CALLISTA

I painted this cover for the book, Callista, by Cordia Byers back in the early 1980s. It was quite revolutionary at the time for many reasons. First, it was a love scene on a sinking ship, a setting never seen before on book covers of the genre. But also the painting style was an old-mastery handling of a passionate love scene. The combination seemed startling. It was as if Caravagio had decided to paint a romance cover, instead of religious subjects. I confess that Caravagio did influence my style at the time, which is why I mentioned him. The swirling storm clouds and reeling deck,  bring dramatic focus  precisely to the interaction of their upper bodies and faces.

I went on to use this approach in many other covers, but this was the first of its kind.