ON THE FRONT

WAR AND SPACE next month!

2009-07-02T10:39:00.002-05:00

Editor Steven Silver sent me this the other day -- the final jacket layout for NESFA Press' forthcoming WAR AND SPACE: THE BEST OF LESTER DEL REY, VOL. 1. NESFA's website says the book is slated for release next month, so I'm guessing that means they'll have copies available at the World Science Fiction Convention in Montreal. Can't wait to see how it turns out....should be a winner. :) Cover illustration by me, and jacket design by Alice N.S. Lewis. Alice is also the designer responsible for the cool Boskone poster that's been distributed recently. Way to go, Alice!

Boskone 47 Mini Poster

2009-06-29T16:46:00.003-05:00

Man, the NESFAns are like clockwork with their newsletters. The latest one includes this cool little full-color flyer pimping next year's Boskone 47 in February. They used my cover illustration for George Zebrowski's MACROLIFE and I couldn't help but smile when I saw it. Whomever is responsible for designing this flyer -- great job! :) I dig it and I'll hang up mine here in my studio. You can download your very own right here.

ALWAYS FOREVER is here!

2009-06-25T13:54:00.005-05:00

Crazy good news for Mark Chadbourn's AGE OF MISRULE: BOOK 3 -- ALWAYS FOREVER! The book has sold out its first printing before it even hits the stores! Here's what that means -- bookstores liked what they saw from the first two books in the trilogy and they have confidence this third book is a solid bet to sell equally well, if not better. So they upped their orders and effectively bought up the entire first printing. What that means to you is this: if you want a first-edition copy of ALWAYS FOREVER, they should be at your local bookstore right now and it's best to buy soon because the distributors don't have any more in their warehouses. :)

My comp copies of Mark Chadbourn's ALWAYS FOREVER arrived the other day and the printing turned out great! I illustrated the cover for this one, as well as the previous two books in the series, WORLD'S END and DARKEST HOUR. It's fun to see the three books lined up, side by side.

Meantime, I'll soon be back to working on the covers for the next books in this story arc. Congrats to Mark and to Pyr!

2009 Chesley Award Noms!

2009-06-18T08:40:00.005-05:00

Received fabulous news late yesterday! I'm nominated for four 2009 Chesley Awards. Wow!! Here's the complete list of nominees. And boy, what a list it is -- there will be some heavyweight decisions in several categories. Here are my four nominated works:

(Above)
Best Cover Illustration: Hardcover
VIEWPOINTS CRITICAL: SELECTED STORIES
Author: L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
Publisher: Tor

(Above)
Best Cover Illustration: Paperback
FAST FORWARD 2
Edited by: Lou Anders
Publisher: Pyr

(Above)
Best Cover Illustration: Magazine
ASIMOV'S
September 2008

(Above)
Best Interior Illustration
ELRIC: THE STEALER OF SOULS
Author: Michael Moorcock
Publisher: Del Rey
(This selection is one of 20+ interior illustrations I did for the book, but I'd have to say this is my personal favorite. Here's an extensive gallery of some my other interiors from the book.)

And finally, shoutouts to Lou Anders -- a 2009 Hugo Award nominee for Best Editor, and a 2009 Chesley Award nominee for Best Art Director (a very rare feat) -- and also fellow Texan Vincent Villafranca for his well-earned 3D nomination. Congrats to all fellow nominees. I'm proud and honored to be amongst you!

My Interview with China's FANTASY ART

2009-06-17T08:41:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, you saw the May 2009 cover of China's FANTASY ART Magazine. This morning, I received a PDF of my interview pages inside the mag. Above are four of the feature's eight pages. FANTASY ART says it'll be about three months before I see a physical copy of the mag. That's a mighty slow boat, but I'm sure it'll be worth the wait. Too bad I can't read Chinese, but the spreads are so beautifully done that they're still a pleasure. Huge thanks to Lizzy Carft and all at FANTASY ART for making this possible. :)

Wow! On the cover of FANTASY ART in China!

2009-06-16T10:47:00.003-05:00

My illustration for Michael Moorcock's ELRIC: THE STEALER OF SOULS is featured on the May 2009 cover of China's FANTASY ART Magazine, the country's leading pro magazine celebrating fantasy art and design. Earlier this year, Lizzy Carft conducted an interview with me, which is reportedly inside this issue. I say "reportedly" because I've yet to see the actual magazine itself. I'm sure the good people of FANTASY ART will be sending a few to me and I can't wait to see how it looks. When they do, I'll likely need the mighty Xin to translate the read. :) Very cool!

The Little Antho That Could

2009-06-16T09:59:00.003-05:00

Seems like FAST FORWARD 2 is the critical darling that just won't die, well over a year after initial release! :) Here's two more extensive reviews courtesy of SFSite (reviewed by Derek Johnson) and Fantasy Book Critic (reviewed by Fabio Fernandes). Happy to see this, as it's always been tough for anthologies to survive, even at the best of times. I've said this before, but I'm extremely proud to have illustrated this cover because books this good don't grow on trees, to say the least. If you love great sf, and wish to see anthos like FF2 continue, please consider buying one, if you haven't already. Your purchase doesn't affect me one way or the other. I certainly don't make any money from the sale, but literature is best when it's diverse. The sf field needs books like FF2 just as it needs its ubiquitous best-sellers.

What If? Jeff Ford & John Picacio Book?

2009-06-14T07:55:00.004-05:00

No secret that Jeff Ford is one of my favorite authors. I've done covers for several of his books, including the wraparound cover art for THE EMPIRE OF ICE CREAM (pictured above). For years, we've talked about collaborating on a lush, illustrated book of his much-loved, Fountain Award-winning story "The Annals of Eelin-Ok". I'd love to illustrate this story, but so far, it's proved impossible to shoehorn a major project like that, on-spec, into my busy cover art schedule.

Well -- check this out: Jeff's story centers around the mythology of the Twilmish, a race of fairies who live in sand castles. Later this month, there will be a festival celebrating the Twilmish in Fairfield, CT. Big deal, right? Well, to the best of Jeff's knowledge, he made this mythology up, completely out of his imagination, and was shocked when he found that he was being invited to a celebration like this. The festival organizers believed his story so whole-heartedly that they were sure he was referencing an existing Celtic mythology. And they've now built a festival around it! Awesome!

So, back to this dream book -- he's a World-Fantasy Award-winning writer who's busy, busy writing, and I'm a World Fantasy Award-winning illustrator who's busy, busy illustrating. We both want to illustrate a beautiful hardcover edition of his story "The Annals of Eelin-Ok." Currently, there's no publisher for this book.

If an entire festival can be inspired from this simple short story, then how successful would an illustrated book be?

Moorcock Q&A at Mallozzi's

2009-06-14T07:28:00.003-05:00

Over at Joseph Mallozzi's blog last week, Michael Moorcock answered an extensive battery of questions from Joe's fans, mostly about Elric and ELRIC: THE STEALER OF SOULS). It's fabulous stuff. Joe's blog is terrific because he's so well-read and makes every effort to help others be the same. He's the executive producer of the STARGATE: ATLANTIS series as well as the forthcoming STARGATE UNIVERSE series, and he's a mensch.

Picacio Wallpaper at Tor.com!

2009-06-10T06:45:00.006-05:00

Free stuff, folks -- courtesy of the good people at Tor.com. They've just posted my artwork for George Alec Effinger's A THOUSAND DEATHS as a wallpaper -- part of their week-long celebration of the Hugo Professional Artist nominees. Go grab it while it's there. Available in several formats for your convenience. And if you haven't voted in the Hugos, what are you waiting for? :) Worldcon supporting memberships are only $50 and not only give you the right to vote in the Hugos, but you receive the Hugo Voter Packet, a ton of free Hugo-nominated reading and art. Memberships available here, and here's the Hugo online ballot. Voting deadline is July 3rd.

'SALEM'S LOT

2009-06-08T07:18:00.007-05:00

Here's my new illustration for Stephen King's 'SALEM'S LOT. It'll be featured in the forthcoming massive art book KNOWING DARKNESS: ARTISTS INSPIRED BY STEPHEN KING. 'SALEM'S LOT is one of the seminal vampire novels of the modern era, and a book this famous comes "pre-loaded" in the audience's imagination with a lot of vampire visual tropes. I wanted to avoid those because we've seen them enough. It seems to me the book is much more than just a vampire novel. So no fangs or blood spatters here. Instead, my picture is simply about a house and a small, mundane town.

As for the book itself, it's gonna be an amazing volume. Contributing artists include Michael Whelan, Bob Eggleton, Bernie Wrightson, Don Maitz, Les Edwards, Drew Struzan, David Ho, Douglas Smith, and a ton of others. Essentially, this will contain the vast majority of King book cover art ever produced, as well as new works created especially for this edition. Centipede Press is the publisher, and if you remember the jaw-dropping LOVECRAFT art book they released last year, then you know the production values are gonna be gorgeous for this book. They're taking pre-orders right now. It's a limited edition, so definitely check it out! :)

Three

2009-06-06T07:26:00.003-05:00

Whoa. Just realized my blog is three years old today! Launched 6/6/06. Where did the time go?

The Art of Michael Moorcock's ELRIC

2009-06-05T10:04:00.009-05:00

(Top left: Art by Michael Whelan / Top right: Art by P. Craig Russell / Bottom left: Art by Kent Williams / Bottom right: Art by Walt Simonson)

Sounds cool, doesn't it? Is this a lush, hardcover art book that you're missing? No, it's not missing. It doesn't exist. As far as I know, no publisher has seriously approached Mike Moorcock about it. But wouldn't it be an amazing art book if it did? Think about the greats that have illustrated Elric over the years.... Michael Whelan, Yoshitaka Amano, Brom, Walt Simonson, P. Craig Russell, and Robert Gould, just to name a few of the legions of artists in Elric art history. And speaking of legions, think about the armies of Moorcock fans worldwide. What Moorcock fan wouldn't covet a book like this? Heck, what fantasy art fan wouldn't? Sounds to me like a smash hit waiting to happen. :)

Dave Nalle Talks Valdemar & AGE OF MISRULE!

2009-06-03T01:38:00.006-05:00

The cover of AGE OF MISRULE: BOOK ONE -- WORLD'S END recently received love from no less than font god Dave Nalle, owner of one of the coolest font sites anywhere, The Scriptorium. He designed the font Valdemar which is used in the cover's type design. He gave a shoutout to designer Nicole Sommer-Lecht, and offered the following:

"The overall result is excellent, and it’s just the kind of book Valdemar was designed for. I also quite like the cover art by John Picacio, which is surprisingly conceptually reminiscent of the cover Howard David Johnson did for my Ysgarth RPG. Special kudos also go to Lou Anders of Pyr for putting such a good design team together."

I've never heard of Howard David Johnson or seen the Ysgarth RPG, but thought that was strange and amazing. Dave's full text even offers an impromptu review of the book to boot! After seeing this, I emailed him and asked if we could do a mini-interview. He graciously accepted.

What inspired the creation of the Valdemar font?

Dave: I was actually on vacation with my family in England when I started working on it in 2000. There was a hand-lettered title on the cover of a horror-themed puzzle book which I bought for my daughter and after looking at it for several days I gave in to a compulsion to design a font which would be a better title font for a book like that. Because my computer access was limited while traveling I drew the characters by hand, starting with a set of rough-looking serif characters and then adding somewhat ominous, magical elements to create alternate versions of each character. The font ended up being very successful and was picked as the signature font for the Harry Potter merchandising campaign so it appeared all over the place on packaging for action figures and toys. The result was that it became overexposed, so a few years later I designed Valdemar Alternate so that there would be more variant characters, giving designers more options and giving the font a longer shelf-life.

What are some of the decisions you face when designing a font like this? Any surprises in the making of this one?

Dave: The challenge on Valdemar was coming up with elements to add to the basic characters which looked mystical and yet were visually appealing. Most of them worked, but I really hate the "L" in the Valdemar Alternate character set with the short, rather weak looking spike going through it. But the biggest challenge was to come up with enough little quirks for 26 and ultimately 52 characters while not duplicating ideas I'd used in a couple of past conceptually similar fonts like Necromantic and Ironworks. The main surprise is how popular Valdemar has been. There are other fonts I've put enormously more work and thought into which haven't been anywhere near as popular. When I made it I was just kind of playing around, but clearly the idea resonated with people.

You've designed some amazing fonts. At this moment, what are three of your all-time faves you've designed?

Dave: I like Hadrianus because although it's derived from Roman inscriptory lettering, it's still basically an original design and it's the first traditional text font I did which works really well. Earlier text fonts I designed were either too derivative of other fonts or awkward looking, but Hadrianus works. I rather like Newgrange because I took the basic elements of Celtic calligraphy and took them to an interesting extreme and I think the result is very effective. Another favorite is Orpheus, because like a lot of my fonts it came from looking at someone else's work -- in this case the overly popular Morpheus font -- and deciding that I could do the same concept and make it better. With Orpheus it really worked. Now we just need the world to realize that they should be using it.

Much appreciated, Dave! Thanks for the time. Long live Scriptorium!

Twitter's Working. For Now.

2009-06-03T01:34:00.003-05:00

Looks like I have a face at Twitter now. Been tweeting a bit in the last 12 hours or so, and seems to be running smoothly. Let's hope it stays that way. :)

Twitter = Big Fail

2009-06-02T06:44:00.002-05:00

So far at least. After much ballyhooing from friends, I joined Twitter yesterday. Bad move. For months I've heard "Twitter will change your life" and "humankind will never again be able to function without Twitter" (although I seemed to be just fine without it). So I join, and find that the system has such massive dysfunction that it can't even upload a tiny avatar picture properly. And apparently, Twitter's been having this ongoing problem for at least three consecutive months, and still can't get a grip. I'd normally blame myself and assume user error, but when I click the empty avatar box that has a question mark in it, I see my photo so I know it's in the system. It's Twitter's problem, not mine.

To add to the fun, I'm getting emails from friends saying that they know I'm on Twitter, but can't find me. And on top of that, after the initial photo upload failed and I couldn't get back into my page, I redid my password and created a new one, just to be sure. So now my account oscillates between recognizing and not recognizing two different passwords. Yeah -- Twitter sux in a big way.

If anyone knows an avatar fix, gimme a holler.

Don't Get Me Started

2009-06-01T09:09:00.005-05:00

(left, art by Alphonse Mucha, 1905)

I'll get to Mucha in a moment, but I'd like to say that David Apatoff's Illustration Art blog has been one of my faves the last couple of years. I don't always agree with everything he says, but I respect his views, which are genuine and well-said. His most recent post is about Peter Max. Although I'm not a fan of Max's pop art work, David eloquently makes a point near and dear to my heart about illustration vs. fine art. With apologies to David for the copy/paste, here's what he said:

"Artists and critics always chafe at the restrictions imposed by patrons or censors who interfere with the artist's original concept. In fact, it seems that illustration is held in lower regard than "fine" art mainly because the illustrator's vision is subject to the whim of some client or art director. There is some truth to that criticism, but Peter Max demonstrates how the lack of restrictions can be just as hazardous to the quality of art.

In my view, Peter Max, along with Andy Warhol and Leroy Neiman, are good examples of artists whose work was spoiled and made rotten by excessive freedom. Today's fine art scene offers far more examples of artists whose self-indulgent, decadent work has little relevance or value outside their own cloistered circle. When the world provides resistance to an artist (whether in the form of a tough deadline, or a client's demands, or poverty, or totalitarian censorship) it can have a beneficial effect on the art. As the old proverb says, 'the wind in a man's face makes him wise.'

Artistic freedom can help or hurt art. But if great art can be produced in a prison cell or a concentration camp, it's silly for the fine art community to suggest that it can't also be produced within the constraints of a commercial art studio."

May I offer a "hell yes"? Way to go, David. I couldn't agree more--which brings me back to Alphonse Mucha. The art pictured above is Mucha's response for a 1905 Moet & Chandon champagne advertisement. It's commercial art all the way, but is it any less a piece of imagination, craft, design, and inspired execution at its finest because it was created for an advertisement? And where does it say that a curator or pseudo-intellectual has to validate something that beautiful for it to be considered art for the ages?

Several years ago, I had a heated exchange with a reknowned local 'fine artist' who specialized in ill-conceived installation sculptures. He was staring at a piece of illustration in a gallery and asked my opinion. I gave it to him, and he responded, "The trouble with illustration is that it can never be art in the highest sense because it always answers to someone. True fine art doesn't answer to anyone and therefore will always be a higher calling."

Those were fighting words.

After I reminded him of the numerous city council and political hoops he had to hop through for approvals, and the gallery collectors whose dollars he relentlessly chased, I offered the following gentle morsel: "Just because you masturbate on a wall and fool yourself into believing it's got value doesn't mean you're an artist." Maybe not one of my finer moments, but I'm still proud of that one. I still believe the very best commercial illustrations of a superior talent like Alphonse Mucha doesn't need a curator or nostalgia to validate it.

In the end, let me say as a proud, working professional illustrator, that it's not just the interaction with terrific art directors, or the answering to deadlines, or to problem-solving, or to strife, that can perhaps shape a piece of commercial illustration into something potentially special. ALL of those things are potentially huge, positive factors, but it's always about an artist's singular, skillful human response to a moment and to a context. That response must not only solve a problem and serve a client, but it must be strong enough to withstand the repeated scrutiny of that client's corporate masters and the timeless, infinite scrutiny of a potentially worldwide audience. And if in fact, that artist's response can pass these tests and not only maintain its pure expression, but in fact, be emboldened by these challenges and embrace those challenges to transform into something transcendent.....then which art is really 'the higher calling'?

DARKEST HOUR is upon us!

2009-05-29T07:38:00.003-05:00

The good folks at Pyr sent me gorgeous new copies of Mark Chadbourn's fantastic AGE OF MISRULE: BOOK 2 -- DARKEST HOUR. Received them yesterday, and the books printed great. I'm proud to be illustrating the covers for this series and Book 3 should be coming soon, from what I understand. Go, Pyr, go! :)

AWAY FROM HERE

2009-05-27T07:24:00.006-05:00

Unveiled -- here's my cover illustration for this September's issue of ASIMOV'S SCIENCE FICTION. It's based on the issue's lead story, Lisa Goldstein's "Away From Here." She was recently a Nebula Award finalist, and her new story is terrific. It's about hotels, wanderlust, and passing strangers.

A quirk in the story (no spoilers) inspired not only the subject, but also my compositional solution. A bit of art history: Coles Phillips was a popular American illustrator of the 1910's and 20's. His work was all the rage in advertising. He's famous for his "Fadeaway Lady" illustrations (see left) where he juxtaposed foreground and background elements of the same color. The results caused readers to look twice and complete the pictures with their imaginations.

It was fun to see how much I could subtract from an image and still have it "read." Thanks to art director Victoria Green for the encouragement, and to La Julia and Traci for helping me find magic where others might only find the mundane.

Chesley Awards Deadline Approaches

2009-05-26T07:54:00.005-05:00

Wow -- the Association of Science Fiction & Fantasy Artists have posted a terrific gallery of 2008 sf/f art. They posted it for ASFA members to vote upon for the 2009 Chesley Awards nominating process. It’s merely a suggestions gallery and NOT the Chesley Awards final nominees’ list. Deadline for ASFA members to submit nominating ballots is Friday, May 30th. The final nominees will be announced by ASFA later this summer.

Good news for Yours Truly — four of my own works are included in the suggestions galleries. Again, these are NOT Chesley Award nominees, but merely images that ASFA selected for possible nomination consideration:

Best Cover Illustration / Paperback:
John Picacio -- FAST FORWARD 2
Edited by Lou Anders
Pyr, October 2008

Best Cover Illustration / Hardcover:
John Picacio -- VIEWPOINTS CRITICAL (pictured here)
By L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
Tor, 03/2008

Best Cover Illustration / Magazine:
John Picacio -- ASIMOV'S September 2008

Interior Illustration:
John Picacio -- Elric: The Stealer of Souls
By Michael Moorcock
Del Rey, 2008

Check out the entire Chesley Awards Suggestions Gallery! And if you want to become an ASFA member, here's how.

MISSIONS UNKNOWN!

2009-05-25T10:00:00.002-05:00

San Antonio -- we have liftoff. Horror/dark fantasy writer Sanford Allen, tech guru Paul “The Mac Guy” Vaughn, and Yours Truly have banded together and formed MISSIONS UNKNOWN! -- a team blog celebrating science fiction, fantasy, and horror in San Antonio. The blog’s main mission is to celebrate SA-based creators and fans of sf/f/h and everything related to the literature and art of sf/f/h. That includes books, authors, artists, comics, prose, and the making and enjoyment of all of them.

I'm stoked about this. This is the kind of thing I've wanted San Antonio to have, for a very long time. If you live in SA -- and love science fiction, fantasy, or horror -- please visit daily, comment and make your voice heard. MISSIONS UNKNOWN! belongs to you.

Kubrick In My Head

2009-05-24T15:42:00.004-05:00

The other night, I was watching the DVD special features for Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. I've seen the film more times than I can count, but never these special features. One of them closed with the following words by Kubrick:

"The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent; but if we can come to terms with this indifference and accept the challenges of life within the boundaries of death – however mutable man may be able to make them – our existence as a species can have genuine meaning and fulfillment. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light."

I've certainly heard the same phrased differently, but never that eloquently. Definitely inspiring. Words to create by, and live by, I'd say....

Hugo Awards: Voting Now Open

2009-05-19T14:31:00.002-05:00

The 2009 Hugo Awards Online Ballot is now available. The deadline for voting is midnight (2359hrs.) Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) July 3, 2009. In order to vote, you must be a supporting or attending member of Anticipation (otherwise known as this year's World Science Fiction Convention in Montreal). They're available here. Supporting memberships are relatively inexpensive $50USD/$55CAN, and they're a downright steal when you consider that your membership grants you access to a Hugo Voter Packet containing the vast majority of this year's nominated novels, stories, and art.

In the Best Professional Artist category, I'm proud to be nominated along with Dan Dos Santos, Bob Eggleton, Donato Giancola, and Shaun Tan. Voters for the Pro Artist Hugo are asked to consider published works by the nominees from the year 2008. For voters' convenience, here's a visual list of my published art from 2008. In fact, if you're really pinched for time, you can just glance to the right and scroll through all of my '08 work in the sidebar. ;)

It's a helluva Hugo ballot in all categories, and I'm honored to be on it!

Coming Soon: Joe Mallozzi Talks ELRIC!

2009-05-15T09:44:00.002-05:00

Michael Moorcock's ELRIC: THE STEALER OF SOULS will be the June Book of the Month Club selection at Joseph Mallozzi's super-fun blog. He was the co-executive producer of STARGATE ATLANTIS and is the Consulting Producer of the forthcoming STARGATE UNIVERSE. Joe's invited Mike himself to answer reader questions. I'll definitely be checking that out! :)

ARE YOU THERE AND OTHER STORIES

2009-05-12T09:38:00.004-05:00

Unveiled: here's my front cover illustration for Jack Skillingstead's collection ARE YOU THERE AND OTHER STORIES, an October hardcover release from Golden Gryphon Press. I'd like to say a few words about Skillingstead and this book, especially for those who have never heard of him. At the end of the year, all of the hip sf critics and pundits will rack up their "Top 10 Books of 2009." I suspect ARE YOU THERE will be on some of their lists, or at the very least, the ones who spot great writers when they first encounter them. Why? Well, this is Skillingstead's debut book, which makes it doubly amazing that this collection of stories is so potent, emotional, and provocative. It blew me away. This is a book for sf readers who savor great questions as much as (if not more than) firm answers. I'm really proud to be the cover illustrator for this one.

A couple of process notes about the art: this illustration was directly inspired by Jack's stories, but it's not a literal translation of any of them. Although it's a very simple graphic solution, it took me a while to gather the courage to go this way. If you click on Amazon (for a limited time until it gets replaced with the final cover), you'll see my aborted original solution where a man is literally trying to hug a phantom, which was inspired by the stories, but perhaps was just as much me trying to capture a collection that isn't easily pegged. It's an interesting idea, and a work-in-progress (it even includes something I borrowed from a previous cover as a stand-in design element for the time being), but I thought that original picture was failing to communicate. It was a gut feeling, and I couldn't shake it. So I ditched it.

Huge credit must be given to Gary Turner, publisher of GGP, and Jack himself for allowing me to veto the picture. They had already approved the cover art, and the distributor had approved it as well for catalog purposes, but after much soul-searching, I just felt it was lacking. It's highly unusual to start over at this stage, but because the client had the catalog image as a safety net, I started over and revisited a different idea from my initial sketches. Originally, I'd abandoned this idea because I couldn't think of a way to turn it into a wraparound composition, which is a prerequisite of all GGP cover art. It could be an amazing front cover image though, and most importantly, it was utterly resonant with the tone of Jack's book. So I went for broke and did it. All the while, I wasn't sure if the piece was too simple and too spare, but stayed the course. And this is how the full wraparound composition turned out:

I printed up a scale mockup of how the art might wrap around a GGP book, and looked at the abstract cloud forms on the back cover (left half of the picture below). The full wraparound makes me a bit twitchy because the left half is so spare, compared to past work. However, seeing my little mockup was a great reminder of design context and that the back cover art works beautifully when the art finds its destination wrapping around a book. And that's what matters, in this case.

GGP gives its authors more cover art input than normally afforded by most publishers. So when Jack said that I "nailed" the art and that he couldn't stop staring at it, it was all worth it. Thanks again to both he and Gary, for keeping the faith. Thanks to Matt Fulcher and Sanford Allen for being partners-in-crime as I figured this out. I love this book and can't wait for it to be published.