Sky Whales

*****************UPDATE*****************
Final cover commission visible here: [link]
Added the map at the publisher's request. The map version is exclusively for the book cover. The book will be available December 2009.
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Commission for Norilana Books.

So Vera Nazarian, publisher, writer, and artist over at Norilana Books, asked if I could do a cover with a big pod of whales flying high in the sky. I thought, "Whales?" I'm a photomanipulator, after all. It's not as though stock images of whales crop up all over the internet. Least of all from a view down below looking up at them. When is anybody ever standing or swimming under a whale?

Well, then I had this most brilliant revelation. I found a way to create my own whales. Trade secret. But I'll tell you that it involves dirt, paint, and rocks, among other magical ingredients.

Given that they are approximately 85% absolutely fake, I think they came out rather well.

Dunes from pdphoto.org and public-domain-photos.com, clouds courtesy my dear friend Audrey Lockwood.