Recent cover design for Beat To A Pulp -- an anthology of twenty-seven short stories.
James O'Barr did the cover illustration and I ruined it.
The folded and torn edges come from my hardcover copy of the limited edition Donald M Grant publication of Stephen King's
Dark Tower: The Gunslinger. Which I received as a gift when I was about 15 years old. Yes, that's the edition that goes for
1/2 a new car today... if it's in mint condition... which mine isn't. Because I was 15 and I thought reading was better than collecting. I still do. The book's beat-to-a-pulp condition attests to the fact that it was a meaningful gift I enjoyed reading. And it's the only book of the series that I can tolerate. Except for the one with
Philip Hale illustrations (
because of the Philip Hale illustrations)*.
The other rips & tears come from a 1934 edition of The Postman Always Rings Twice. Which has one of the greatest opening lines ever. "They threw me off the hay truck about noon." (and the remake has one of the best Kitchen Table scenes ever).
Here's a few of the raw elements I used and the original art. The cardboard w/ duct tape is something I scanned about 15 years ago and have used in hundreds of illustrations and designs as a grain overlay.
*Did you know Philip Hale was an official portraitist (that a word? is now) for Prime Minister Tony Blair? The guy who created
Johnny Badhair also
painted a portrait that will hang in Westminster forever.
** I thought that was a Philip Hale / Johnny Badhair / Tony Blair mash-up, but it's a Doctor Who / Johnny Badhair mash-up. Oh well. 4 point awesomeness deduction.
