We took a wild stab in the dark, and it seems we were on the right track. John Picacio, an award-winning cover artist specializing in SF/F, is artist guest of honor at MileHiCon in Denver, and he’s very recently tweetedthe following: “I’ll have a big art gig announcement tomorrow at MileHiCon. Hint: Winter is coming.”
It’s not utterly impossible that he’s going to reveal some sort of participation in HBO’s Game of Thrones as a concept artist, although it seems strange to bring him in at this late date. Far likelier is our initial instinct: Picacio will illustrate the 2011 A Song of Ice and Fire calendar. Note that GRRM promised seven weeks ago that he’d have news about it “Real Soon Now” .... and Mr. Picacio tweeted in response to queries about his hint, “It’s been mum’s the word for the last 7 weeks. Will feel good to finally share the news. :)”
Moments ago, John Picacio followed up with confirmation. The calendar will be published by Bantam. He’ll be joining an illustrious host of award-winning artists who’ve interpreted A song of Ice and Fire: Jeffrey Jones, Charles Vess, John Howe, Donato Giancola, Tom Mandrake, Michael Kaluta, Steve Stone, Justin Sweet, Ted Nasmith, Thomas Canty, Michael Komarck, and many more. Very few fantasy authors have had so much artistic talent turning their hand to envisioning their work.