I have always been captivated by the covers of The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare. I remember always glancing at it as I sifted through the bookstore. How could I not ? The image captures movement, mystery and the emotion of the story quite efforlessly. The quality of the cover is brilliant, no image online can do the shine factor justice.
The cover art is done by Cliff Neilsen and I have to say this man is a genius ! That's right there are no photographs used in the cover art.
Neilsen's images have this uncanny valley like quality. I can't tell you how long I've been side-eyeing Clockwork Prince trying to figure out if it was a real person or not.
Nielsen's illustrations have also popped up in some pretty successful children's books including Madeline L'Engle's Wrinkle in Time, Margaret Hadix Shadow Children and Lois Lowry's The Giver.
Below are more examples of his work with the books; Heat by Mike Lupica, Nomansland by Lesley Hauge and Jessica's Guide To Dating the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey
Nelilsen's graduated as Valedictorian from Art Center College of Design in 1994 where he studied traditional and digital art. His wife, Terese Nielsen is an illustrator for the card game
Magic The Gathering and freelance fanstasy writer. They have 4 children and reside in California.
I have to agree, there is some amazing talent here. I love the details. This is a great post. Thank you for sharing all of this great info on Cliff Neilsen and his work.
ReplyDeleteThose aren't photos on the cover? Wow! I thought the Infernal Devices had gorgeous covers before, now I'm amazed by them. That's incredible!
ReplyDeleteMy shelf candy is here if you'd like a look :)
Great post! I didn't realize it was all the same artist! Thanks foe sharing!
ReplyDeleteGREAT pick! I love the details in the covers and the artwork on Jem is just impeccable- can't wait to get my hands on it!
ReplyDeletejenn | my shelf candy