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bookcoversbyjon.bsky.social
Human-powered book artwork. Book cover designer and character art illustrator for indie authors and small press publishers. Devon, UK. BookCoversByJon.com www.jonstubbington.com/my-links/
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Art vs Artist 2025 Eh. Hopefully the next half of the year is more productive. [ #ArtvsArtist ]

First time I’ve seen this in the credits. Heretic. Great film too.

Snippet from an old book cover illustration. I still like the squinting expression I managed to get for this character.

A group of bullfinches is a bellowing, & my linocut shows a bellowing bellowing, singing loudly. I am making a series on the weird & wonderful terms of venery -the collective nouns for groups of animals. Some are evocative, some strange and obscure.🧵 How could I resist a “bellowing” of bullfinches?

A bit of classic Public Service Broadcasting for today's #MusicMonday youtu.be/BHIo6qwJarI?...

Snippet from an old book cover illustration. I still like the squinting expression I managed to get for this character.

I forgot to turn my computer on first thing this morning and I'm now sat here watching it slowly whir into life. It takes quite a while these days, so I usually try to give it time to come round slowly. I guess we all feel like that on a Monday morning.

I hope you enjoy the timelapse painting process. #art #digitalpainting

fashionably late for mermay, as is tradition #art

2017 >>> 2025 This isn't a totally fair comparison because I was experimenting with different styles back in 2017, trying to find what I enjoyed, so these aren't exactly comparable. But I'm happy I ended up finding the style of illustration I enjoy painting. ArtByJon

I've had another surge of followers (hello!) so it's (re)introduction time. I'm a UK-based freelance illustrator. I offer human-powered book artwork for indie authors and small press publishers: covers, interior illustrations, maps, and character art. www.jonstubbington.com BookCoversByJon.com

drop something yellow 💛🤡

We're excited to reveal the theme for our first anthology: FOLKLORE. In a month's time, we'll be open for short story submissions of 2,000-10,000 words from writers living in the North of England. Spread the word, and get your keyboards/pens/typewriters at the ready...

COVER REVEAL: The cover for THE DAUGHTER WHO REMAINS, the finale book in the SHE WHO KNOWS trilogy (DAW Books, Feb 2026). It was illustrated by the one and only Greg Ruth. Read what the novella is about in the alt text. Najeeba’s story is complete. 🥹 Fun Fact: The first chapter is in nsibidi.

It's time for the annual LGBTQ+ Pride fundraiser! ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜 Every year I do a special event to support these 3 orgs: 🏳️‍🌈The Trevor Project 🏳️‍⚧️The Theater Offensive 🏳️‍🌈Transgender Emergency Fund MA 100% of profits from this pack 6/1-6-30 will be donated. 🥳 ko-fi.com/s/32a448ad89 #Pose #PoseRef

2017 >>> 2025 This isn't a totally fair comparison because I was experimenting with different styles back in 2017, trying to find what I enjoyed, so these aren't exactly comparable. But I'm happy I ended up finding the style of illustration I enjoy painting. ArtByJon

Good choice with Northern Exposure, but this is mine. If you see this, quote with a show with an awesome theme song. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q58G...

FREE ADVICE: so, there's a filmmaking concept called "business." "Business" is, essentially, the stuff your character does while talking. Fixing a car engine, ice skating, eating an ice cream cone, ducking gunfire. You gotta give your characters "business" so they're not just standing there yappin'.

It's still almost May, isn't it? My late #Mermay illustration. I didn't get to spend as long on this as I wanted, but I'm calling it done. ArtByJon

ANGEL OF OTHERLAND (1999) Preliminary concept for MOUNTAIN OF BLACK GLASS Acrylic on Watercolor Board - 9 ½” x 6” When the series by Tad Williams was pitched—originally as a trilogy—I seized on the idea of having each of book dominated by a key color of the basic art spectrum... 1/2

Lots of questions about Kobo, #kobowritinglife and how, when and why we are using AI. Putting "AI" in the same sentence as "authors", "books" or "publishers" makes a lot of alarm bells go off, and for good reason. 1/

Some Metric music for an alliterative #MusicMonday youtu.be/LqldwoDXHKg?...

Really interesting, useful, and anger-inducing thread about the Unbound/Boundless situation.

Duck, duck, moose. Edmontosaurus Ink and gouache on Fabriano Medioevalis, 132 × 85 mm. I think I botched the birds somewhat. 🙈 It's a hot day and both I and the ink (because it dries out on the brush too soon) were fighting. This piece will be available at auction next week.

In lieu of a mermay mermaid, here's an older commission that at least has some water in it. Commissioned by author Mark Runte. ArtByJon

That mermay piece I've been working on isn't going to be finished in May! Anyone got any good June-related play-on-words so I can post it next month?

Here's the original art, it was designed to work as one print, or as bookmarks each showing the a different stage as the crew build the spaceship together.

Happy #worldparrotday Today was started to raise awareness of illegal trade and habitat destruction that these beautiful animals are facing in the wild. #parrot #parrots #parrotcharacterdesign #Birdlovers #Birdsofinstagram #macaw #illustration #parrotillustration #kidlit #kidlitart

Messy friendship. #grickledoodle #horror #movies #animals #cartoon #art #drawing #funny

Tonight!! 👀

You know what I haven't painted in a long time: a scary clown! This one is from years ago. If no one commissions one (and, seemingly, they aren't in demand), I might have to just paint one for fun as a personal project. ArtByJon

Academia in 2025: For weeks I’ve been working through botched copy-edits of my monograph, outsourced by the publisher to a company I’d never heard of, until it finally dawned on me the terrible job might be AI. A quick search confirmed the company recently launched new AI software, which now means..

Reminder: Commissions open! -3 spots available- Please reach out through e-mail only: [email protected] Here's the price sheet (and some example of past pieces in the next post) RTs are always welcome 💖

Here's the Margin Calls illustration in full. A bunch of the edge details get cropped off in the published cover. #art #shadowrun #cyberpunk #ttrpg #illustration

While I like Powderfinger, I've always had a soft spot for Bernard Fanning's solo album Tea & Sympathy. There are a lot of great tracks on this album. #MusicMonday youtu.be/raxsAFOxRTE?...

Reposting one of my favourites among the works I was commissioned. :) Cover for Blood Price, by the lovely @thoughtsstained.bsky.social

Isn't nature brilliant! I found this bee orchid growing on a verge between a service road and a petrol station forecourt. A little bit of beauty in between boring functionality. The second one was on the other side of a nearby car park.

My plans for a major retail emporium are being threatend by wholesalers who won't let me steal the stock.

Shocked, I tell you. Shocked.

I'm just finishing a set of covers for an author who gave me a very loose rein and wanted something different and unusual, not necessarily commercial! It has been a fun process and I'm really interested to see how they are received.