Doug Smith:
“I've been an illustrator now for 47 years, starting in the Boston area, shortly after graduating RISD, and more lately on Peaks Island, Maine.
I started in no particular medium, working in a number of them, and eventually settled mainly on pencil, working mostly on editorial illustrations for local magazines and newspapers. Then I happened to get interested in scratchboard, an outdated technique which was being used only by a handful of contemporary illustrators. I tried it on a number of assignments, and it took off, displacing everything else in my portfolio within a year, and attracting the attention of Richard Solomon, my now long-time NYC rep, who soon found me nationwide clients for advertising, institutional, and book jobs.
The most important thing I strive for in my work is the sense of Storytelling - conveying a mood or atmosphere that will affect the viewer, and engage their interest in the scene. I think that my best work, therefore, has usually been from book assignments, when I'm reacting to what I'm taking from the author's own storytelling, and trying to add my own layer to it. The piece in this show is a good example; the first of many collaborations with the author Gregory Maguire.
Covers & Interiors: By Gregory Maguire: Wicked, Lost, Mirror Mirror, Son of a Witch, A Lion Among Men, and Out of Oz. By Bernard Cornwell, The Folio Society editions: Sharpe's Tiger, Sharpe's Triumph,and Sharpe's Fortress. By Peter Straub, for Centipede Press edition: Ghost Story. By Tanith Lee, for Arkham House: Dreams of Dark and Light.
Covers: By C.S. Forester: The Hornblower Series (all 11 titles).