DRAGON ABOARD

Cover illustration for Dragonwriter, A Tribute to Anne McCaffrey and Pern

Jun 06, 2025

In the cargo hold of a spaceship, a dragon floats with female rider saddled high on its shoulders. Gripping reins, she cranes her neck back to glance at the viewer. Disorienting, the perspective into the cargo hold is slightly angled with the lines of interior structure not quite lining up with the wide octagonal bulkhead leading into it. There is no true horizon to orient on which prompts a sense of weightlessness and implies slow rotation. The hold itself is cropped with the right of it falling off-panel. Just past the dragon, a large porthole provides a view planet-side with sun partially obscured behind a bright arc. A red dot burns menacingly nearby. In the lower left, an access panel glows with dots of red, yellow, and green. The display screen just above is lit with a picture of the author. Her hair is white and her smile is warm. — DRAGON ABOARD (2013), Acrylic - 18" x 24"

Anne McCaffrey often reminded readers that her Pern novels were science fiction. This scene from All the Weyrs of Pern did exactly that and was originally chosen for the cover.

I did a tight preliminary and was ready to launch into the full-size painting when I had a dream of dragons holding conference high up in the clouds. Anne liked the idea so much that she wrote the scene into her story and that became the cover.

IN THE CARGO HOLD, alternate preliminary concept for ALL THE WEYRS OF PERN, rendered in black and white paints. The most notable difference is the control panel to access the cargo hold that is in the lower left of the panel. The display screen in black. The red star is not evident through the porthole view of the planet. — IN THE CARGO HOLD (1990),

Years later, Dragonwriter, A Tribute to Anne McCaffrey and Pern seemed like the perfect time to realize the final painting from that promising concept set aside all those years ago–with the notable addition of my dear friend Anne on the video screen.

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Additional images from DRAGON ABOARD

Details from DRAGON ABOARD

Book cover for DRAGONWRITER, A TRIBUTE TO ANNE MCCAFFREY AND PERN edited by Todd McCaffrey, published by Smart Pop Books. — *Dragonwriter* by Todd McCaffrey (Smart Pop)

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Dave Schwartz

Jun 6

I loved that series and am so glad you did the covers.

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Deyaniera

I adore that you put her in the vid screen. Such a great detail for a wonderful and classy person. I met her once in an elevator and I am afraid I made an utter fool of myself getting choked up trying to thank her. She was so kind to me, and it meant the world to me then and still makes me smile.