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| Darrell K. Sweet's cover for Castle Roogna (1979) by Piers Anthony |
I just read on Dragonsfoot that Darrell Sweet passed away earlier this week. Only in the last few years did I really become aware of just how many fantasy paperbacks he illustrated from the 70s-present. Some of the earlier ones I read with his covers were the Xanth series and the Hobbit/LOTR. In the 90s when I finally read the Silmarillion for the first time, it was the also the paperback with his painting of the Fall of Numenor:
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| The Fall of Numenor by Darrell K. Sweet, used as the cover of the 1982 Silmarillion paperback |
A few years ago I picked up a used copy of the Misenchanted Sword by Lawrence Watt-Evans based on my memories of seeing the cover back in the 80s. I enjoyed it and ending up reading the entire series. Sweet illustrated the first five or so. Watt-Evans recently tweeted: "Darrell Sweet has died. In the early years of my career I was a "Darrell Sweet author," and his covers surely sold thousands of my books."
Sweet's official site:
http://www.wix.com/darrellksweet/darrellksweet
Other appreciations of his work:
http://www.tor.com/blogs/2011/12/darrell-k-sweet-1934-2011
http://www.blackgate.com/2011/12/06/art-of-the-genre-darrell-k-sweet-1934-2011/
One of my all-time favourite fantasy artists. I bought a large number of books on the basis of his colour cover illustrations. I recently started re-purchasing/re-reading some of those novels, looking specifically for the DKS covers.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear he passed.
He also did a wonderful cover for Blish's "A Case for Conscience" and another for Kurtz's 'the Deryni Archives." Not sure, but I beleieve he did the covers fro Watt-Evans's Dusarra series as well.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely an artist to miss. R.I.P.