Book cover…

I was contacted by F. Paul Wilson and his publisher(s) about doing an illustration for a book cover:

“Other Sandboxes is a collection of the stories — many of them commissioned for anthologies — I’ve written that involve famous characters created by other authors. I’ve got the Joker, Dick Tracy, Dr. Fu Manchu, Sherlock Holmes, Universal’s Frankenstein, Daddy Warbucks, and others less well known. I don’t know what arrangements you have with Tom, but here’s what I have in my head.

A wraparound of a low angle on a sandbox stretched out like a desert nightscape against a black starless sky — The dunes are lit by lumens (featureless floating balls of light) from “The Barrens” floating above it. Also floating above is the Dead World from Pellucidar which casts a shadow on the sand. Protruding from the dunes: maybe a tentacle, a giant Chinese coin (hole in the middle – see attached ref), a balisong (butterfly knife), a pagoda, a beached freighter, a Glock, a swing set, an old vinyl 45 with a “Wonder Records” label, a Joker playing card, A big crawling millipede, maybe a Frankensteinian monster or some artifact referencing the monster, a large oblong sapphire carved with weird runes… Might be eerie and striking in B&W.”

One of Paul’s publishers had originally mentioned doing only a front cover but upon reading the description I, too, envisioned a wraparound. So I did some sketches and a quick mock-up and sent this off to Paul:

But whaddo I know?

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Next week: The one that Paul likes best.