One thing that has always bothered me.

[JazFusion]

If Thomas Covenant consistently (almost obsessively) shaves, how come all the art portrays him with a beard?

[Relayer]

Good question. Heck, he even has a beard in our own icons gallery ...

[dlbpharmd]

If Thomas Covenant consistently (almost obsessively) shaves, how come all the art portrays him with a beard?

He doesn't shave THAT often. Thinking specifically of Darrel K Sweet's covers of LFB, TWL and WGW, in the scenes depicted Covenant hadn't shaven for days.

[High Lord Tolkien]

Yeah, he actually chooses NOT to shave in the IW to prove that the Land isn't real.

[Kevin164]

Because beards rock in different realities. Next time I'll have to draw him using his beard as a food catcher... which, is all there really good for.

[lucimay]

nuh uh. that's not all they're good for.

[Blackhawk]

I would have to say its hard to portray a person under so much stress and misery if they are clean shaven...just a better perspective to feel his pain i would guess... its hard to look at a clean shaven face and think..man that guy has been raked over the coals.

if that makes sense to anyone.

[AjK]

If Thomas Covenant consistently (almost obsessively) shaves, how come all the art portrays him with a beard?

Coming from the mental discipline aspect of his dealing with leprosy, I didn't think he obsessively shaves so much as deliberately & meticulously shaves.

[Holsety]

This is simply to illustrate the lie of his shaving. Even though Covenant sees his shaving as proof that he still has firm will to live (constantly putting himself in danger but shaving precisely enough to never cut himself) he is in fact just a timid scaredy cat who never gets anywhere near his neck with the blade of the knife. The official art reflects this lie he tells himself, and the lie is symbolic for the larger lie he tells himself during the first chronicles, that the land is an illusion and it doesn't matter.

This is in stark contrast to the beefy manliness of the second chronicles TC who immolates himself in fire just to make some giants happy.

[deer of the dawn]

The only cover art I'm really happy with is my Brit version of Runes. Black with bare branches outlined.

All the other covers are just awful. imho. FR is nicley rendered, but lacks something, like the idea was not fully developed... I guess the problem I have with all of them is that you can tell the artist is not really familiar with the story. I mean, the cover of my one-volume 1st Chrons shows Covenant battling cavewights with the Staff: he has ten fingers. >:(

[amanibhavam]

I think the reason for that is that the artist frequently does not get the whole book just a page on which he/she has to base the illustration or cover.

[AjK]

I always thought that most of the original covers (US release at least) were too "cartoonish" if that makes any sense. But they still beat the "big ring on single color background" re-releases.

the cover of my one-volume 1st Chrons shows Covenant battling cavewights with the Staff: he has ten fingers. >:(

Maybe it is a prequel.

[Rocksister]

I kind of laughed when I read this question. Mainly because I'm relieved to see that I'm not the only one who has these kinds of thoughts. My guess would be that the artist has a few pages, or just a scene, to go by when doing the covers. In those scenes TC is in his bearded, wild, prophetic stage, I suppose. The post about seeing art with TC having ten fingers boggles my mind, however. I'd like to see that in the album somewhere so I can be aghast at the oversight of the "artist" and his/her lack of brain cells. Only in Thomas Covenant's earlier years before he ever came to the Land did he have ten fingers, or as another poster slyly put it, perhaps in the future? The cover art puzzles me anyway. The ones that are posted on this site are from various editions and various languages and some don't even relate to the stories at all, like the black bare tree branches. "Oh, I don't have a book for you to read, just draw something that might relate to pretty much any fantasy story you have ever heard of." Nice. But the killer is the yellow gold wedding bands on the reprints of the First Chrons; it looks like the supreme insult to me, done intentionally. If I were SRD, I'd be raving mad over that one.

[kevinswatch]

I always thought that most of the original covers (US release at least) were too "cartoonish" if that makes any sense. But they still beat the "big ring on single color background" re-releases.

You mean the "big YELLOW GOLD ring on single color background" re-releases.



-jay

[AjK]

You mean the "big YELLOW GOLD ring on single color background" re-releases.



-jay

Yes, but I just couldn't bring myself to type it.

[Blackhawk]

yeah...while searching for artists they need to screen out the ones who show an unalterable love of LOTR.(not that I dont like LOTR,) but they dont have time for that, thats marketing for ya...get some idiot that has no love or knowledge of the story..and put them in charge of design and promotion,(likely they are in charge of all projects) thats commercialism at its worst. Every once in a while you get lucky like with Scott Brick being a lover of the land and getting to do the audio read for it. Maybe someday we will have enough artwork here to interest a company to make an "Art of the land book" with sculpture/painting/sketches/CAD/etc

[JazFusion]

I'm just really saddened that no professional artists ever took up trying to bring the Land into focus. Actually, this place is pretty much the only other place I've found TC art, besides cover art. :\

[CovenantJr]

I'm just really saddened that no professional artists ever took up trying to bring the Land into focus. Actually, this place is pretty much the only other place I've found TC art, besides cover art. :\

Jwaneeeeeetaaaaaa! Where arrrre you?

[Galinor]

Seems like all the pictures of Covenent look a little like the Author.

www.stephenrdonaldson.com/

[Cameraman Jenn]

kevinswatch.ihugny.com/phpBB2/album_pag ... ic_id=1680

Here's an unbearded TC.