I used to do the cover for the DarkoverCon program book every year. In 1986 a major fantasy author, the Dragon Lady herself Anne McCaffrey was guest of honor so I did a cover in which flying dragons and riders were converging on a Darkovan castle lit by the great red sun. I have added the red color with Photoshop. We didn't have the resources to do a two-color cover, just black and white. Over the years I have done many renderings of the red sun of Darkover. Author M.Z. Bradley never specified just what kind of star this was although it was most probably a red giant. Red giants are unstable, so Darkovans are lucky that the planet wasn't fried before sentient life evolved.
The notes in my catalog for this picture say that it was created during the disastrous Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, when the Boston Red Sox lost to the New York Mets. That says a lot and brings up many painful memories. It would take eighteen years until the Sox would finally win in 2004.
Ink on illustration board, 6" x 10", October 1986.
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