A San Antonio-based SF Site, Missions Unknown, reports on local artist John Picacio’s announcement that he’ll be illustrating the 2011 A Song of Ice and Fire calendar. They provide the interesting detail that Picacio actually approached GRRM at the Montreal Worldcon and told him that he’d “love to illustrate one of your works someday.” He did not realize that at that time George and Bantam were searching for an artist for the calendar, and GRRM told him that his work on the Elric books had already caught his eye. Picacio is an award-winning artist, and one of the most of the most well-regarded of current genre cover artists.