Les Edwards' Mrs Cake

Here's a preview of the Discworld Calendar 2009, courtesy of Les Edwards who painted Mrs Cake Suspects a Psychic Perturbation (2008). I can't imagine any artist capturing Terry Pratchett's sense of humour better than this. The threatening frying pan, Mrs Cake's sniffy expression, her insane hat crowned by a brace of tulips, the ladylike poised little finger of the other hand, as though she's in two minds whether to swat something or sip a cup of tea, and all done with dramatic lighting worthy of Joseph Wright of Derby; it's brilliant. If the rest of the artwork in the calendar is as good as this, it's a must (publisher Gollancz). Les has recently updated his website (title link) with new works, including a Union-Jack-draped skull for the cover of an anthology of horror stories published by Cemetary Dance, The British Invasion, plus a terrific pair of dragons for the latest Anne and Tod McCaffrey Pern novel Dragonheart (2008). Les paints some of the best dragons in the business. He also works under the name of Edward Miller (CLICK). By either name, he's the UK's top fantasy artist.