The Gift of the Magi

My newest book, O.Henry's The Gift of the Magi, is available for pre-order on Amazon.

I don't think it will be published until October but here is a first glimpse of the cover art.

The Big Guide to Irish Children's Books

This is a cover I did around 2000 for a guide t0 Irish Kids' books edited by my friends Valerie Coghlan, and Celia Keenan.

Valerie and her husband Rex bought the painting afterwards.

The model for the boy was my nephew Daniel. 

He'd be pretty embarrassed by it now as he is an aspiring rock guitarist, and a pretty cool dude.

The Bee-man of Orn, cover art from sketch to painting

Here's a little video showing the process from sketch to the finished painting of the cover of The Bee-man of Orn by Frank R Stockton.

Shiver

To get back to the theme of book illustration; here is a cover that I did about ten years ago for an anthology of ghost stories published by Poolbeg Press in Ireland. 

It has not been seen very widely, but was always one of my favourite portfolio pieces, so I think it's a good idea to share it here. 

Sleeping nude

Here's a large drawing that I sold in last year's life drawing exhibition.

It was about four foot wide as I remember.

I've been drawing and painting small pictures for years and years, but now at last I seem to have realised the importance and impressiveness of working on a large scale, probably as a result of the Gulliver murals I did in 2006.

Of course when you are working towards reproduction in a book, this is hardly relevant, but over the years I have exhibited more and more, and the size of the picture is very important here, not least when it comes to pricing a work. 

There is also a great feeling of achievement when you create a big piece of work.