The Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists (ASFA) has posted the finalists for the 34th annual Chesley Awards. The Chesleys, named for the great astronomical artist Chesley Bonestell, started in 1985 as a means for the sff art community to recognize individual works and achievements in a given year. Member voting begins May 27.

This year’s Chesley Awards ceremony will be at Spikecon in Layton, Utah, July 4 -7.

Best Cover Illustration – Hardback Book

• Tommy Arnold – Red Rising by Pierce Brown (Subterranean Press)
• Jensine Eckwall – Soulless Illustrated Edition by Gail Carriger (Orbit Books)
• Jon Foster – I Met a Traveller in an Antique Land by Connie Willis (Subterranean Press)
• Michael Komarck – Low Chicago edited by George R. R. Martin (Tor)
• Maurizio Manzieri – The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard (Subterranean Press)
• John Jude Palencar – The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm: Tales from Alagaësia by Christopher Paolini (Knopf)
• Charles Vess – The Books of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (Saga Press)
• Rebecca Yanovskaya – Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner (Redhook)

Best Cover Illustration – Paperback Book/Ebook

• Melissa Gay – The Year’s Best Military & Adventure SF, Vol 4 edited by David Afsharirad (Baen Books)
• Donato Giancola – Warrior by Terry Brooks (Grim Oaks Press)
• Nataša Ilin?i? – The Raven’s Ballad: A Retelling of the Swan Princess (Otherworld Book 5) by Emma Hamm (Self Published)
• Amanda Makepeace – Diabolical Plots Year Three Edited by David Steffen (Diabolical Plots, L.L.C.)
• John Picacio – Constance Verity Saves the World  by A. Lee Martinez (Simon & Schuster / Saga Press)
• Nicholas Sciacca – The Tangled Lands by Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias Buckell (Saga Press)

Best Magazine Illustration

• Cindy Fan – Strange Horizons # 19 November 2018
• Donato Giancola – Analog March/April 2018
• Arthur Haas – Clarkesworld #140, May 2018
• Sean Andrew Murray – Clarkesworld Magazine #141, June 2018
• Greg Ruth – Stranger Things 2 Variant Cover, Dark Horse, October 31, 2018

Best Interior Illustration

• Audrey Benjaminsen – “Triquetra” by Kirstyn McDermott (Tor.com)
• Jon Foster – Legion: Lies of the Beholder by Brandon Sanderson (Subterranean Press)
• Vanessa Lemen – The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin  (Easton Press)
• John Picacio – “Evernight” by Victor Milán (Tor.com)
• Charles Vess – The Books of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (Saga Press)
• Jeremy Wilson – Yellow by Bill Perry (Self-published online)

Best Gaming Related Illustration

• Kari Christensen – “Feasting Hunger” – Elder Scrolls Legends Houses of Morrowind  (Betheseda Softworks)
• Jesper Ejsing – “Bitterblossum” – Ultimate Masters Magic card (WotC)
• Lars Grant-West – “Glowspore” – Shaman Guilds of Ravinca (WotC)
• Howard Lyon – “Octopus Umbra” – Commander Magic card (WotC)
• Mitchell Malloy – “Frantic Search” – Ultimate Masters Magic card (WotC)
• Ryan Pancoast – “Knight of Autumn” – Guilds of Ravnica Magic card (WotC)

Best Product Illustration

• Devon Dorrity – “Dragonsteel” – Bronze & LED backlighting logo for Brandon Sanderson’s production company (Dragonsteel Entertainment)
• Rachel Quinlan – “Portal” – Promotional image for the Detroit Festival of Books
• John Jude Palencar – George R. R. Martin A Song of Ice and Fire Calendar (Bantam)
• John Picacio – “La Musica” Lone Boy 
• Charles Urbach – “The Pirate Queen” – Gary Con Promotional Art
• Boris Vallejo & Julie Bell – Boris Vallejo & Julie Bell’s Fantasy Calendar (Workman Publishing)

Best Color Work – Unpublished

• Julie Bell – Pegasus Befriends the Muses – Oil on wood
• Ingrid Kallick – The Gardener Of Souls – Acrylic on masonite
• Melissa Gay – Harvest – Oil
• Te Hu – 8 buddha: jingnangshou – Digital
• Mark Poole – Falling – Acrylic
• Eric Wilkerson – The Oba – Oil on Panel

Best Monochrome Work – Unpublished

• Michael Blank – The Midnight Encounter – Photoshop
• Emily Hare – Unburnt – Watercolor
• Yoann Lossel – Diane – Graphite, Gold Leaf, mixed
• Matthew Stewart – The Scroll of Isildur – Red Watercolor pencil and white pencil on toned paper
• Chris Wade – Failure To Launch: Grounded – Graphite Pencil
• Babs Webb – Vacant Memory – Powdered graphite on bristol

Best Three Dimensional Art

• Daria Aksenova – Metamorphosis – Paper
• Dan Chudzinski – Grim – Epoxy, Sculpt, Foam, Steel, Acrylic Paint
• Devon Dorrity – Lilith and the Serpent – Bronze
• Patrick Masson – Reflection – Fimo and Magic Sculpt
• Forest Rogers – Green Faun – Mixed
• Vincent Villafranca – Bane of Thieves – Bronze

Best Art Director

• Neil Clarke – Clarkesworld Magazine 
• Irene Gallo – Tor Books/Tor.com
• Dawn Murin – Wizards of the Coast
• Lauren Panepinto – Orbit Books
• Cynthia Sheppard – Wizards of the Coast

Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award

• Diane Dillon
• Jeff Easley
• Greg Manchess
• Iain McCaig
• Ruth Sanderson
• Allen Williams
• Charles Vess

[Thanks to Mark Hepworth for the story.]