Suddenly, I'm a Book Cover Artist

I've long been an admirer of book cover art, particularly from the mid Twentieth Century era.  Little did I know that one day I too would join the ranks of those whose art graces multiple books.   It didn't happen by any great design on my part.  Still, I'm both amused and flattered at the same time.  

There is one book cover that features my art where that was the actual intent.  It's "Lady MacBeth Afraid of the Stairs" which was a collaboration between me and my life long buddy, the author Thom Barker.

Lady MacBeth is the only book there is where I am the official cover artist.  But there are now many more unofficial ones, thanks to the fact that I've licensed my art through various stock image companies, to be used for creative endeavors worldwide.  Using Google's reverse image search function, I've been able to track some of them down.  

It came as no great surprise that several books of the "Film Noir/Detective" ilk turned up.  If I'm known for one thing, it would probably be moody, dark, mid-century-era pieces featuring lonely fedora clad men.  Here's a sampling of some paintings and the book covers they became:

"Express Downtown"

"The Kingpin"

"Nightwalk"

I also like to paint scenes from the early twentieth century, especially bright summery ones with female leads.   It's only dawned on me as I write this blog, that that propensity is probably a subconscious counterpoint to the aforementioned fedora-clad mystery men.  Some of these paintings have turned up in period stories of intrigue and romance:

 

"The Breadalbane Hotel"

"Beachside Stroll"

"Atlantic City Beach" turned up halfway around the globe, on the cover of a book from Malaysia.

The following author from England, Gwen Parrott, thought enough of my work to make it the cover of three different novels, and the graphic designer borrowed bits from my other paintings to alter the backgrounds.  

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And this piece, "After the Theatre" has shown up a couple of times, first on a French mystery novel:

But in another appearance, it's the cover art for a student's manual, exploring the poetry of T.S. Eliot:  

And as it turns out, T.S. is not the only famous novelist I've been paired with.  Here's "The Skiff" on the cover of a Jack London novel:

Then there's "Soiree at Billings Estate", a good 'ol Canadian image on the cover of a Robertson Davies book out of Germany:

"Dublin Nocturne" is the cover of this edition of James Joyce's "Dubliners":

And then of course is Charles Dicken's Christmas Carol, for which I have a ten-painting series that hangs every year at Montgomery's Inn.  This particular image has been adapted for a children's book from a Christian publisher.  I actually ordered my own copy since they also use the other paintings throughout the book.  

 I suppose none of this should come as a shock, since I've always tried to inject a sense of story into my works.  So to me it's a natural fit, and I look forward to seeing more in the future.  

For your own copy of the children's book I illustrated, here's the link:

https://www.amazon.ca/Lady-MacBeth-Afraid-Stairs-Barker/dp/1773703382