About the cover...

[hunter]

We've just completed a deal for a new cover for T20. The artist is a two time winner of Magazine and Booksellers "Best Cover of the Year" award, and winner of the Association of Science Fiction Artists "Chesley" award. He has produced over 500 covers in his 20+ year career. You might be familiar with his covers for the Honor Harrington series among others...

David Mattingly

Hunter



[This message has been edited by hunter (edited 20 December 2001).]

 

[Werekoala]

Yowza!

Kurt Brown
Solomani Sympathizer by Day, Sophisticated Man-About-Town by Night

 

[Secrect Cow Level]

Way cool!

 

[T. Foster]

Consider me impressed! Let's just hope the deal is to actually provide a new illustration and not just recycle old material (a la Chris Foss).

Anyhow, things are looking WAY up from that cheesy superhero picture...

 

[hunter]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by T. Foster:
Consider me impressed! Let's just hope the deal is to actually provide a new illustration and not just recycle old material (a la Chris Foss).

Anyhow, things are looking WAY up from that cheesy superhero picture...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

This will be an original, not a second rights deal. I will be shipping him a good bit of my Traveller collection for him to use as reference.


Hunter


[This message has been edited by hunter (edited 20 December 2001).]

 

[Chris Henry]

Excellent work from what I can see on his website. Even though I've been in the "no cover art" camp, I think any cover he does will be great!

 

[Simon Jester]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by hunter:
This will be an original, not a second rights deal. I will be shipping him a good bit of my Traveller collection for him to use as reference.


Hunter


[This message has been edited by hunter (edited 20 December 2001).]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Just please ensure that any ships included in the cover art (if any) are faithful to their descriptions. I love Mattingley's 'Honor Harrington' covers but the ships he's included as part of the backgrounds have never come close to matching the descriptions given throughout the entire series, sometimes incuding in line drawings on the inside covers. Only on the most recent anthology book's cover did the ships look like what the text described, and that part didn't really look like his work.

But, other than that nitpick, I'm looking forward to seeing his work grace the cover of one of my favorite game systems.

Simon Jester
"...and that just goes to show why hamsters should never be allowed to use power tools."

 

[hunter]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Simon Jester:
Just please ensure that any ships included in the cover art (if any) are faithful to their descriptions. I love Mattingley's 'Honor Harrington' covers but the ships he's included as part of the backgrounds have never come close to matching the descriptions given throughout the entire series, sometimes incuding in line drawings on the inside covers. Only on the most recent anthology book's cover did the ships look like what the text described, and that part didn't really look like his work.

But, other than that nitpick, I'm looking forward to seeing his work grace the cover of one of my favorite game systems.

Simon Jester
"...and that just goes to show why hamsters should never be allowed to use power tools."
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Agreed on the HH ships, they always bugged me too. They look great, but don't match Weber's descriptions. That's why I am shipping him my Trav collection as reference, and I am specifically going to watch the 'look' of the technology and ships.

Hunter

 

[William]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by hunter:
I will be shipping him a good bit of my Traveller collection for him to use as reference.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

This is quite simply the best thing I have heard since the T20 project began.

THANK YOU, so very much Hunter.

William

 

[Reginald]

Forgive me if I don't know who is that artist you mentioned, so I have yet to be impressed.

When do we get to peek at the cover art?

 

[hunter]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Reginald:
Forgive me if I don't know who is that artist you mentioned, so I have yet to be impressed.

When do we get to peek at the cover art?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

There is a link to his website in the original post. You can see a sampling of some of his previous work.

The roughs will be here Jan 20, and the final by Feb 15, at which point we'll print.

Hunter

 

[Solo]

Solid Choice! Good artist.

Have to disagree about the ship thing tho. Every ship in the Traveller universe has been described? There's plenty o room for more ships.

 

[Simon Jester]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Solo:
Solid Choice! Good artist.

Have to disagree about the ship thing tho. Every ship in the Traveller universe has been described? There's plenty o room for more ships. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Agreed, but if it's obvious that he's tried to depict a Type S or an Empress Marava, but screws it up, it's going to bug the hell out of me every time I look at the book. It wouldn't stop me from buying the thing, though.

Simon Jester
"Never trust a hamster with an automatic weapon."

 

[GypsyComet]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Simon Jester:
Originally posted by Solo:
Solid Choice! Good artist.

Have to disagree about the ship thing tho. Every ship in the Traveller universe has been described? There's plenty o room for more ships. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>
Agreed, but if it's obvious that he's tried to depict a Type S or an Empress Marava, but screws it up, it's going to bug the hell out of me every time I look at the book. It wouldn't stop me from buying the thing, though.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Another external interpretation of the A2 certainly wouldn't hurt, however. I'd rather he did so from an informed position, though...

From a thematic point of view, I (an old Traveller) rather liked the TNE cover, as it hit a lot of "Traveller" in small snippets. That sort of format also has the advantage of diversification: parts might stink, but can just drop into the noise that is the good parts. Instead of a big cover with "Oh jeez, what an awful Marava" all over it, you get the first step in the new player show-and-tell ("that's a Vargr, this is Battledress, and the charging formation is a bunch of K'Kree...")


[This message has been edited by GypsyComet (edited 23 December 2001).]

[This message has been edited by GypsyComet (edited 23 December 2001).]

 

[worj]

Hmm... This might work...

------------------
- Bill Rutherford

 

[simontmn]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by worj:
Hmm... This might work...

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Looks good - checked his site, http://www.davidmattingly.com/Pages/EcoHonlg.html
is particularly Travelleresque, something like that would certainly encourage me to buy to book - which I want to do, but was a bit dettered by the previous cover choice.

 

[kafka47]

Alot of these are very Traveller-like. My favorites from the collection on offer are:

Whistler's Mother 2100 (minus granny)
Echoes of Honor
How to save the world
On Death ground
Beyond this Horizon
Armageddon Inheritance


And, I would have to really agree much better than that superhero cover. Save that one maybe for the character sheets.

 

[Mused]

I can only say one thing...

WOO-HOO!

'nough said?

 

[Simon Jester]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by hunter:

The roughs will be here Jan 20, and the final by Feb 15, at which point we'll print.

Hunter<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Any chance of getting a sneak-peek at the roughs in the 'tweentine? The anticipation for this thing is starting to get to me.

Simon Jester



------------------
-If it's stupid but it works, it isn't stupid.

 

[hunter]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Simon Jester:
Any chance of getting a sneak-peek at the roughs in the 'tweentine? The anticipation for this thing is starting to get to me.

Simon Jester
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Trust me I understand the anticipation, we are on pins and needles waiting to see what he comes up with!

The roughs will likely be posted shortly after we get them.

Hunter