McQueen Novel Covers

Aaron McQueen is a fantasy/sci-fi writer I have been working with since 2019 on various projects; initially he hired me to illustrate the two weekly serials he was writing at the time, and we have since moved to novel covers that I also create the typography for. The serials were lots of fun to do, albeit at a breakneck speed of two per week (I also redrew some previous covers). Therefore they were done in a fairly sketchy style. "Exiles" was a fantasy setting with some non-humans and a high power level; "Tantalus" was a science fantasy setting about cadets training to fight off an alien invasion with magical technology. I actually read all of it, and Aaron was a very forthcoming collaborator. They were published via the author's Patreon page.
Some of my favourites from both serials:

We then continued to work together on novel covers, all wraparounds although they were pretty character-centric. Foxglove even got a repaint later because we wanted a different prop and I took the opportunity to also fix other imbalances. One of the things I have always found hardest working with clients is to not include elements they wish for even if they don't go well together so I had to learn thinking hard about which ones work. The Foxglove series was rebooted as "Seasons of the Harrow" under the author's other publishing name, Charlie Shannon. I just finished last touches on the third cover for Wilding Reach after Rosewood Born and Sisters of the Path.

First cover for Foxglove

Revised cover for Foxglove

Queens of Iris (front of wraparound cover)

The Balero Affair

Rosewood Born

 

Sister of the Path