DRAGONQUEST

Cover illustration for Anne McCaffrey

Nov 11, 2024

A flight of dragons patrols the skies of Pern as white Thread falls in tangled ribbons. With wings spread in a V and neck extended the lead dragon blasts a clump of Thread with a gout of fire. Its rider holds the saddle with one hand, the other flying out as if he were riding a bucking bronco. The horizon tilts 30 degrees so we catch a sliver of mountainous landscape. At the center of action, the foreground sky radiates electric pink out to cool blue of the back cover where the Red Star hangs low in the sky streaked by clouds. In the canyons below, green and white dragons swoop in pursuit of Thread. — DRAGONQUEST (1978), Acrylic on Masonite - 20" X 30"

The primary menace to the planet Pern is "Thread," a corrosive and devastating alien life form which falls from the Red Star and burrows its way into the soil, destroying all life and making the soil unusable. Only the dragons who are able to burn the Thread out of the sky can save the inhabitants.

Preliminary concept for DRAGONQUEST. This framed original art features the same foreground detail that ended upon the final cover illustration. Changes in the background include a larger dragon swooping down past the Red Star. Thread falls without contest in the valleys below. — Preliminary concept for DRAGONQUEST

This seemed like a great scene to illustrate and it made an exciting cover, but I found out later that I goofed. Anne visualized Thread falling as straight strands of spaghetti, whereas I painted it as squirming ribbon-like things descending in clumps and tangles.