The illustrator is
Brendon Wright. He's a local guy. I had used him years ago to draw some biological sketches about forest succession for an interpretive panel. I liked his work then, so I went to him for my covers. Brendon is fabulous! Not only does he do great MG-friendly covers, but he's a pleasure to work with. He does a fair bit of work for corporate clients, city council, and the Canterbury District Health Board (he does all the cartoons for the kid-friendly info at the hospital). So he's got plenty of well-paid, somewhat dull work. I get the impression he really enjoys the book covers, and I know he under-charges me. The first one, he refused to set a price--told me to pay what I could afford. Did the same for the second, and I forced him to discuss what he
wanted for his work. After four books, we've sort of come to an agreement he will charge me $200 for a cover. This is half (or less) of what he'd charge a corporate client. I do my best to pay him back by singing his praises as often as I can.