Lord Tedric, Black Knight of the Iron Sphere, paperback cover 1981

Ken Kelly, who sadly passed away a couple of years ago, made this oil painting for a paperback cover. It’s full of red and orange hues, like the whole scene is lit by fire. I can imagine Kelly in his studio, wrestling with the composition, trying to capture the essence of this fantasy world. The paint looks applied in thin layers, and the figures seem to emerge from a cloudy haze. Take the central figure, all muscle and brawn. Kelly’s painted him with such confidence and directness, a real hero type. And on either side of him, there are figures, caught in dynamic poses. You can see the influence of illustrators like Frank Frazetta in the way Kelly’s captured the heroic fantasy genre. Painters are always in conversation with one another, borrowing and reimagining. Just like musicians riffing on a theme, we build upon what’s come before, adding our own spin. It's up to us to keep the conversation going.