On 2/5/06, Peter H. Granzeau wrote:
> At 12:34 PM 2/4/2006, Joy Jennifer Nicholson wrote:
>
> >We all know that jhereg have 2 legs and 2 wings. Why Oh Why does all
> >the cover art have 4-legged jhereg?
> To quote from another post in this thread (by David Silverrocke):
>
> "... that would require that the artist read and understand the
> books very closely indeed. Which is unlikely if it's just another
> commission."
>
[un-top-postified]
Actually, in this case, I think the artists were somewhat more
justified. There is not a careful description of jhereg in the books,
other than being reptilian and having both claws and wings.
We know the correct appearance because Steve told us outright (and in
addition, told Katharine Grantham so she could depict a jhereg
correctly); book cover artists do not usually receive such direct
information. They have to go by the manuscript that they receive (if
they even receive a manuscript, rather than just a general desideratum
("A young man with a sword and a winged lizard")), and have no
feedback if they create art that conflicts with the authors personal
mental vision.