This is the cover from a collection of short stories by fantasy legend Peter S. Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn and The Folk of the Air. The collection is entitled The Rhinoceros Who Quoted Nietzsche and Other Odd Acquaintances and is available from Tachyon Publications. Peter really liked this cover a lot, and said that I could quote him: "The best cover I've ever had. The cover realizes the story perfectly. It's exactly the way I'd imagined it." (Thanks, Peter!) This piece also won the 1997 Chesley Award for best science fiction / fantasy paperback book cover of the year, and was shown in the Spectrum 5 fantasy art show book.
I got the antique yellowed look by painting over a yellow background instead of the usual white, and by superimposing my line art in a medium brown instead of black. A few elements, like the rug and the sky outside the window, were added in to balance out the browns. Every single book on the shelves and the floor has a real title on it. Most of them are philosphy books, which is Professor Gottesman and the Indian Rhinoceros' favorite topic of conversation. But hidden in there are a few other titles, such as the telltale purple binding of Tachyon Publications' and my first color dustjacket for Staley Weinbaum's The Black Flame. On the floor in front of th broken couch are two earlier books by Peter Beagle, The Inkeeper's Song and The Folk of the Air.
You can also get a print (or a mousepad) of this painting here.
Michael Dashow - 4676 Reinhardt Drive, Oakland, CA. USA
mdashow_at_michaeldashow.com - http://www.michaeldashow.com/illustration.html