EXTRACTS: Illustrators issue 11 © 2015 The Book Palace (96 pages PAGES in Full edition)

11 with two other aspiring artists and in his free time continued to create samples for his portfolio. Donato credits the move to New York City as one of the wisest in his professional career. His thirst for self- improvement and mastery of his craft was such that he spent hours at art museums such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he fully immersed himself in the work of artists such as Rembrandt, Rubens and Caravaggio, making studies and copies of their works so that he could better understand their procedures. In addition to attendance at life drawing classes he also managed to secure a post as assistant to the noted figure painter Vincent Desiderio. Any free moments were spent at gallery openings where he revelled in the works of major contemporary figurative artists such as Odd Nerdrum. In short his commitment to his career path was utterly focused and he was making all the decisions necessary to put him in pole position to be able to pursue a career as a leading exponent of fantasy art. His efforts finally paid off, when on a cold grey Monday in December 1992, he received a phone call from Sal with not one, but three covers for a set of classic science fiction novels: The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, A Connecticut Yankee in the Court of King Arthur by ABOVE: Another of the early series of book covers that launched Giancola's career, '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'. "16 x 23", oil on masonite. ABOVE LEFT: Donato Giancola's first book cover commission, 'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court', published in 1993.