22nd Annual Chesley Awards Final Ballot

The Association of Science Fiction & Fantasy Artists has just released their list of the 22nd Annual Chesley Awards Nominees. ASFA members can download the Final Ballot here, and vote by August 10th.

Obviously, I'm thrilled that Stephan Martiniere's wonderful illustration for the Pyr edition of Ian McDonald's River of Godstops the list of the "Best Cover Illustration -- Hardback Book." Stephan is nominated again in the category of Award for Artistic Achievement.

Meanwhile, my dear friend and illustrator for all five of my own anthologies, John Picacio, is also up twice, for the amazing work he did on the cover of the Eos reissue of A Canticle for Leibowitzand for the cover of Interzone magazine's 204th issue.

But beyond all that, I'm deeply honored to have shown up on the shortlist myself for Best Art Director. I don't know if this is the first time someone from editorial has made the shortlist, but it's got to be a rare occurrence if not a unique one. So I want to say upfront that while I'm very pleased and proud, what this nomination means is that people think our books look really damn good, and that is a credit to a great many people. Beyond the fabulous illustrators we've had the privilege to work with -- Picacio, Martiniere, Caniglia, Brian W. Dow, Greg Bridges, Bob Eggleton, Jim Burns, Dave Seeley, among others -- my parent company Prometheus Books has a fabulous art department, and one that is very patient to put up with me breathing over their shoulders to the degree that I do. Jaqueline Cooke, Grace M. Conti-Zilsberger, and Nicole Sommer-Lecht are all tremendous, very talented, and I am very grateful to them to work so hard and so well in the service of the Pyr line. What's more, I owe an eternal debt of gratitude to Irene Gallo and John Picacio, who have both been very free with their time and their advice and are much wiser souls than I.

Now, here's the full list:

Best Cover Illustration -- Hardback Book
* Stephan Martiniere, "River of Gods", by Ian McDonald, Pyr, Mar 2006
* Jon Foster, "The Demon and the City", by Liz Williams, Night Shade Books, Aug 2006
* Donato Giancola, "The Thirteenth House", by Sharon Shinn, Ace, Mar 2006
* Todd Lockwood, "Temeraire: In the Service of the King", by Naomi Novik, SFBC, 2006
* James A. Owen, "Here, There Be Dragons (Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica)" by James A. Owen, Simon & Schuster, Sept 2006

Best Cover Illustration -- Paperback Book
* John Picacio, "A Canticle for Leibowitz", by Walter M. Miller, Eos, May 2006
* Daniel Dos Santos, "Moon Called", by Patricia Briggs, Ace, Feb 2006
* Vince Natale, "Queen of Attolia", by Megan Whalen Turner, Eos, Jan 2006

Best Cover Illustration -- Magazine
* Steven Gilberts, "Dark Wisdom: the Magazine of Dark Fiction", Winter 2006
* Renee LeCompte, "Fantasy Magazine", Summer 2006
* John Picacio, "Interzone" #204, May/June 2006
* r.k.post, "Dragon" #336, January 2006

Best Interior Illustration
* Tony Di Terlizzi, "Care and Feeding of Sprites", by Holly Black & Tony Di Terlizzi
* Omar Rayyan, "Cricket Magazine"
* Yvonne Gilbert, "The Ice Dragon", by George R.R. Martin, Starscape, Oct 2006
* Justin Sweet, "Kull: Exile of Atlantis" by Robert E. Howard, Del Rey, Oct 2006
* Ruth Thompson & Lawrence Allen Williams, "The Book Angels" by Todd Jordan, Sterling 2006
* Michael Kaluta, "The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden" by Catherynne M. Valente, Spectra, Oct 2006
* James A. Owen, "Here, There Be Dragons (Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica)", by James A. Owen, Simon & Schuster, Sept 2006

Best Color Work -- Unpublished
* Jim Burns, "Dryad of the Oak", acrylic
* Donato Giancola, "Tristan and Isolde", oil
* Stephen Hickman, "Galadriel's Harp"
* Michael Whelan, "Retrospection", acrylic
* Benita Winckler, "Changing", digital

Best Monochrome -- Unpublished
* Donato Giancola, "Red Sonya", pencil & chalk
* Stephanie Pui-Man Law, "Plum Blossoms", ink
* Alex McVey, "Love Bites", pencil
* Tom Fleming, "Spring", pencil
* Joe Bellafatto, "The Great Temptation: Angel of Death"

Best Three Dimensional Art
* Laura Reynolds, "Ice Dragon", mixed
* Gabriel Marquez, "Cthulhu V2", porcelain
* Scott Webb, "Head over Heels", polymert clay
* Forest Rogers, "Sea Maid's Music", clay and misc.
* Luke Eldridge, "Gargoyle Descending", wire

Best Gaming Related Illustration
* Carl Critchlow "An Ill Wind Blows"
* Ralph Horsley "Thri-Keen"
* Todd Lockwood, "Dragons of Fearum"
* Richard Sardinha,"Coils of Set"
* Eva Widerman, "Seed of Undead"
* Paul & Michael Bielaczyc, "Knightly Order of Ansalom"

Best Product Illustration
* Douglas Fitch, production design for LA Opera's,"Hansel and Gretel"
* Nathan Crowley, architectural design for the movie, "The Lake House"
* Eugenio Caballero and William Stout, production designer and conceptual designer for the movie "Pan's Labyrinth"

Award for Artistic Achievement
* Stephan Martiniere
* John Jude Palencar
* Kinuko Y. Craft
* John Howe
* Alan Lee

Best Art Director
* Irene Gallo, Tor Books
* Matt Adelsperger, Wizards of the Coast
* Lou Anders, Pyr
* David Stevenson, Del Rey
* Jeremy Jarvis, Wizards of the Coast
* Judith Murello, Berkley Publishing Group
* Nicolas Sica, Bookspan (SFBC)
* Justin Stewart, Apex Magazine