You may not get it on who John Picacio is by name but , if you ’ve been a fan of A Song of Ice and Fire , then you ’ve control his body of work illuminating the world created by George R.R. Martin ’s volume . The accolade - winning illustrator helped define the face of Jon Snow , Eddard Stark and other iconic ASoIaF character before chuck directors got crack on HBO ’s hit Game of Thrones television adaptation .
Picacio ’s one of those artists whose work glows with a distinctive and elegant gunpoint - of - perspective . by from Martin , his linework has graced works by Michael Moorcock , Harlan Ellison , Joe R. Lansdale and tons of other science - fiction / illusion leading light . For the last few years , he ’s also been creating Loteria Grande , a re - invented version of loteria , the classic Mexican biz of probability . io9 is featuring at some of Picacio ’s favorite pieces in honour of Hispanic Heritage Month — admit his recollection about the creation of each instance .
1) La Sirena
I produce up play a bill biz with my family . It ’s called Loteria , and it ’s a Mexican biz of opportunity , play much like Bingo . The icons on the card are super - intimate within Mexican finish , but I want to re - suppose them in my own unique way . ‘ La Sirena ’ was one of the first of those visions , and she ’ll always be one of my favorites because she caused a lot of people to fall in sexual love with my Loteria employment . This nontextual matter ended up winning the 2013 Chesley Award for Best Product Illustration , when it seem as a circumscribed - run art card .
2) El Arpa
This one is a favorite because I did n’t sleep with I was write stories in my headway until I drew this one . She was the quaternary of my Loteria series and when I puff her , I realized I was creating a back tale , but I was n’t writing the words down . So I set off jotting down those idea and bit of taradiddle and actualise there were narrative behind the Loteria nontextual matter I had draw before her . I went back and write those down too . She was the turning point where I discover there were legends and secrets in the cards and I require to say them .
3) La Calavera
I love when I see people cosplay as this graphics . It happens more and more as Dia de los Muertos attack every year . I grew up surrounded by this imagery , and I require to make a facial intention that was iconic and unequalled . When you draw something , you never completely know how the world is go to react , but I think this one might resonate . In fact , it ’s become more popular than I imagined , and I love that people of all culture have embraced her .
4) El Arbol
5) El Venado
I met Leigh Bardugo at a George R.R. Martin political party in 2011 , and she straightaway became one of my favorite the great unwashed because she was peculiar and driven . Within a year or so after that , her debut young adult novel Shadow and Bone released and became a smash hit . If you have n’t interpret that book , you should , and if you have , then you ’ll be able to glimpse secrets in the light source and iniquity of this one .
6) Bran Stark
This was the first artwork I create for the 2012 George R. R. Martin / A Song of Ice and Fire Calendar . I ’ve always loved the book illustration of N.C. Wyeth , and one of my favorite things about them is he would illustrate “ between the beats ” of the story . In other word , he would n’t needs paint the aspect described by the author , but instead he would picture an unsaid present moment that lurked between sentences . I endeavor to get the emotional state of the record book ’s characters for all of my ASoIaF artworks , rather than just re - see George ’s words into pictures .
7) Jon Snow
When George R.R. Martin need me to be the artist for the 2012 ASoIaF Calendar , he had signed the deal for HBO ’s Game of Thrones , but the show had not bare . At that point , they had yet to start shed and working on pre - production . George insisted that I not look at any of the impending cast announcements touch to the show because he wanted a “ John Picacio visual modality ” of his Bible characters . That was dead fine with me and in retrospect , I ’m glad I did n’t have the show ’s imagination in my top dog when I was drawing . I screw Game of Thrones , but for me , it was always about the books and those timeless characters .
8) Arya Stark
I drew most of this artwork in a infirmary during my girl ’s first hr and days on this satellite . I skip she would be feisty and strong like Arya , and that wish has been granted a hundred - crease . Arya looks nothing like my daughter , but when I see at this one , it feels like I ’m look at house .
9) Eddard Stark
Ned was the third ASoIaF graphics I drew for the calendar , and during the early sketch microscope stage , it was clean-cut to me that George and the newspaper publisher Random House really care where this one was go . My artistry director David Stevenson is always howling because he ’s not heavily - handed and get artists do their job while he clears the way . I found that George was a great art director in his own way too , as he was part of the approval chain on everything I did . He would say very niggling , but he was very specific . His notes always made the study well . ‘ A fiddling more salt and black pepper ’ in the byssus was his only note of hand here , and I did it , and he was good .
10) Gateway
This one is an ancient artwork of mine , dating back to 2004 . Frederik Pohl ’s Gateway is one of the iconic classics of science fiction and Random House asked me to create a fresh cover for it , after Boris Vallejo ’s iconic art had been the cover since the 1977 debut . Even though this is an sr. work , this one still holds a peculiar place for me because I hump the book and I ’m glad that the artistic production still remains in mark as the cover for so many editions around the reality . I ’m emotional to see how SyFy develops this into a TV series , and I hope they ’re able-bodied to capture that wondrous common sense of the heroic and inner that makes Pohl ’s novel so powerful .
11) Elric: Swords and Roses
Michael Moorcock is not just one of my favorite authors , but he ’s one of my favorite multitude . I was necessitate to do some of the covers for the definitive Random House Elric omnibus serial , and this cover was for the sixth and concluding book . Mike had told me how much he enjoy American cowboy movie series when he was spring up up in a 1940 ’s London fail out by Nazi warplanes . Those happy trails were comforting to him in a time of peril — and in a converse way , that became my stirring for this final binding . Elric is an anti - submarine and I thought if this was the net book , then he would not clip lightly into a gentle sunset .
12) The Creative Fire
When I ’m rent to illustrate a cover for a book , I ’m looking for force and spirit of the narrative . I thought the SF / F breed world call for more dimensional delineation of women , and the book ’s protagonist Ruby was the right character at the right fourth dimension . My vision of her was exhort by author Brenda Cooper ’s sharp prose , but also by Rosie the Riveter and Botticelli ’s “ Birth of Venus . ” Because she was a Isaac Merrit Singer , she needed a microphone . Have a close look at the barrel of that microphone stand that you probably thought was a rifle . Your vox is your arm .
13) Invasion of the Body Snatchers
This was my cover for the sixtieth Anniversary Edition of this literary classic . When we think of this book , most of us know how the canonic story goes , even if we ’ve never read the original novel . I wanted to produce a blanket that would make new readers await at this Christian Bible as the unknown and alien marvel it really is — a tale just as resonant today as it was sixty class ago .
14) When the Devil Drives
This is the up-to-the-minute in my serial of artworks for Tor.com ’s Wild Cards serial , edited by George R. R. Martin and art organise by Irene Gallo . I love doing these slice because I get to try out a number and for this story by Melinda Snodgrass , it was aces high . Wild Cards is such a fun universe of characters and crossed life-time , and I ’m looking forward to doing a few more of these in the number calendar month .
15) La Valiente
I recently debuted this Loteria art and I ’m gratified by the initial reaction to her . If you look at the old - prison term , traditional Loteria artwork for ‘ El Valiente ’ , it ’s a revered macho posture of a man with sleeves roll up , ready for a fight , while holding a bloody tongue . I took this icon in a dissimilar instruction , and this one is a protection to my young daughter and to all warrior women everywhere . For those that want her on their walls , you may find herhere .
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