My first thought on seeing these depictions of Rand was that he looked too feminine. The three people who said so at the top of the comments on this thread beat me to the punch.

@Kristi, Harriet may have approved the card, but that doesn’t mean that her mental image of Rand is the same as the one the author had of his own character. Unless the author is also an visual artist, he has to use words to convey images. Neither does Harriet’s approval of the card mean that this is the way SHE envisions Rand either - all it means is that she signed off on these illustrations. But even if Harriet’s vision coincides perfectly with Ariel’s - so what?

Each reader forms his own mental image of what the writer is describing. This was an ambitious project. I admire Ariel for all the hard work she did. But I don’t have to like every illustration she made, nor do I have to be a credentialed visual artist to say so. I have no obligation to provide “constructive” criticism - but saying that the character looks too pretty/androgynous IS constructive, as it says something about how I think this illustration could have been improved.

Of the illustrations on this page, the only one to my taste is the one of Mat. I much prefer Scott M. Fischer’s version of Rand. But that’s just me.

http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/gallery/image/9-winters-heart-tor-ebook-cover/

No artist is going to please everybody. You need to be a bit thick skinned if you’re going to survive as an artist. So what if I don’t like her version of Rand? My disapproval affects her innate talent not a wit. I suspect the cards will sell well.

But please, don’t try to gag people by saying things like, “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”, or “if you don’t like it, don’t buy it”.

They are all so beautiful!!!

wonderful stuff!

These look beautiful! I'd buy a pack or two!

The Joker is an important card. Mat is clearly a Joker!

Erm, sorry! I had previously found the gallery page, but clicking on the title of the piece DOES work! *embarrassed grin*

Could you post the link to Zorm's piece? It's kind of hard to read the text here. Thanks!

Also love the piece by RoseMuse!

I downloaded the wallpaper in the appropriate resolution for my laptop. It looks nice, but even with maximum brightness for my display, it is a bit dark...as is befitting the tone of the book, I suppose. My desktop looks like mahogany. Anyway, I now understand why Tor did not make the image larger. As reproduced on my 13" laptop, some of the edges in the painting appear soft and ... fuzzy.

I still love the painting (and the rest of the WOT paintings by this artist), but I don't think I'll be using this wallpaper as much as some of my others. Like my wallpaper of Dr. Manhattan or Silk Spectre II. (For those of you who are also fans of Watchmen, check out these wallpapers!)

Some Watchmen Wallpapers

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Oh, and I think a calendar with larger prints of the paintings is a great idea! I'd buy one.

I love the new covers! They look beautiful. Such an improvement over the previous artwork! I know that the guy who did the old covers wouldn't be pleased to hear it, but different projects require different collaborators. The guy who did the old covers also did the covers for Piers Anthony's Xanth series; in that case, the artist's style was a perfect match for the overall tone of the series (humorous and often silly).

I think the new covers have a well balanced design in terms of border, font style and size, artwork and background. They are elegant. Well done to the designer and artist.

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