,"The North-West Watcher","51. THE NORTH-WEST WATCHER - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size Vellum paper. It appears in the book, \"The Dream of X,\" by William Hope Hodgson, published by Donald Grant in 1977. It also appears in the book, \"Masters of the Weird Tale: Hodgson,\" published by Centipede Press in 2009.

A very weird thing happened with this project, I drew each picture using black and gray color pencils, and after I finished each picture I sprayed it with \"fix-a-tif\" to give it a protective coating. When I had about half the drawings done I noticed that the first few were becoming tinted with color, all by themselves. And when all the drawings were finished they had mysteriously become beautifully tinted with color, as you see here. Hard to believe!

I could think of nothing to do about the added colors, in fact I really liked the strange hues they now had. So I mailed them to Grant and waited for the book to be published. After the book was published and I got my complimentary copies, I was really pleased with the results but I was also a bit perplexed about what made the drawings take on those colors?

When the publisher returned my drawings I stored them in a drawer. A few months later I received a call from an art collector who wanted to buy them, but when I took them out of the drawer I was shocked to see that the magic colors were gone, the drawings were all back to being gray toned. I told the buyer what happened and I have no idea of what he thought about my strange story, but he bought them anyway. The strange thing is that this phenomenon never happened with previous drawings that I had sprayed, and it has never happened again. Somehow, that one spray can that I used on those drawings had that magic ingrediant that tinted them, temporarily. How strange is that?","Page 422. North-West Watcher.4214f0a4-03b9-438d-87a2-f4daf77212bf.jpg","\\artwork\\Page 422. North-West Watcher.4214f0a4-03b9-438d-87a2-f4daf77212bf.jpg",50,"The Dream of X, Pg.16","50. THE DREAM OF X, PG.16 - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper.
It appears, without the framework, in the book, \"The Dream of X,\" by William Hope Hodgson, Published by Donald Grant in 1977. The drawing also appears framed in the new, huge collector's edition of Hodgson stories published by Centipede Press.

When I started this drawing I had already decided that it should symbolize what this story is all about; On the surface it is the story of a man who goes through hell on Earth to reach the woman he loves who dwells on the opposite side of a dying Earth . . .

Beneath the surface, the story is about our sun, it is dying and it's fading light can no longer sustain life on Earth. Final darkness is slowly descending, the existance of mankind is destined to end . . .

But not yet! I, the illustrator will not allow it! Because the story does not actually end with the final death of Earth and mankind. In fact, the two lovers are united at the end, and the novel ends with X writing; \" And to have love is to have all; for that which doth be \"truly\" LOVE doth mother Honor and Faithfulness; and they three to build the House of Joy\".

So I thought, surely, the surving humans in their two massive towering Pyramids will find a way to create a new light for the world, to bring about a new beginning . . .

So I began to sketch some trees to symbolize the return of fundamental life on Earth. I then sketched in the two lovers to symbolize the survival of mankind. And finally, I decided to show the man X to be suffering the pain of the struggle, and the woman to show a determination . . . To go on, together, to a new beginning . . .

And that is what my drawing is all about; The \"End\" is not yet!","Plate 5 - The Preface, Page 16.33d2cf2e-f5b4-4072-adf9-2176b710a78c.jpg","\\artwork\\Plate 5 - The Preface, Page 16.33d2cf2e-f5b4-4072-adf9-2176b710a78c.jpg",49,"The Dream of X - Title Page","49. THE DREAM OF X, TITLE PAGE - A black ink and gray color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears as a small icon on the title page of the book, \"The Dream of X' by William Hope Hodgson, published by Donald Grant in 1977. Actually, \"The Dream of X,\" is a condensed version of Hodgson's original and much longer novel, \"The Night Land,\" which is included in the new Centipede Press collection, \"Masters of the Weird Tale: Hodgson\".

HAPPINESS - I have always made the effort to make my Life more than just a daily grind. Somewhere along the way, early on, I found out that for me, being \"happy\" meant doing things and learning things that made me interesting to myself. Yes, to myself! And eventually I found out that the world of \"art\" brought me lots of pleasure and happiness.

Some philosophers have said that \"Art\" is essential to the well-being and happiness of mankind, but not all philosophers agree; Plato, in his classic book, \"Plato's Republic\" considered artists to be imitators of things that already exist, he wrote that they were \"re-creators\" rather than \"creators\". He deemed artists to be non-essential, insignificant craftsmen, and therefore did not include them in his grand design of the \"ideal\" Republic.

Obviously, Plato was wrong, art plays an important part in our lives in many ways. But I do have to admit that for many people in today's world, art does not play a significant part in their lives, they seek happiness elsewhere.

\"Ignorance is bliss\". Though happiness can be found elsewhere, a life without art appreciation is an unfulfilled life.","49. Dream of X-Title Page.770951ce-1977-4153-a329-88c9c1ba9e4b.jpg","\\artwork\\49. Dream of X-Title Page.770951ce-1977-4153-a329-88c9c1ba9e4b.jpg",48,"In Lovecraft's Shadow","

Ink and pencil drawing on coquille board, 11 x 14, appears in the book, In Lovecraft's Shadow, by August Derleth, designed and edited by Joseph Wrzos who also provided a scholarly introduction, and published by Mycroft & Moran in 1998. But there's more to say about the creation of this book; it was a labor of love for Joe Wrzos, and me, and Helen de la Ree, and my wife Dorothy. Helen helped with her experience in the publishing business, while my wife helped me with the artwork by doing much of the inking. As the \"project\" evolved we all met periodically at my home to review and comment on the progress of my artwork and the overall design of the book. Until one day, the big boss Joe Wrzos said \"Done\" and off it went to the printer. That's as good as it gets folks.

","Lovecraft-Cthulhu.678e05e1-46b5-41b0-9922-30d04f275645.jpg","\\artwork\\Lovecraft-Cthulhu.678e05e1-46b5-41b0-9922-30d04f275645.jpg",47,"The Dream of X - DJ","48. THE DREAM OF X, DJ - A black ink and color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper.

This drawing was intended to be the dust jacket art for the book titled, \"The Dream of X,\" by William Hope Hodgson, published by Donald Grant in 1977.

When the book was published and I received my copies, I was a bit disappointed to see that Grant had used one of my story drawings for the dust jacket instead of using the drawing I specifically made for the DJ. I don't know why, but he decided to use my Dj drawing for the endpapers in the book instead.

When Grant received the finished books from the book binder, he invited me to his home in Rhode Island to sign a number of \"special edition\" copies. The special edition books have a different fabric for the covers, and each book is contained in a box.

All the books (no boxes were in sight) were stored in his garage and piled up on a few tables. Whoever did the stacking had mixed up the regular edition books with the special edition books, the ones with a more expensive cover fabric. The problem was that the regular edition fabric and the special edition fabric were the same color and the difference between the two was hard to discern. Grant had to examine each book with a magnifying glass, under a lamp, to pick out the special edition copies that I had to sign. I didn't want to embarrass him so I did not ask why he did not select a different color fabric for the special edition.","Dream of X-DJ.bf30fb9c-9343-402d-a7e4-5c0289973fc1.jpg","\\artwork\\Dream of X-DJ.bf30fb9c-9343-402d-a7e4-5c0289973fc1.jpg",46,"The Incredible Umbrella","47. THE INCREDIBLE UMBRELLA - An acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 size canvas board. It appears on the cover of, \"Fantastic Stories,\" Jan.1979.

I received this assignment with a note from the editor that read, \"There's this guy who has a magic umbrella that takes him to worlds of fantasy fiction where he gets involved with imaginary characters like Sherlock Holmes, Frankenstein, genies and beautiful harem girls from the Arabian Nights. Things like that. Paint something with those characters in it.\"

So I did. For some reason that I don't remember now, perhaps it was halloween, I decided to place all those characters around a pumpkin, added a bird on the right side of the pumpkin to balance with the Frankenstein figure on the left side, and put the guy with the magic umbrella inside the pumpkin.

Occassionally, that's how magazine cover commissions came to me. Not with a story manuscript, but simply with a short note outlining a brief idea of what the editor wanted. When I received my copy of this issue of \"Fantastic\" I saw that the title of the story was \"The Pursuit of the Umbrella,\" by Marvin Kaye. I also learned that the author wrote several other stories about this \"magic umbrella,\" which were collected and published as a book. I never read any of them, so my cover painting is simply a representaton of the basic idea behind the stories, it is not a specific scene from any one of them.","2.8p - The Incredible Umbrella.572b56c8-2615-4eaf-ad2d-ea88311c10b5.jpg","\\artwork\\2.8p - The Incredible Umbrella.572b56c8-2615-4eaf-ad2d-ea88311c10b5.jpg",45,"Born to Exile","46. BORN TO EXILE - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears as the frontispiece in the book, \"Born To Exile\" by Phyllis Eisenstein, published by Arkham House in 1978

Looking at this drawing I thought; isn't it wonderful that one human being can touch another human being's heart with a drawing? I was just a kid when Alex Raymond's \"Flash Gordon\" comic strip in the Sunday newspapers touched my heart. Not with the storyline, but with his artwork, it was amazing. It seems to me that it's inside the \"heart\" where art becomes something important to a person, where the appreciation of art comes alive. It's a wonderful \"thing\" to feel, and I feel it every time I look at the artwork of the many artists whose work stirs my heart.

And the greater wonder of it is, for me, that every once in a while I receive a surprise gift from a fan in appreciation of my artwork. In this case a fan sent me a beautiful copper etching that he made of my drawing that you see here, and that etching hangs on the wall in my drawing room. Other surprise tokens of appreciation that I've received from fans are; a miniature spun glass ship, a knitted sweater with an artist's palette worked into the chest area, a neatly carved wooden figure of a \"Running Bear,\" that came from a missionary preacher in New Zealand, a fantasy belt buckle, and a miniature paper-mache sculptured \"gnome\" that keeps watch over me. I cherish them all, they give form and reality to that wonderful feeling of appreciation that comes from the heart.","122. Born to Exile -TP.478f8234-f204-4f18-96fa-301a671e0b1b.jpg","\\artwork\\122. Born to Exile -TP.478f8234-f204-4f18-96fa-301a671e0b1b.jpg",44,"Dragoman's Slave Girl","45. DRAGOMAN'S SLAVE GIRL - A color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper.

This drawing is one of 7 interior illustrations I did for a forthcoming book titled, \"The Adventures of Dragoman,\" by Otis Adelbert Kline. It illustrates the story, \"Dragoman's Slave Girl\". The book was never published.

Otis Adelbert Kline also wrote screenplays for the movies, and one of them was \"The Call of the Savage\" a 1935 film starring Noah Beery Jr, and Dorothy Short. The movie script is based on the Kline novel, \"Jan of the Jungle\".

I also read that Kline wrote popular songs during the 1930s and 1940s, but no specific song titles were given.","45. Dragoman 8.a6b6be40-4db0-4f11-bfd4-9eef594f3d59.jpg","\\artwork\\45. Dragoman 8.a6b6be40-4db0-4f11-bfd4-9eef594f3d59.jpg",43,"Dragoman's Revenge","44. DRAGOMAN'S REVENGE - A color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper.

This drawing is one of 7 interior illustrations I did for a forthcoming book titled, \"The Adventures of Dragoman,\" by Otis Adelbert Kline. It illustrates the story, \"Dragoman's Revenge\". The book was never published.

Poor Mr. Kline, not only did he imitate the ground-breaking science-fantasy novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs, but he had to suffer Burroughs creating one of the world's most popular fictional characters, \"TARZAN OF THE APES\"!!! And sure enough, soon after Tarzan came along, Kline came up with \"Jan of the Jungle\".

When I read these Dragoman stories, I enjoyed them. But now, I wonder, were they also imitations of another writer of Arabian Night's adventure tales that appeared in the 1930s and 1940s pulps? Like those of Talbot Mundy, or Harold Lamb perhaps? But Kline's Dragoman stories are good, so what does it matter.","44. Dragoman 7.b5304400-6f6e-402b-af62-e5bcd60db56d.jpg","\\artwork\\44. Dragoman 7.b5304400-6f6e-402b-af62-e5bcd60db56d.jpg",42,"Dragoman: The Man Who Limped","43. DRAGOMAN: THE MAN WHO LIMPED - A color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper.

This drawing is one of 7 interior illustrations I did for a forthcoming book titled, \"The Adventures of Dragoman,\" by Otis Adelbert Kline. It illustrates the story, \"The Man Who Limped\". The book was never published.

In the books that Kline wrote about an Earthman on Mars, he did not get his man there by rocket ship. He got him there with the use of psychic powers; he traded the Earthtman's consciousness with that of a Martian, he simply takes over the mind of the Martian on Mars while the Martian takes over his mind on Earth, a sort of \"mind-switch\".

Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose stories Kline imitated, did not get his man John Carter to Mars by rocket ship either. He has Carter, mysteriously, just disappear from Earth and materialize on Mars.

Remember, this is fiction, fantasy fiction, tongue in cheek fiction. It takes a youthful mind to enjoy these \"Scientific Romances\". And what's wrong with that? We have Harry Potter today, and The Lord of the Rings! Hail to all of them for keeping us young at heart.","43. Dragoman 4.e6d4afdd-56ab-4973-8b69-fa71c2e37ab2.jpg","\\artwork\\43. Dragoman 4.e6d4afdd-56ab-4973-8b69-fa71c2e37ab2.jpg",41,"Dragoman's Secret","42. DRAGOMAN'S SECRET - This drawing is one of 7 story illustrations I did for a forthcoming book titled, \"The Adventures of Dragoman\" by Otis Adelbert Kline. It illustrated the story, \"Dragon's Secret\". The book was never published.

Regarding rejection, here is another sad tale of an unknown writer who wrote a great novel in the 1960s that was rejected by every publisher he sent it to. Perhaps that's why he committed suicide in 1969.

But his mother did not give up on him, she kept trying and trying to get her son's book published, and in 1980 she finally succeeded. The book is, \"A Confederacy of Dunces\" by John Kennedy Toole. It won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and is now considered a classic.

How odd, the title of the book seems to fit the publisher's who rejected it . . .","161. Dragomans Secret.d570ebcb-4295-4f53-9f9e-a8363a046183.jpg","\\artwork\\161. Dragomans Secret.d570ebcb-4295-4f53-9f9e-a8363a046183.jpg",40,"Dragoman Frontispiece","41. DRAGOMAN FRONTISPIECE - A color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper.

This drawing is one of 7 story illustrations I did for a forthcoming book titled, \"The Adventures of Dragoman,\" by Otis Adelbert Kline. It would have been the frontispiece. The book was never published.

Otis Adelbert Kline wrote several novels considered to be poor imitations of the science-fantasy novels that Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote, most of which took place on Mars, Venus, Inside the Earth, and on the Moon.

Kline wrote two Mars books, three Venus books, and one that takes place on the Moon. All these stories are similar to the Burroughs books; they feature pure-hearted Earthmen mysteriously appearing on Mars (or Venus) brandishing a sword and fighting for the love of a pure-hearted woman who is always being sought after by terrible villains and montrous alien beasts.

Burroughs started it all in 1912 when he created a whole new branch of literature known as, \"The Scientific Romance\". The All-Story Magazine published his novel, \"Under the Moons of Mars\", and regardless of the faults pointed out by his critics, nobody has done it better. His historic science- fantasy saga begins in 1866 with a former Civil War confederate veteran, John Carter propecting for gold in Arizona. Just as he discovers a rich vein of gold he is attacked by Apaches. To evade them he hides in a sacred cave and mysteriously finds himself on Mars! And that is when and where the new era of the \"Scientific Romance\" began.","160. Dragoman-Frontis.4cf2a255-1a1e-455a-bed6-a4267012b3be.jpg","\\artwork\\160. Dragoman-Frontis.4cf2a255-1a1e-455a-bed6-a4267012b3be.jpg",39,"The Adventures of Dragoman, DJ","40. THE ADVENTURES OF DRAGOMAN, DJ - A color pencil drawing on an 11 x 16 size on poster board circa 1979.

This drawing was intended to be the wraparound dust jacket art for a book to be titled, \"The Adventures of Dragoman\" by Otis Adelbert Kline, which was scheduled for publication in the early 1980s by Ted Dikty of Fax Publications. I also did 7 full page story illustrations in color pencil for the book.

After the artwork was done and before the book actually went into production, Dikty was advised by a book market \"expert\" that the author's books were not selling, and convinced Dikty not to produce the book

When Dikty sent me a check in payment for my artwork he enclosed a note telling me of his decision. I was really disappointed and even though I got paid for my work, I thought my time had been wasted. Kline's work is considered by some critics to be poor imitations of the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs. That may be true with Kline's \"Mars\" books, but I don't think it applies to the Dragoman stories. My artwork for the book appears only in my Art Folio, \"The Stephen E. Fabian Collection, No. 10 - Dragoman\". And of course, in this website.","Dragoman-Double Pg.13f6daf1-9435-4e3e-a880-0b4e77656a22.jpg","\\artwork\\Dragoman-Double Pg.13f6daf1-9435-4e3e-a880-0b4e77656a22.jpg",38,"The Sorcerer Pharesm","39. THE SORCERER PHARESM - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"THE EYES OF THE OVERWORLD,\" by Jack Vance, published by Underwood-Miller in 1977.

I know that many illustrators, incuding comic book artists, often use brushes to ink their drawings because a brush is a much more versatile tool than a pen. I use a Technograph pen that has an ink tank in the handle that allows for changing the nub sizes, they range from \"very fine\" for thin lines, to \"very broad\" for wide lines or bigger dots. Actually, I started out tryng to use a brush but I was such a clutz dipping it into an ink bottle and making a mess that I quickly switched to the Technograph pen. When I think about it now, I should have overcome my clutziness and mastered the use of the brush, it would have saved me a lot of time. But then, my drawings would have looked a lot different . . .

All of my drawings are first rendered in pencil and then finished in ink. Whenever my workload was especially high and the deadlines short, my wife Dorothy helped me out, as she did with the \"Eyes of the Overworld\" drawings. I would ink all the lines on a drawing, put an \"X\" in large areas I wanted filled in with ink and give it to her to do the filling while I started inking the next one. When we were both done inking the drawings I would finish them with a black color pencil for the final shading. She really was a great help.","39. Eyes of the Overworld 13.92bea520-30f2-40f7-a18e-ec5fdc6048f9.jpg","\\artwork\\39. Eyes of the Overworld 13.92bea520-30f2-40f7-a18e-ec5fdc6048f9.jpg",37,"The Mountains of Magnatz","38. THE MOUNTAINS OF MAGNATZ - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"THE EYES OF THE OVERWORLD,\" by Jack Vance, published by Underwood-Miller in 1977.

Shortly after this book was published I received a phone call from the author, who is one of my favorite writers. He was upset that my illustration (the one you see here), revealed the \"surprise\" in the story, and ruined the reading experience for that chapter in the book. Well, I did know that it is important for an illustrator not to do that sort of thing; as a young reader I remember opening a book that featured Edgar Allan Poe's classic mystery story, \"The Murders in the Rue Morgue,\" and before I started reading the story I saw the full page drawing by the famous illustrator, Arthur Rackham; it showed the murderer to be a large chimpanzee. And so, as I read the story and followed Poe's detective looking for clues to the killer's identity, there was no \"mystery\" for me, I and anyone else who read that book, already knew who the killer was from Rackham's illustration.

I told that story to Jack, and though I was aware of the problem, it had somehow slipped past me. I apologized for my blunder and happily, his mood turned more friendly and we continued to have a nice long chat. Not long after, it was my pleasure to meet Mr. Vance at the First World Fantasy Convention where we sat together at a table greeting fans and signing copies of this book.

I don't know how many writers like sharing their book-signing gig with an illustrator, but I did not notice any resentment from Vance.","143. Eyes of the Overworld 2.88f89620-e27d-40b9-bf03-11753db4ac51.jpg","\\artwork\\143. Eyes of the Overworld 2.88f89620-e27d-40b9-bf03-11753db4ac51.jpg",36,"The Cave in the Forest - 2","37. THE CAVE IN THE FOREST 2 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"THE EYES OF THE OVERWORLD,\" by Jack Vance, published by Underwood-Miller in 1977.

Most of the time when I draw or paint, I listen to music coming from my radio or CD player, and I try to select something I think will be appropriate for the kind of artwork I am working on. When I was working on this fantasy story I remember selecting \"Scheherazade\" by Rimsky Korsakov to listen to because it has a wonderful fantasy aura to it and I like to combine favorites, and Vance is one of my favorite fantasy writers. But the music of Scheherazade is so beautiful and inspiring that I often stopped working just to listen, and so it took me a lot longer to do these drawings than I usually take.

But sometimes the music I select doesn't quite work out, as when I began working on a drawing for a story titled, \"The Old Ways are Best\" for Dragon Magazine (see drawing 306.). A note from the editor said \"this is the funniest story ever written,\" so I decided to listen to the crazy music of Spike Jones to put me in a light mood hoping it would carry over into the drawing. But just a minute into it, I jumped out of my chair and stopped the music, it was too mind-jarring, especially when the singer shouted, \"Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil! Right in the Furer's face!\" The blaring sound effects were too intrusive, it wasn't going to work. After just a minute of listening to Spike Jones it was a pleasure to work for a while in silence.","37. Eyes of the Overworld 6.cd6903c1-c54b-41c3-b5a6-9fa985e3e155.jpg","\\artwork\\37. Eyes of the Overworld 6.cd6903c1-c54b-41c3-b5a6-9fa985e3e155.jpg",35,"The Cave in the Forest - 1","36. THE CAVE IN THE FOREST 1 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"THE EYES OF THE OVERWORLD,\" by Jack Vance, published by Underwood-Miller in 1977.

As I usually do while working on a drawing, I stopped working on this one to take a break. I picked up a copy of \"The Artist\" magazine and began browsing around the pages. I stopped at one article and read, \"Consider any two people observing and contemplating an abstract painting - whoever of these two first feels inclined to snicker and laugh, is a barbarian\".

I continued to read, \"In the arts the only danger lies in your failure to progress, to become so narrow-minded in your appreciation that you only look for the kinds of artwork you already learned to enjoy, while condemning any artwork you don't understand. It is a revelation of your ignorance\".

When I finished reading the article I thought that the writer made some good points, but I was disturbed at something else he wrote, that \"an abstract artist's work is not to be measured by any standards or criticized using any kind of logic or reason because it is the artist's \"thing,\" it cannot be disputed, it exists only to be appreciated for what it is, a sheer individual creation\". This writer did not even consider the possibility that an abstract work of art can be poorly rendered. To him abstract art demands our appreciation for just existing! How absurd is that!

In my world, everyone and everything is subject to consideration and criticism, which can be positive or negative, and though I don't usually snicker and laugh at things I don't appreciate, I am sometimes moved to make negative comments about certain works of art. It doesn't make me \"ignorant\" and it does not make me a \"barbarian\". I went back to work on this drawing feeling a bit annoyed.","36. Eyes of the Overworld 5.b105c421-a688-4514-bf8d-a94503507399.jpg","\\artwork\\36. Eyes of the Overworld 5.b105c421-a688-4514-bf8d-a94503507399.jpg",34,"Cil - 2","35. CIL 2 - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"THE EYES OF THE OVERWORLD,\" by Jack Vance, published by Underwood-Miller in 1977.

It can be somewhat frightening, facing challenges that seem insurmountable, but facing them one at a time, and eventually coming up with some sort of solution, they do become less formidable, and it actually turns out that with each one the effort and the ability to meet the challenge becomes easier and easier, until they are no longer \"fearsome\" challenges at all, they just become \"part of the job\".

When Tim Underwood sent me this commission in 1977, I had been illustrating books and magazines full time for about two full years and had reached a point where I no longer felt any apprehension about doing a job, the challenge was no longer \"if\" I could do the job, but \"how\" I would go about doing it. Being an illustrator was becoming less work and becoming more fun.","35. Eyes of the Overworld 2.6a7fc1f4-96b6-4e94-aaec-4ebed3d257c8.jpg","\\artwork\\35. Eyes of the Overworld 2.6a7fc1f4-96b6-4e94-aaec-4ebed3d257c8.jpg",33,"The Manse of Iucounu","34. THE MANSE OF IUCOUNU - A black Ink and Black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"THE EYES OF THE OVERWORLD,\" by Jack Vance, published by Underwood-Miller in 1977.

When I first thought about abandoning the electronics field to become a full-time freelance illustrator, I realized that with each drawing and each painting I would probably have to create or invent something unusual related to a science fiction or fantasy story, and when I thought about doing it day after day, week after week, year after year, I had some doubts about my ability to be so creative for so long a time.

But then I thought about the years I spent working in the aerospace industry and I realized that most of my days and weeks, and years, were also filled with solving problems, many of them requiring some unique piece of knowledge I did not have. But I searched related documents and books, or I found someone who had the experience or information that I needed to help me solve the problem. In time, the possibility that there could be a problem that I could not solve never entered my mind. Necessity always made me find a way. So I shrugged off the doubts I had and went ahead and did it. And after all, if it turned out that I was not up to it, I could still go out and find a real job again (shudder).- ","34. Eyes of the Overworld 1.02fb177e-7c27-4faf-86d6-73dbf68188d0.jpg","\\artwork\\34. Eyes of the Overworld 1.02fb177e-7c27-4faf-86d6-73dbf68188d0.jpg",32,"The Overworld","## THE OVERWORLD\n A black Ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the book, \"THE EYES OF THE OVERWORLD,\" by Jack Vance, published by Underwood-Miller in 1977.

A truly great philosopher once wrote, \"The best that a man can ever hope for in this world is the love of a good woman, everything else is a very distant second best.\" So I've been thinking, and thinking, about what my distant \"second best\" can be, and I recall talking to a book dealer once who said to me, while his wife sat nearby, \"Books are my passion, there is nothing in the world that gives me as much pleasure as reading a good book!\" I smiled at his wife and said to her, \"He means it's his second best pleasure in life, right?\" But she frowned at me and said nothing! I must assume he told me the truth, poor guy!

But, I must admit that a good book is something special, especially if it's written by Jack Vance. I did however, have a problem when I illustrated his books because while I was reading his stories they were so absorbing that I often forgot to underline descriptive words and sentences, or to bracket interesting paragraphs that might make a good illustration. When it came time to do the illustrations I would discover that I had forgotten to make notations in the manuscript. I had to go back and re-read lots of sections in the manuscripts. Jack Vance made me work overtime!","Eyes of the Overworld.23500c17-355c-4dc5-b7eb-767065d31c76.jpg","\\artwork\\Eyes of the Overworld.23500c17-355c-4dc5-b7eb-767065d31c76.jpg",31,"A Witch's Dozen","32. A WITCH'S DOZEN - A black Ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears as the frontispiece in the book, \"A Witch's Dozen,\" by Janet Fox, published by Wildside Press & Paul Ganley, in 2003.

I was given this assignment in 1990. Most of the time, when I finished a job and sent it off to the publisher, the book, or magazine, was published within six months to a year. But this book must hold the world's record, it took over 10 years after I mailed my artwork to the editor, before the book was published in 2003.

Shortly after publication I received a letter from the author, Janet Fox, complimenting me on my artwork. But, oddly, she didn't say a word about having to wait 13 years to see her book in print.","165. Witch's Dozen.9867f915-aad6-4f19-a3e4-62b9fb82f29a.jpg","\\artwork\\165. Witch's Dozen.9867f915-aad6-4f19-a3e4-62b9fb82f29a.jpg",30,"The Devil's Bride","**THE DEVIL'S BRIDE** - An acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 size canvas board. It appears on the cover of, \"Fantastic Stories, Dec.1977.\"

Sometimes an assignment bothers me because the subject goes against my better nature, and in this case what bothered me was being asked to do a \"bondage\" cover painting. During the Golden Age of the pulp magazines, among the many titles were some that are referred to today as \"The Shudder Pulps.\" They usually featured \"bondage\" scenes on their covers that were meant to appeal to the worst part of human nature; women were typically shown in all manner of sadistic situations, usually bound in ropes or chains by some sort of maniac, and dangled over a buzz-saw or a huge vat of boiling oil. They had titles like; Eerie Stories, Horror Stories, and Weird Tales, and they had lots of readers. I did this painting after I concluded that if I didn't do it the editor would probably not send me any more commissions in the future. I learned very early in my career that editors did not like their decisions criticized, or their requests turned down.

Most Golden Age pulp magazines however, were kinder to women, many being created specifically for them; Titles like \"Love Stories,\" and \"Romantic Western Stories\". Actually, in their zeal to sell magazines the publishers created titles on almost every subject imaginable; \"Wall Street Stories,\" \"Civil War Tales,\" \"Wild Game Stories,\" even \"Zeppelin Stories\". Whatever your interests were they had a title for you to buy. I was at a Barnes & Noble book store recently, looking at lots of book and magazine covers and I did not see any \"bondage\" type covers typical of those \"Shudder Pulps\". No doubt it's because women have come a long way since those early pulp days, women are now major heads of business and industry, as well as major leaders in government. But actually, women never were helpless creatures in need of rescue, history shows that.","119. The Devil's Bride-FAN-77-12.61ddbd2d-4ef7-4094-b554-52dca972357d.jpg","\\artwork\\119. The Devil's Bride-FAN-77-12.61ddbd2d-4ef7-4094-b554-52dca972357d.jpg",29,"Conan Poster 3","30. CONAN POSTER 3 - An acrylic painting done on a 16 x 20 size canvas board.

Back in 1976, Fictioneer publications asked me to do three \"Conan\" poster paintings that they hoped to sell as a set. This painting was supposed to be one of the three. But, they were not quite satisfied with it and asked me if I were willing to do another one. Actually, I did not have to do so because there was no clause in our contract that required their approval of the paintings. But it was very early in my career and though I was disappointed, I agreed to do another painting. This one was later sold to an art collector so the time and effort I put into it was not wasted.

One of the bewildering things about the art world is the matter of contrary opinions people have about a particular piece of artwork, or even about a specific artist. Does anyone ever think about their own opinions about things and question them? If someone says, \"I don't know why, I just know what I like when I see it,\" they need to keep in mind that even a fish \"knows what it likes when it sees it\". Well, that's not good enough, and what's worse is that they don't make the effort of searching into their minds to find the answers to why they do or do not like something.

And that's the challenge you face in life, recognizing whether the things you confront and the decisions you make are good, or bad. The education you receive, the paintings you look at, the movies you see, the music that moves you, the food you eat, the mate you choose, the politicians you vote for, . . . How much thought do you actually put into all these things?

And what about me and my thoughts and decisions? My effort to overcome ignorance and avoid spouting foolish opinions has been an incredible on-going challenge. And though I'm aware that there are some things I know that just may not be so, and some of my opinions may be faulty, I'm satisfied with my efforts. I actually enjoy life trying to like the right things for the right reasons.","30. Conan Poster-3.2ea8fb68-5ebf-463d-9445-715ad1e497e1.jpg","\\artwork\\30. Conan Poster-3.2ea8fb68-5ebf-463d-9445-715ad1e497e1.jpg",28,"Conan Poster 2","29. CONAN POSTER 2 - An acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 size canvas board. This is the 2nd of 3 Conan poster paintings I did for Fictioneer Books, Inc., in 1976. The painting is based on Robert E. Howard's Conan story, \"Queen of the Black Coast\". It also appears on the DJ of Howard's book, \"Gardens of Fear\".

We live in a hope-a-rama world where we grow up hoping to do something special, to be someone special. And most of us have the opportunity to be and to do just that. But what is rare in people is the actual wanting to do a specific thing with enough determination to actually do it. And that's because the world around us is filled with all kinds of distractions and people often choose to take the path of least resistance and direct their lives to just having fun.

But the \"fun\" people have often turns out to be silly nonsense and they grow up into adulthood and then into old age never knowing who they really were; they were born \"special,\" with a special talent and would have done something outstanding, but they never made the effort to be that person because they were too busy having fun during their formative years and were later pressured to work at jobs of mindless routine. And sadly, if given the chance to escape from that kind of life they would only choose another job having a torpid routine. They never learn that having \"fun\" is a minor occurrence in life, what is far more important is having the joy and satisfaction of realizing what your special talent is, and using it to do something special.

Someone said, \"I don't see what art has to do with real life!\"
Someone else said, \"Without art appreciation a life experience cannot be
of the highest order!\"

Which of the two statements fits your mindset?","68. Gardens of Fear.e68843c2-60be-474d-a62e-c87971dd65fb.jpg","\\artwork\\68. Gardens of Fear.e68843c2-60be-474d-a62e-c87971dd65fb.jpg",27,"Conan Poster 1","28. CONAN POSTER 1 - An acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 size canvas board. This is the first of three \"Conan\" poster paintings I did for Fictioneer Books in 1976. The Conan figure in the painting also appears on the dust jacket of the book, \"Wings in the Night\" by Robert E. Howard, published by Wildside Press in 2005.

The three posters were quite a challenge for me because they were done early in my career and I was a bit unsure of myself as yet, but poster art was another part of publishing that could be added to my source of income so I tried to do a proper job. The contract I had with the publisher gave me a choice of accepting a flat fee for the artwork, or receiving periodic royalty payments based on sales. I was so unsure of myself that I was afraid the posters might not sell very well so I accepted a flat fee. I have no idea of how well they sold, the publisher was not obligated to send me sales figures since I selected a flat fee.","Conan Poster 2.a4024f1e-8957-4e08-8f8a-7c4293d17925.jpg","\\artwork\\Conan Poster 2.a4024f1e-8957-4e08-8f8a-7c4293d17925.jpg",26,"Agnes de la Fere","27. AGNES DE LA FERE - A black ink and black pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board, circa 1990. It appears in the book, \"The Fantastic Worlds of Robert E. Howard,\" edited by James Van Hise, published in 1997.

Actually, this drawing started out as a preliminary sketch back in 1977 for a Zebra Paperback book titled, \"Sword Woman,\" written by Robert E. Howard. The stories in that book take place in the era of \"The Three Musketeers,\" and my sketches reflected Howard's description of the attire and the type of weapons used at that time; feathered hats, pantaloons, capes, and fencing swords. But, incredibly, the editor wanted the characters to look like barbarians so that's how I drew them, she was the boss. But I still had my original sketches and this is one of them which I finished later on and sold to an art collector.

Before I agreed to do the \"Sword Woman\" drawings the editor's way, I tried to convince her that \"Robert E. Howard's\" name on the cover of the book was the key to it's sales, not a \"barbarian\" look. But the editor was fixated on the huge sales of Howard's \"Conan the Barbarian\" paperbacks, which featured the artwork of Frank Frazetta on the covers.

I said to her, \"Let Howard's name do the selling of the book and let me do my job and make the artwork faithful to the story, it is not about barbarians\". She responded; \"Howard and Frazetta have created a whole new branch of literature, \"Sword and Sorcery,\" which is all about barbarians! And it has a large core of fans now who are looking for sword and sorcery books to buy, and they are the ones I'm going to sell this book to. Do it my way!\" So, reluctantly, I did.

I wonder what all those Conan fans who bought the book thought when they found no heroic barbarians inside, no fierce dragons, no evil magicians, no fair maidens chained over a pit of fire . . . And what did they think of my artwork? . . . It was all wrong, the entire presentation of the book was all a lie! My apologies to all of you.","Plate 13.648a6c90-c1dd-4528-a598-2eff818467dd.jpg","\\artwork\\Plate 13.648a6c90-c1dd-4528-a598-2eff818467dd.jpg",25,"Sword Woman 3","26. SWORD WOMAN 3 - An acrylic painting on a 16 X 24 size canvas board. This is the cover of the paperback book published by Zebra Books in 1977.

The preliminary sketches that I submitted for this book were based on the characters as described in the story by Howard; wearing wide-brimmed feathered hats, pantaloons, and using fencing swords ala the Three Musketeers. But the editor was not concerned with the artwork being faithful to the story, she wanted the book to attract \"Conan\" readers, and insisted I make my artwork reflect Howard's barbarian age stories ala \"Conan,\" and suggested the scene you see here. When I brought the finished painting to her office, the editor thought the sword woman's breasts were a bit too small so I took it home and made them larger. This time she said they were a bit too large. I was relieved when, with the third try the editor said, \"perfect\".

As I rode back home on the bus, watching the city streets go by, my thoughts turned again to Vermont and my old job at Simmonds Precision, and how much I missed all those \"problems\" I had to deal with in the lab, the drafting department, the assembly department, the machine shop. Geez, I was thinking of them as \"the good old days!\"","Sword Woman 3.5e2fd80f-b9c1-4b4c-9d74-dc4b1e157010.jpg","\\artwork\\Sword Woman 3.5e2fd80f-b9c1-4b4c-9d74-dc4b1e157010.jpg",24,"Sword Woman 2","25. SWORD WOMAN 2 - A black Ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the paperback book, \"Sword Woman\" by Robert E. Howard, published by Zebra Books in 1977.

When I showed my preliminary sketches to a young assistant editor at Zebra Books, he was shocked to see that my \"sword woman\" was wearing a wide-brimmed feathered hat, dressed in pantaloons and swinging an epee (a fencing sword). \"No, No, No\" he uttered, \"We want her in a steel helmet, wearing armor, swinging a broad-sword, like Conan the Barbarian! This is Robert E. Howard here, not the fancy Three Musketeers\"! I responded with, \"But this is Howard's version of the Musketeers, all the characters in the story use fencing swords like the Musketeers, they wear clothes like Musketeers, and the story takes place during the era of the Musketeers\". He ran out of the room and came back a few minutes later. \"We don't care,\" he said, \"we want all the characters looking like barbarians, we want the cover art and the interior illustrations to attract \"Conan\" readers\". . . So that's what I did. And now, anyone who reads this book will think that I did not, since my drawings are all wrong in the details!

Publishers: Many of them do not have the competence to recognize an outstanding work of literature from a poor one. Years of \"hoaxes\" put upon them seems to prove it; major publishers have often received a manuscript that is a literary classic, under a different title and author name, and did not recognize it. Rejected it! Most publishers don't take chances with unknown writers, their financial advisors prefer that they publish books about any celebrity who is in the news, and any writer who has sold at least one profitable book (even though their latest work has no merit). It is rare however that they will publish a great work of literature by an unknown, until one of them, at minimum expense decides to take a chance. Lots of writers who wrote classics and multimillion dollar best seller books first suffered through the \"reject\" circuit before they became famous.","Sword Woman 2.1da4a567-b2b4-4020-b8fe-f204e32df3e5.jpg","\\artwork\\Sword Woman 2.1da4a567-b2b4-4020-b8fe-f204e32df3e5.jpg",23,"Sword Woman 1","24. SWORD WOMAN 1 - A black Ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in the paperback book, \"The Sword Woman\" by Robert E. Howard, published by Zebra Books in 1977.

When I received the manuscript of this book I was asked by the editor to do some preliminary sketches and bring them to her NY office for approval. A few days later, after I had read the manuscript and rendered the sketches, I took a bus to the Zebra publishing office in NY. When I got there the editor introduced me to her assistant who looked like a teenager. He led me to a small room and directed me to a table. On the table were paperback covers that had been neatly torn from their books and laid out in rows. There must have been about 30 or more of them, from various other publishers. He then pointed to them and said, \"I don't want anything that looks like this junk, I want your artwork on the cover of this book make the eyes of a browser in a bookstore pop out when he looks at it, and won't be able to resist buying the book!\"

I leaned over for a closer look at the covers on the table and to my surprise I recognized a couple of Jeff Jones covers, another by Frank Frazetta, another by Kelly Freas! It occurred to me that this table was filled with paperback covers that were painted by the best artists in the field! My idols! - Before I responded, I reminded myself that I was now in the Land of Oz, I was not back in Vermont at work on my old job in the Research and Development department at Simmonds Precision Products trying to convince my boss that resistors R25 and R28 in the Torque Indicator square-wave circuit needed to be changed to .5% wire-wound precision resistors in order to make the indicator accurate to customer specs. Like many of the characters I read about in science fiction stories over the years, I found myself in a strange new world, and I had to adjust.","Plate 15.ba39b9a0-13a7-44a2-871f-b378b5950f75.jpg","\\artwork\\Plate 15.ba39b9a0-13a7-44a2-871f-b378b5950f75.jpg",22,"Channel's Exemption","23. CHANNEL'S EXEMPTION - A black ink drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. This drawing appeared in \"Galileo,\" magazine, June, 1977, illustrating the story, \"The Channel's Exemption,\" written by Jacqueline Lichtenberg.

All artists have been influenced, in some way, by artists from previous generations, and many have started out by copying an artist they admired, like I did. But sooner or later a decision has to be made whether to stay with a copied style and technique, go with a personal style that just came naturally, or, to experiment with different styles and techniques in search of some new artistic way to express oneself.

Picaso was a masterful traditional artist in his early years, but he became annoyed with the influential art critics of his day. He found their \"standards\" difficult to deal with and became tired of all the hard work he had to do to create a painting that would impress them. So he decided to ignore them all and do his own thing. He began to experiment with all kinds of materials and found out that he had a knack for doodling, it was fun! And to his everlasting joy, and profit, he managed to create, in his liftime, over 50,000 works of art. That averages out to at least two \"masterpieces\" every day, for 70 years, without taking even one day off to rest! At that pace he could'nt have spent much time thinking about what he was doing, he just doodled away at what came naturally to him. At the time of his death his estate was worth over 2 billion dollars. He is considered to be the father of \"Moderm Art\".

But most illustrators do not go the way of Picasso, the ones who do usually illustrate children's books. SF illustrators usually go the way of traditional artists.","23. Channels Exemption.1cca38ac-0efe-47cf-93aa-304212c5531a.jpg","\\artwork\\23. Channels Exemption.1cca38ac-0efe-47cf-93aa-304212c5531a.jpg",21,"Nobody Home","22. NOBODY HOME - A black Ink drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. This drawing appears in \"Amazing,\" July, 1977, illustrating the story, \"Nobody Home,\" by F.M. Busby.

Working on any kind of artwork involves the making of decisions, lots of them. Illustrating a story for a magazine starts with knowing the size of the area that my drawing will occupy on the page. It could be a double page spread, a full pager, a half pager, or a quarter pager. I also need to know if space in the drawing is needed for any kind of text. When I read the story I will have to decide what words, descriptions, and scenes to underline or bracket, so that when I'm done reading the story I can review all my underlined \"notes\" and make the decisions that will lead to the picture I draw or paint.

But even before I draw the picture I have to decide on what media, tools, and the technique I want to use in doing the artwork. For this illustration I decided to do a black ink line drawing on smooth vellum paper. The art of Illustration includes the art of making decisions.
","156. AMZ-77-07-Nobody Home.7cefcb1a-d246-41c4-9501-12f19b8056dd.jpg","\\artwork\\156. AMZ-77-07-Nobody Home.7cefcb1a-d246-41c4-9501-12f19b8056dd.jpg",20,"Legacy","21. LEGACY - An acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 size canvas board. This painting appears on the cover of, \"Galaxy,\" June,1977, illustrating the story, \"Legacy\".

According to astronomers the universe is about 12 billion years old. By placing that time period over a 12 month calendar (called \"The Cosmic Calendar\") each month on the calendar represents one billion years. The calendar therefore represent all of creation from the very beginning of time to now. On the first second of the first day on this calendar, an incredible burst of light occurred called the \"Big Bang.\" That light has continued to expand in all directions into infinite space, coalescing into an uncountable number of stars and planets that collectively we call, the Universe.

It is now December 31, the last day on the Cosmic Calendar. For 12 billion years the Universe has been expanding and whirling toward an unknown destiny, and on that last day on the calendar, at 10:30 p.m. the first humans appear on planet Earth. During the last hour and a half remaining on the calendar all of human history, to date, has transpired. We've been around for a very short time since the Universe began . . .

The caveman that I painted on this cover is among those first humans. At daylight he sees the sun, and at night he looks up at the moon and the stars, wondering what they all are. He knows almost nothing at all, he and the other cave people are at the very beginning of man's search for \"knowledge,\" which will become his basic tool for survival. Of all the living creatures on Earth, those cave people were created with unique brains, they are curious, and they have the capacity to learn from the things they see. This cave man might have been striking two flint stones together near dry grass, or he might have been rubbing two dry sticks together when the grass burst into flame, but he has now learned how to make \"fire,\" which is probably man's first significant step on the road to his destiny.

In that hour and a half remaining on the Cosmic Calendar, the heirs of that cave man continued to observe, to learn, to invent tools, including an alphabet of letters by which the recording of knowledge became possible, and to explore. And such is the power of \"Legacy\" that, not only have they survived, but in the final moments of this cosmic calendar, descendants of that cave man built a spaceship, flew to the moon, and one of them stepped down a ladder from their man-made machine and walked on the surface of the Moon! . . . Wow!

This remarkable \"giant step for man\" on the moon is also the very first step in man's quest to join up with the moving Universe of stars . . . Whatever destiny lies with the stars, it will be shared with mankind . . . and it all began with the counterpart of that apeman on my cover painting.","69. Legacy-GAL-77-06.6dd338e7-30e1-48dd-94c6-e2d6bbdcc77a.jpg","\\artwork\\69. Legacy-GAL-77-06.6dd338e7-30e1-48dd-94c6-e2d6bbdcc77a.jpg",19,"Song of the Spaceway","20. SONG OF THE SPACEWAY - A black Ink and grey pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. The drawing appears in, \"Galaxy,\" Oct.1976.\"

Back in the mid 1970s, editor Jim Baen asked me to do a series of drawings that would appear in each issue of Galaxy magazine under the title, \"The Feature Page\". I could draw whatever I wanted. When I began to think about what to draw for the forthcoming Feature Page, my mind turned to the works of Robert A. Heinlein for inspiration. I recalled reading his story, \"The Green Hills of Earth,\" a tale about \"Rhysling, the blind singer of the space ways,\" and decided to draw something based on the verse that opens that story. I came up with this scene of a lady aboard a spaceship in deep space, she has been away from home for a long time and is homesick for Earth. She is playing a musical instrument and singing the lines from that verse:

\" I pray for one last landing
On the globe that gave me birth;
Let me rest my eyes on the fleecy skies
And the cool green hills of Earth.\"","153. GAL-76-10-Feature.e317f082-249a-454a-bb22-0dbf401a77a5.jpg","\\artwork\\153. GAL-76-10-Feature.e317f082-249a-454a-bb22-0dbf401a77a5.jpg",18,"Plutonium","19. PLUTONIUM - A color pencil drawing, size 8 x 8 on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears on the cover of, \"Galaxy, March 1976,\" based on the story, \"Plutonium,\" by Arsen Darnay.

This small \"preliminary\" color pencil drawing was submitted to Jim Baen, the editor of Galaxy magazine for his approval. I was looking forward to doing a larger, 16 x 20 acrylic painting of it, but I didn't have to, Baen decided the \"sketch\" was good enough to use \"as is\" and paid me the full cover rate.

The famous American Western artist, Charles Russell wrote, \"To have talent is no credit to it's owner, what a man is born with he can neither take credit for, or the blame, It's not his doing\". That's true, and to be successful it takes more than just talent, the world is full of unfulfilled talented people. I may have been born with a talent for drawing but I like to think that there were two conditions that were key to my being able to become a professional illustrator; The persistent effort I put into learning how to draw and paint, and my being in the right place at the right time. . .

The \"right place\" was the fan magazines where my early artwork was being seen. And the \"right time\" was the later 1960s through the 1980s when those fan magazines and fan book publishers paid for my artwork, as well as the few pro magazines that were still in print at the time; Amazing, Fantastic. If Worlds of SF, and Galaxy. They were my time and place to be an illustrator, and when they were gone it became my time to retire.","162. Plutonium-GAL-76-03.accb1fae-4e5c-4e0a-9184-b0da7aa054f7.jpg","\\artwork\\162. Plutonium-GAL-76-03.accb1fae-4e5c-4e0a-9184-b0da7aa054f7.jpg",17,"Legacy Lost","18. LEGACY LOST - An acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 size canvas board. This painting was commissioned for the cover of Galaxy, June, 1977, but got lost in the mail so I had to do another one. I decided to do a different scene from the story. You can see it as image 21, titled \"LEGACY\" (which did not get lost!).

I recently received a gift from a fantasy and science fiction fan, it's a poem he wrote as a tribute to his four favorite illustrators in the field. He included me as one of them. His name is William Blackwood, he wrote the poem using a pen name. . . .

MIND DREAMS
by Royal Pearmain
(Note: There are six paragraphs to the poem, but for lack of space I am showing only the last three here)

\"Conductors draw forth sounds orchestrated so fine
But can they compare to a pencil drawn line?
When that line creates wonder, the dreams of an age,
Which never existed, until you turn a page.
So I sit in my room, on days not so fair,
And stare at the walls, for magic hangs there:
A scene from a world, where lion beings rule,
A spaceman quite stranded, against a universe view.

Scenes of lost races, drawn from an abyss,
And a creature, half woman, with serpentine assets.
Dry, lonely Mars, two heroes of old,
Called Fafhrd and Gray Mouser, with faces so bold.
Star strung reaches, to the mind are revealed,
A Gully Foyle trip to an Aldebaran thrill.
All of these and far more, encompass my heart,
For they're just as real as their creator's art.
So I thank the Lord, for these four that He made,
Fabian, Freas, and Finlay, with Frazetta, not staid.

They have given us grandeur of a kind without peer,
Where worlds, oh so wonderous, will always be near.\"","18. Scuba-Legacy Lost.a0fbae16-fd28-49be-bab1-981ac0f3904a.jpg","\\artwork\\18. Scuba-Legacy Lost.a0fbae16-fd28-49be-bab1-981ac0f3904a.jpg",16,"Fabian Fan Club","17. THE FABIAN FAN CLUB - A black ink and gray color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board, circa 1975.

This drawing was commissioned by George Hamilton, a California based fanzine publisher. He was devoted to the works of Robert E. Howard and published many Howard booklets for which I did most of the artwork. Some of those illustrations are included here, in my web site.

George decided to publish a \"Fabian\" fan letter devoted to giving fans news about where my latest artwork was appearing. This drawing was used as the letterhead icon for \"The Fabian Fan Club\" stationery. The Fan Club lasted about two years, I never knew how many fans subscribed to it, but after George looked at my website recently he sent me an email informing me that the fan club had 40 members, some of them from foreign countries. Don't laugh, 40 is better than None!

A word about my job as an illustrator;
John Adams, 2nd president of the United States wrote: \"I must study politics and war so that my sons can study mathematics and philosophy in order to give their children the right to study art and music.\"
- My profound thanks to John Adams and all the men and women who, like him, fought to make this a country where I was able to \"study\" art and earn a living as an illustrator.","Fabian Fan Club.68f9ce3d-08e3-435c-abfd-d6ebc46c5eb1.jpg","\\artwork\\Fabian Fan Club.68f9ce3d-08e3-435c-abfd-d6ebc46c5eb1.jpg",15,"The Splended Freedom","15. THE SPLENDID FREEDOM - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. The drawing appears in Galaxy, September, 1974.

How appropriate, \"The Splendid Freedom,\" it applies perfectly to me! In 1973 the Arab oil boycott caused havoc in America, resulting in cut-backs throughout our industries. I had gone to work in the morning and found out that my department, Research and Development had been more than \"cut-back,\" it had been \"cut-out!\" Eliminated! I had lost my job!

I was feeling mighty low as I drove back home. Times were bad, especially in Vermont where jobs in the electronics industry were scarce. Images of my wife and two young sons entered my mind as I continued driving home, they had no idea that their future was about to change. I remember getting mad as hell and shouting every curse word I knew before calming down. But life is filled with irony, I didn't know that Destiny was putting an end to my life in Electronics and opening the door of opportunity for me to do what I really wanted to do with my life . . .

I didn't know that I was actually driving home to the world of my dreams. When I came home I found two letters in the mail from professional science fiction magazine editors offering me assignments to illustrate stories for their magazines. And the miracle is this; after that traumatic day I never looked for another job, even in the publishing industry. Every week thereafter, for years and years, until I retired, I kept receiving phone calls and letters from paying fanzine editors or from professional publishers, or art collectors, offering me work. So I never went back to work in the electronics industry. I don't know why this \"Splendid Freedom\" came to me, but it did.

By the way, that's me in the space helmet.","GAL-74-09-SplendidFreedom.19d4c56d-85dc-49db-a0c3-e77792adc0b8.jpg","\\artwork\\GAL-74-09-SplendidFreedom.19d4c56d-85dc-49db-a0c3-e77792adc0b8.jpg",14,"Love Conquers All","13. LOVE CONQUERS ALL - A color pencil drawing on a 9 x 12 size poster board. It appeared on the cover of GALAXY, November, 1974\". (See also item 191, \"Moon of Skulls.\") It is the first artwork of mine that appeared in a professional magazine, it illustrates the story, \"Love Conquers All,\" by Poul Anderson.

People who become artists of one kind or another do it because there is a need in them to do it, it is in their soul, in their DNA, and those who do it well enough to earn a living with their artwork are among the luckiest people in the world.

The Great Creator made a universe when once there was nothing, and it seems to me that that creative impulse exists in the DNA of every human being. It is in you to be creative, to do something with your life

Everyone should be motivated to find a way to do what they really like to do, and if it's something that requires you to be creative, so much the better. When I was working at Simmonds Precision, a young engineer, Chad Dohtre, born of Indian parents in Bombay, India, occupied the desk next to mine. He liked to ask me philosophical questions, and one day at lunchtime he asked me, referring to my job at Simmonds, \"Is this what you hoped to do with your life when you were a child, Stephen, or did you have more ambitious dreams?\" I responded with, \"You tell me your dreams, Chad, and I'll tell you mine\". . .

And he did. \"My entire family,\" he said, \"my parents, my three sisters, my brother and I, dreamed that one day a miracle would happen, that we would all escape from the poor section of Bombay, where we lived in wretched poverty and find a better life somewhere else. But the \"Class\" system in India is so strong that it is rare for anyone to escape even from the neighborhood they live in\". And then Chad Dohtre told me about the \"miracle\" that happened; he was educated in England, came to America and went to Columbia University for his Masters degree in Physics. All of which took up the lunch hour, so I promised to tell him my dream, \"tomorrow\".

And I did. I told him about my wanting to be an illustrator, and ended with, \"so my dreams are not as dramatic as yours Chad, nevertheless, I do have a dream, and I'm working at it.\"

So, if you are not doing whatever it is that you would like to do, you better find a way to do it because, if you don't, you have to live the rest of your life admitting to yourself that you never even tried. ","GAL-74-11.c123b9b7-0a08-4a1f-96b2-94cc45e4337f.jpg","\\artwork\\GAL-74-11.c123b9b7-0a08-4a1f-96b2-94cc45e4337f.jpg",13,"Blades For France","**BLADES FOR FRANCE** - A black ink and black color pencil drawing, with Zip-a-tone, on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. This drawing appears on the front cover of George Hamilton's 1975 fan press booklet, \"BLADES FOR FRANCE\" by Robert E. Howard\".

George Hamilton published a lot of fanzine booklets featuring obscure stories written by Howard. I drew many of the covers for those fanzines. George lives in California and was among the first fanzine publishers to pay for my artwork.

Over 35 years have passed since he stopped publishing but we still contact each other via email whenever he wants to buy some books that I put on eBay, or when he has a yen to buy another drawing from me.

I'm amazed at how many people I came to know over the years through my work as an illustrator. I never met them in person; editors, writers, publishers, fans, art collectors, so many of them I knew only as voices on the phone, letters in the mail, or emails on my computer. In today's world, however, I suppose that's not unusual.","Blades for France.4e6d793d-827a-4a5a-9b54-7b9a67bc92f1.jpg","\\artwork\\Blades for France.4e6d793d-827a-4a5a-9b54-7b9a67bc92f1.jpg",12,"Galaxy, Dec.1974","11. GALAXY, DEC. 1947 - An acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 canvas board. It appears on the cover of Galaxy, Dec.1974.

For this magazine assignment I was asked to do a cover painting based on an article dealing with Astronomy. It contained lots of theory, lots of mathematics, only a vague mention of an observatory in deep space, and no descriptions of anything. I wondered why the editor had decided to have me paint a cover scene based on an article filled with complex celestial mathematics, instead of selecting one of the stories that would appear in the issue. It seemed to me that the stories would contain more exciting and appropriate scenes for this magazine cover. So, though I was disappointed, I decided that a professional artist should not be limited by a dull subject and I went ahead and did my best focussing on a briefly mentioned space observatory in the article.

As for questioning the wisdom of editors, it's not exactly a smart move to make. I learned that the hard way a little later on. I was given a story to illustrate by another magazine editor, one which I thought was rather simple-minded; in this story, Mankind's yearning for peace on Earth is solved by space explorers returning from deep space. They found a unique plant on an alien planet that emits a narcotic mist into the atmosphere. Breathing the drugged air makes you love everyone and everything. Secretly, the alien seeds are planted all over the Earth and shortly thereafter there is peace on Earth, for all time. When I sent my illustration to the editor I included this note, \"Science Fiction writers should be more creative about solving man's problems, turning all of mankind into drug addicts to bring \"Peace On Earth,\" is not an acceptable solution\". Although I got paid for my artwork I eventually noticed that the story was not published, and sadly, I never received another assignment from that editor. - So, I learned my lesson, not only did I lose a client, I may have prevented the writer from selling his story to the editor! That wasn't right! I never did it again.","GAL-74-12.15358f96-52c2-4ad7-935f-8e3528f09f5e.jpg","\\artwork\\GAL-74-12.15358f96-52c2-4ad7-935f-8e3528f09f5e.jpg",11,"The Snow Girl","10. Color pencil drawing on 11 x 15 drawing board. Appears on the cover of, \"Famous Fantastic Classics, No.1,\" edited and published by Ted Dikty. Back in the late 1960s Ted was among the first editors to send me assignments on a regular basis, and that helped me to keep going on a full time schedule. Ted ran Starmont House and FAX, publishing stories that had originally appeared in magazines during 1930s and 1940s, the \"Golden Age\" of the pulps. Other small press houses like \"Gnome Press,\" \"Fantasy Press,\" \"Shasta,\" Fantasy Publishing Co., Inc.,\" \"Arkham House,\" all reprinted stories by the better pulp writers. They printed only a few thousand copies of each title, at best, never made much money and by the late 1960s they were all out of business, except for Arkham House, which is still publishing books today. I have illustrated 10 books for AH.

A few days after I had received letters from Galaxy and Amazing offering me work, I received a letter from editor-publisher Ted Dikty of Starmont House asking if I had time to do some artwork for his publishing ventures. This drawing is the first one I did for him. Unexpectedly, a few days later, I received word from my former employer offering to give me back my old job. But after thinking it over, I deduced that the offer was for a temporary return, I would be right back in the same situation in about another month or so. Just as unexpectedly, my wife announced that she had aquired a job in town. She had become a full-time mom when we had our first child 16 years ago, and I never thought of her going back to work. But, here we were, my wife was now going to have a steady weekly income, I was going to collect unemployment insurance for the next 39 weeks, I had receved a substatial severence payment from Simmonds Precision when I was layed-off, and solicitations for artwork were coming in weekly.","10. The Snow Girl-FFC-1.ee276b0b-8514-41b5-bac7-30b19de0f185.jpg","\\artwork\\10. The Snow Girl-FFC-1.ee276b0b-8514-41b5-bac7-30b19de0f185.jpg",10,"Helen de la Ree","10. HELEN DE LA REE - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper, circa 1974. It is an excerpt from a larger drawing that appears on the cover of, \"Fantasy Collector's Annual, 1975,\" edited and published by Gerry de la Ree.

Way back in 1955, when I first went to buy some back issues of old SF pulp magazines from her husband Gerry, Helen was puttering around the plants in front of their home in River Edge, NJ. Helen is a beautiful woman with a soft unassuming voice who not only took care of the landscaping around their house, she also managed to take care of their art collection, their huge library of rare books, and their mail-order business. She also had to do most of the hard work managing Gerry's publishing ventures because his poor health prohibited him from doing it. That was years ago, though it seems like yesterday. We have been friends now for a very long time, she remains an ageless and beautiful woman.","21. Helen de la Ree.a9163764-904e-47cb-b1d9-02d0451bdc26.jpg","\\artwork\\21. Helen de la Ree.a9163764-904e-47cb-b1d9-02d0451bdc26.jpg",9,"Gerry de La Ree","9. GERRY DE LA REE - A black ink, black color pencil drawings on an 11 x 14 size coquille board.

This drawing was commissioned by Helen de la Ree in 1975. She gave me a 1950 photo of her husband and asked me to surround him with a framework of drawings by his favorite artists; Virgil Finlay, Hannes Bok and Edd Cartier. For years Gerry and Helen purchased original artwork from me and eventually they published two art books featuring my artwork, \"Fantasy by Fabian,\" and \"More Fantasy by Fabian\". We became good friends, I was a frequent visitor to their home, often to buy some old pulp magazines or books. It was always a great pleasure to look at all those wonderful original SF and fantasy paintings and drawings displayed throughout the house.

One dreadful day Helen phoned and stunned me by saying that Gerry had only a day or two to live and would like to see me. Unbelievable! It was hard to accept. When I got there he greeted me at the door looking as normal as I'd ever seen him, though I knew that he suffered from sugar diabetes. During the next hour or so nothing was said about his imminent passing, and I don't remember what we talked about because my mind was so numb from the shock of what was happening. I do remember that when the time came to leave, we looked at each other, there was an unspoken understanding that this was the final goodbye. We hugged and I left in a kind of daze.

A few days later he was gone, and I'm still amazed when I think of how calm and ordinary his demeanor was during that last visit. Just before I left he waved at his magnificent library of rare and very expensive books and asked me to take any book I wanted. I couldn't do it. Instead, there was a small plastic model airplane that a neighbor's kid had made, and I took that because he insisted I take something to remember him by. And just like that, a truly wonderful part of my life was gone. That small plastic model airplane that I took sits on a bookshelf in my library and every time I look at it, and the tiny pilot that waves at me, I think of him.","Gerry de la Ree.3c85621b-6bb3-428e-bb80-94d23bc34130.jpg","\\artwork\\Gerry de la Ree.3c85621b-6bb3-428e-bb80-94d23bc34130.jpg",8,"Letters Lovecraftian","**LETTERS LOVECRAFTIAN** - Black Ink and black color pencil drawings on an 11 x 14 size coquille board, 1975.

These drawings were commissioned by Gerry de la Ree for a Lovecraft book that he wanted to publish. Gerry was the first person I met who was an insider in the science fiction and fantasy field. That was back in 1955 when he lived in River Edge, NJ. and had a home-based mail-order business selling used SF books and magazines. I went to his home to buy some back issues of Fantastic Novels and Famous Fantastic Mysteries magazines because they all featured the artwork of Virgil Finlay, Lawrence Sterne Stevens, and Hannes Bok, and I just had to have them.

When I entered his home I found myself in wonderland, beautiful paintings by famous SF artists hung on all the walls above the many bookcases that stretched around the room. The bookcases were all filled with rare science fiction and fantasy books. My sense of wonder was overflowing, and by the smile on his face I could see that Gerry knew how I felt. As I looked around, it never entered my mind that one day I would see my artwork displayed up there with all those wonderful artists, and that I would be part of that wonderland.

Sometimes dreams do come true. Twenty years later I stood in his library again, he had moved to Saddle River, NJ, and as I had been doing for years, I looked at all those wonderful paintings by Kelly Freas, J. Allen St. John, Hannes Bok, Lawrence Stevens, and this time I also saw a few of my paintings displayed with theirs. My determination to be one of \"them\" had paid off, my drawings and paintings were now appearing in professional SF magazines and books.

And Gerry de la Ree helped make that possible.","167. Letters Lovecraftian.a5321aa9-4339-4d17-ab5e-6945c4b02f01.jpg","\\artwork\\167. Letters Lovecraftian.a5321aa9-4339-4d17-ab5e-6945c4b02f01.jpg",7,"Space-Girl","**SPACE-GIRL** - A black ink and color pencil drawing on an 8 x 8 size coquille board, circa 1968. It appeared in the comics fanzine, \"The Collector\"

After my drawings appeared in \"Twilight Zine\" in 1967, I began to get letters from other fanzine publishers asking me to contribute some artwork to their fanzines, and that was very encouraging. At that time I assumed that amateur fanzine editors did not pay for artwork, but it was not long before some of them began offering me payment, which not only surprised me, it was a great ego boost. And it made me realize that my artwork was now good enough to earn money, which was a big jump forward to my becoming a professional illustrator","Collector Qpg2.ca60917b-f93c-42ec-a291-e482385029f8.jpg","\\artwork\\Collector Qpg2.ca60917b-f93c-42ec-a291-e482385029f8.jpg",6,"Nova","**NOVA** - A black ink and color pencil drawing on an 8 x 8 size vellum paper, circa 1968.

When I drew this picture in 1968 I was aware that things had changed dramatically in the SF field since the early 1950s when I first started reading science fiction. At that time there were as many as 25 different SF magazine titles being published, with lots of work for both writers and illustrators. But, as the years went by the number of titles dwindled and by the late 1960s the number of magazines being published was down to only 5 titles. So, my chance of breaking into the SF field in 1968 was greatly reduced and that was certainly disappointing to me. However, I was also aware that the SF paperback market was growing dramatically, and that kept my hopes of becoming a SF illustrator alive.

I miss all those SF pulps of the 1930s, 40s and 50s, there was an exciting \"sense of wonder\" to them that doesn't exist any more. Those early pulps were the beginning of science fiction as a literary genre in this country, and an important influence on young readers. They are gone now. Forever!

\"*the beginning is the most important part of any work, especially for the young for that is the time at which the character is being formed and the desired impression is more readily taken. Anything received into the mind at that age is likely to become indelible, unalterable, and is therefore most important that the tales they read should be models of virtuous thought.*\" - Plato's Republic

Which is what those early science fiction pulps were all about.","Nova.610323c2-7550-4776-8d7f-59620253160f.jpg","\\artwork\\Nova.610323c2-7550-4776-8d7f-59620253160f.jpg",5,"Twilight Zine","**TWILIGHT ZINE** - A black ink and black color pencil drawing with zip-a-tone used as a grey color on an 11 x14 size vellum paper. It appears on the cover of \"Twilight Zine, No.24\".

In 1967 I was reading the letter section in a science fiction magazine and noticed that one of the letters was from the co-editors of a fanzine titled \"Twilight Zine,\" and they were asking readers to contribute artwork to their fanzine. The co-editors were Leslie Turek and Cory Seidman who were students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) at that time. Their fanzine was published by the MIT Science Fiction Society, Cambridge, MA.

I found the courage to create this drawing and mailed it to them. Several months later I received a copy of \"Twilight Zine, No. 24\" and saw my drawing on the cover. I was overjoyed, it was my first drawing to be published, anywhere. There is something about having one's first artwork accepted for publication that is special, the wonder of it is never equaled. And it was my first tiny step on the road to becoming a professional Science Fiction illustrator.","Twenty Years in the Twilight Zine-2.5444760f-1395-4d47-9028-adeb15548c86.jpg","\\artwork\\Twenty Years in the Twilight Zine-2.5444760f-1395-4d47-9028-adeb15548c86.jpg",4,"Freas-Lawrence","**FREAS-LAWRENCE** - A Black ink and color pencil drawing on a 9 x 12 size vellum paper, circa 1966.

This is another \"copy\" drawing that I did in my spare time. The red-haired man in my drawing is a copy of Kelly Freas's figure on the cover of Astounding SF Apr. 1955. The female figure is a copy of a Lawrence Stevens figure on the cover of Famous Fantastic Mysteries Aug. 1949.

It was around this time that I began thinking about not \"copying\" any more, I thought it was time to create my own pictures, and coming up with my own style. But after copying so many drawings from Loomis's art instruction books, and the many drawings I did copying my favorite SF artists, how was I going to come up with my own style?

I decided to draw real people, animals, and a variety of objects that I saw photographed in magazines like\" Vermont Life,\" \"Sports Illustrated,\" \"Playboy,\" and others. And after a few months of that I came to see what my own style looked like, and decided not to worry about \"style\" any more. I concentrated on things like composition, lighting, mood, perspective, and a lot of other things related to the making of \"pictures\".

Some fans have told me they can spot my artwork instantly, and I'm pleased to hear that. Though my artwork may show the influence of the artists that I learned from, my own identity does dominate my work, and I'm happy with that.","Color Pencil Copy-Freas-Lawrence.9c7ad653-2dec-4937-9d6b-1aa25708e052.jpg","\\artwork\\Color Pencil Copy-Freas-Lawrence.9c7ad653-2dec-4937-9d6b-1aa25708e052.jpg",3,"The Potters of Firsk","**THE POTTERS OF FIRSK** - A black ink and color pencil drawing on a 9 x 12 size vellum paper, circa 1966.

While I was learning how to draw and paint I would occasionally copy a drawing of one of my favorite science fiction and fantasy artists. In this case I copied Edd Cartier's story illustration, \"The Potters of Firsk,\" by Jack Vance. It appeared in the May 1950 issue of Astounding SF, in black and white. I added color to my copy.

Many years later, around 1990 I think, I had the great pleasure of meeting Edd Cartier, who was one of the outstanding Golden Age magazine illustrators. We became good friends, he came to my home, I went to his. The basement in his home had been made to look like an old-fashioned cabaret, there were several round tables covered with appropriate red-checkered tablecloths, and lots of antique lanterns hung from the ceiling, giving the room a unique atmosphere. It was a fun place to meet, eat and chat.

Sadly, Edd passed away in 2008. He was a man of \"The Greatest Generation,\" a decorated soldier-hero of WW2. He was also a devoted husband and father, an outstanding illustrator, a truly decent and honorable man, it was a joy and an honor to know him.\n","The Potters of Firsk.596ff830-8254-4c80-8112-498cd5cf4f62.jpg","\\artwork\\The Potters of Firsk.596ff830-8254-4c80-8112-498cd5cf4f62.jpg",2,"The Loomis Mermaid","**THE LOOMIS MERMAID** - Acrylic painting on a 16 x 20 size canvas board.

In 1965, when I decided to learn how to draw and paint, I went to the one bookstore in Middlebury, Vermont, where I lived at the time, and was lucky to find five art instruction books by Andrew Loomis, one of the great golden age illustrators. I bought them all; \"Fun With a Pencil,\" \"Drawing the Head & Hands,\" \"Figure Drawing For All It's Worth,\" \"Three Dimensional Drawing,\" and \"Creative Illustration\".

I started with \"Fun with a Pencil,\" reading and doing all the drawing exercises in the book, and over the next two years, during spare time I read all five books, made hundreds of drawings, and finished with the painting projects in \"Creative Illustration\". This painting is my copy of the \"Mermaid\" painting in that book, but I made lots of changes so it's not an exact copy.

So, while I am often described as a \"__self-taught__\" artist, obviously that is not true, my teacher was Andrew Loomis. But the learning never stops and over the following years I learned a lot more from many other artists.","Mermaid-Loomis.a1f76b7a-be49-4358-b6e9-1c6628ae9ed0.jpg","\\artwork\\Mermaid-Loomis.a1f76b7a-be49-4358-b6e9-1c6628ae9ed0.jpg",1,"THE STEPHEN E. FABIAN COLLECTION","**THE STEPHEN E. FABIAN COLLECTION** - This collection contains 500 drawings and paintings that I began creating in 1965, mostly related to the science fiction field.

My interest in science fiction began way back in 1951 when I was a 21 year old airman in the U.S. Air Force at Scott Air Force Base in Belleville, Illinois, where I taught an electronics course in the Advanced Radio and Radar School. One evening I was at the base PX browsing the magazine rack looking for something to read and noticed some pulp magazines that featured beautiful artwork on the covers. Titles like \"Famous Fantastic Mysteries,\" \"Fantastic Novels,\" and \"Astounding Science Fiction\". Inside those issues I saw wonderful story illustrations by Virgil Finlay, Lawrence Stevens, Edd Cartier, and Hubert Rogers, and I was hooked. I bought those magazines, read them over the weekend and they turned me into a science fiction fan.

In 1953 my time in the Air Force ended and I was a New Jersey civilian again. I worked at Dumont TV Labs for five years, at Curtis Wright for another five years, and in 1963 I found myself working for Simmonds Precision Products, an electronics company in Vermont. It was in 1965 that I began thinking about learning how to draw and paint like my favorite SF illustrators. And that's what I did, I bought some art instruction books and worked at it in my spare time. I had this dream that when I retired, in about 20 years or so, I might do some part-time illustrating in the Science Fiction field.

Astonishingly, just two years later my drawings and paintings began appearing in print; in fan publications and professional magazines. It all happened a lot sooner than I had expected.

And here I am in 2015, looking at all this artwork that I managed to create since 1965. I actually became a full-time free-lance illustrator, just like the ones who inspired me back in 1951. Whenever I wake up in the morning thinking it was all a dream, I am assured that it really did happen when I look at the trophy that rests on a shelf in my library; it features a bust of H.P. Lovecraft, sculpted by Gahan Wilson and was presented to me at a World Fantasy Convention. At the base of the figure a shiny plaque reads, \" 2006 World Fantasy Award, Lifetime achievement Winner, Stephen Fabian\". ","1. The Stephen E. Fabian Collection-CD.8e216e1d-ad29-41b8-b7f6-8d87dbdbd878.jpg","\\artwork\\1. The Stephen E. Fabian Collection-CD.8e216e1d-ad29-41b8-b7f6-8d87dbdbd878.jpg"]