Pay Attention to the Main Page--Sweets Unfinished Cover

[A. Pseudonym]

well then, if you were not trolling,

 

Let me stop you there. The accusation of such quickly leads a thread to be locked. Whether your reaction to my post was emotional or not - it was your reaction. Try to keep this thread from getting any more emotionally charged than it has.

 

you might do well to keep in mind that they didnt just drop it, the guy painting it is no longer able to paint it for mortal reasons. and your casual dismissal of it by saying it was droped clearly sounded trollish.

 

My dismissal of it, as you put it, was in summation, following my first impression. It was a conclusion, given the many errors in the piece.

 

And judging by the quality of the man's work leading up to this (KoD, TGS for example), he's either losing interest in the subject, he's uninspired by it, or his ability was affected by whatever caused him to pass away.

 

Whatever happened, it's better another guy is taking his place.

 

you are critiquing it as if it were finished, without even bothering to think that it will go through edits, and that this like a book might be, is a draft. as for the spots, honestly do you think the guy who had done covers for the wheel of time books for the last 20+ years would forget that there are no dots on the wot aes sedai symbol, or that it's devide is vertical not horizontal? and even if it were some insanely out of place mistake, do you not think that would have been changed in the next draft? but woops, your the guy who didnt even think the white dresses might be for mourning in the tradition of the westlands.

 

Shall I accuse you of trolling now? Or does you going first make any such claim redundant? No, I will refrain. Whether I know what white clothing signifies in wotland (why would I?) or not is irrelevant. The person who should know such minutiae is the one painting the book covers.

 

Fact is, it's not going to go through edits. Sweet died and the replacement is apparently doing another scene.

We could sit here and speculate about whether they'd fix things they're never going to fix. It doesn't matter.

 

As it is, and as it will forever be, it's a mediocre painting that gets a lot wrong with the stuff it's trying to portray. The proportion in particular is terrible. As an artist myself, I wouldn't have brought a painting even to that point of completion if my figures looked as bad as that. The man didn't care, or didn't see.

He can do better. I'm not saying he can't. The earlier covers are testament to that. But whatever happened, his skill dropped. Severely.

That's my position. Like it or lump it.

 

and if it is or isnt sg isn't something we are likely to know, even with blood on those rocks, but as for grass and light being there, maybe read the start of the most recent book. if there isnt grass there now, it is quite possible that there could be when rand is done.

 

The landscape is not that of the blasted lands. Besides the grass, there are trees on the mountains. It's not even the blight.

 

I think what you're referring to is the orchard scene? That's in normal, untainted Randland. There's no evidence to suggest that Rand can heal the blight or the blasted lands, like Someshta. He is one with the land, but not necessarily the shadow-affected lands.

 

Of course, if he dies after the last battle, which doesn't seem likely given the finn prophecy, he could have already healed the blasted lands (and caused trees to grow? perhaps not.) in order to set up this scene. But I doubt it.

 

that is why i said you were trolling for unicorns, and the only thing to say to someone like that is stfu (stop trolling for unicorns)

 

Cute.

[Elvira_Sedai]

Like this scene very much , it should be realy Great after some edition !

[Luckers]

A. Pseudonym, Testy, enough. Any further comments will be deleted.

[GB]

i like the cover even if it is a rough draft :) kind of make me feel excited and sad to read the end.....

[Barid Bel Medar]

I would definitely have liked to see the finished version. Even in this early draft, it captures something that I don't think any of the others did. EotW cover was good, but it was mainly because of Lan in his armour and on his horse.

 

This cover you can almost feel the pain and joy all at once, it just.... I don't know, it seems to me the most REAL, like it is a portrait of something that actually happened rather than a cover of a book.

 

In regards to the content, the implications are obvious, but I think that it is not as it seems. Team Jordan wouldn't have released it (at least until after aMoL release) so soon if it gave anything major away. Of course, you could say that this was pretty much known, but Prophecies are not always as they seem, and there has been a lot of speculation in regards to Rand=Dead. Which leads me to believe this is a scene in the middle of the book, rather than the end, or at least it isn't exactly as it seems to be.

 

Edit: I had thought that this was in TAR, there are no dead bodies (while all the armour etc. is there) but obviously would have moved them. But it strikes me as strange that the 3 of them would be the only ones there. You would think at least all of the 2R gang would be there. The prophecy about the 3 of them refers to "he who is dead yet lives." Although, I do not see how the boat fits into the scene. Anyway, nice one, we shall see what it is all about soon.

[yoniy0]

I definitely agree, Barid. For one thing, this really doesn't look like SG, as mentioned above. SG has flames in the valley of Thakan'dar, not it's peak. And there should be no trees or grass as well. So, assuming this to be accurate (which I will touch on later), my guess is that this is Dragonmount, and Rand is dead, around the middle of the book (perhaps in the battle that ensued when the Seanchan attacked?). If this is a reference to 'blood on the rocks', the fact that they're not black should be an obvious mistake, one I doubt would've been made.

One last thing. If it is the three lovers in the picture (which it definitely seems to be), Elayne isn't pregnant.

 

So, this whole debate is only relevant if we accept parts of the painting to reflect actual events in the book. Usually, that assumption holds with Darrel Sweet's work, although some mistakes can be made. Only, this is just a rough draft, so anything goes, I guess. Still, it's fun to speculate.

[James al'Dylan]

Yes, I assumed it to be Dragonmount, not SG and my first reaction was that it portrays the viewing Min had in EotW - which must in some way occur in MoL (though it might not be as it seems). I suppose a lot might depend on when Sweet did it. It may be a rough draft he did some time ago...maybe even for a previous MoL.

[Barid Bel Medar]

yoniy0, you might want to check out my new thread, some interesting possibilities there...

[Agitel]

I actually like Sweet's style for this one. I didn't really enjoy what it did for tGS or ToM, but it works for this scene. It's hauntingly beautiful.

[UncleButcher1980]

I just had a thought, as we're not getting this or the Michael Whelan cover in the UK can we have the book early?

[Ithillian Turambar]

I think the symbol he painted is correct. I remember reading about the dots somewhere and in Theoryland it says this:

 

The Ancient Aes Sedai Symbol.

This symbol is of a yin-yang without the dots (Rand put dots in it when he cleansed the taint).

[Luckers]

I think the symbol he painted is correct. I remember reading about the dots somewhere and in Theoryland it says this:

 

The Ancient Aes Sedai Symbol.

This symbol is of a yin-yang without the dots (Rand put dots in it when he cleansed the taint).

 

No, even untainted the symbol stands for the way the saidar and saidin fight against each other, and work with each other, but never mix. This is in fact the concept that allowed for the Cleansing--Jordan removed the dots specifically to make this point.

[Elden]

Hmmmmm, I like it. I will not pretend that I did not make fun of every Sweet cover for WOT, but this one looks like it had potential. It is a shame we wont get to see this in a finished state. From looking around the internets I can see a growing sentiment that this painting should be on the book anyway. I hope this does not turn into bashing Whelan's work once it is released, just so folks can come off like they are huge Sweet fans.

 

My idea is that since Whelan was tapped to do the ebook cover for aMoL, how about putting this out on the ebook in April, that way it can be published in some way and the Sweet family can get a paycheck for the last book still.

[Luckers]

Hmmmmm, I like it. I will not pretend that I did not make fun of every Sweet cover for WOT, but this one looks like it had potential. It is a shame we wont get to see this in a finished state. From looking around the internets I can see a growing sentiment that this painting should be on the book anyway. I hope this does not turn into bashing Whelan's work once it is released, just so folks can come off like they are huge Sweet fans.

 

My idea is that since Whelan was tapped to do the ebook cover for aMoL, how about putting this out on the ebook in April, that way it can be published in some way and the Sweet family can get a paycheck for the last book still.

 

Sweets family probably got the advance anyway, given the artwork was actually released (and that Darrell Sweet Jr. was present at JordanCon)

[Elden]

Hmmmmm, I like it. I will not pretend that I did not make fun of every Sweet cover for WOT, but this one looks like it had potential. It is a shame we wont get to see this in a finished state. From looking around the internets I can see a growing sentiment that this painting should be on the book anyway. I hope this does not turn into bashing Whelan's work once it is released, just so folks can come off like they are huge Sweet fans.

 

My idea is that since Whelan was tapped to do the ebook cover for aMoL, how about putting this out on the ebook in April, that way it can be published in some way and the Sweet family can get a paycheck for the last book still.

 

Sweets family probably got the advance anyway, given the artwork was actually released (and that Darrell Sweet Jr. was present at JordanCon)

 

Oh good, it would be nice if they could find a way to use this. I for one would not want this as the cover, 1) its unfinished, and I doubt it would attract new readers, if they saw it. 2) there are inaccuracies, I dont hold DKS responsible for there being inaccuracies it is a colored sketch, not a finished product. 3) because it is unfinished putting RJ and BS's name on it plus the title and the book number text and review blurbs would crowd the good parts of the painting and cover many of them. So the whole thing would need to be slightly tweaked for all that text, in ebook form that text is unnecessary and the whole painting could be used.

[Luckers]

I just had a thought, as we're not getting this or the Michael Whelan cover in the UK can we have the book early?

 

The delay of the release has absolutely nothing to do with the cover. You can quote me on that.

 

As such, no, we can't have the book early in the UK.

[UncleButcher1980]

I know it doesn't really, I was just being silly.

[PaulChauvet]

I do remember importing (via amazon.co.uk) some books that were released several months earlier in the UK than in the US. Last time I was that eager was for Storm of Swords by Martin. Feist's books still for some odd reason get released months earlier in Britain. Not sure why.

 

Not that it would happen with WoT, but if it did, I'd get it for sure early.

[Mats Spare Hat]

Does anyone elses lower back hurt just looking at the cover-draft?

 

Also quirky fun: Look at D.K. Swifts Knife of Dreams cover, note Perrin, then look at a left facing image of the Wisconsin Badger mascot logo.

[yoniy0]

Is it Perrin on KoD's cover? I never doubted that it's Rand.

[Mats Spare Hat]

Is it Perrin on KoD's cover? I never doubted that it's Rand.

 

I think you're thinking of PoD, unless you've got jokidy jokes.

[Luckers]

Yeah Yoni, it's Perrin in his meeting with Galina.

[Terez]

He probably thought Gaul was Rand...

[yoniy0]

Honest, you guys, I just thought -- Rand, manor house, Bashere, one of those pesky AS and no shortage of AM to lurk in the shadows. There are cranes (not golden, but on a golden field) on the wall, which, you know, Lan would never have, but DKS might (especially with that sword the Aiel is wearing).

 

I guess I didn't pay enough attention to the colors of people's cloths. Though, if Perrin has golden hair, why should I have done, really?

 

Wait, Terez, if you're around, mind dropping in the topic about the rocks of SG and explaining your perspective?

[Terez]

Honest, you guys, I just thought -- Rand, manor house, Bashere, one of those pesky AS and no shortage of AM to lurk in the shadows. There are cranes (not golden, but on a golden field) on the wall, which, you know, Lan would never have, but DKS might (especially with that sword the Aiel is wearing).

 

I guess I didn't pay enough attention to the colors of people's cloths. Though, if Perrin has golden hair, why should I have done, really?

 

Wait, Terez, if you're around, mind dropping in the topic about the rocks of SG and explaining your perspective?

Ah, you must be avoiding the thread on the reading to avoid spoilers? I mentioned there that I would comment on it later, but didn't consider you wouldn't read it. I definitely have some thoughts to share, but right now I'm driving home from JordanCon (stopped for lunch). It was one of the most exciting things we talked about at the theory panels, though, not because it really went anywhere theory-wise, but just because everyone was so shocked. (I was too; I expected him to either say no or 'I don't know' or RAFO.)

 

PS - it's not really very spoilery. It's a short, relatively insignificant scene, continuing on the themes of previous prologues. The Last Battle is starting.