Don Maitz (born 1953, Plainville, Connecticut) trained at the Paier College of Art and built his reputation through book covers, magazine illustrations, and advertising from the 1970s onward. He is known for his fantasy and adventure imagery, including the creation of the Captain Morgan rum character, and has received multiple Hugo Awards for Best Professional Artist.

Unsafe Footing depicts a young couple in medieval-style clothing perched atop a rocky formation resembling a massive alligator, its unstable surface tilting beneath them. Maitz noted that the image was inspired by rock formations he observed while water skiing in New Hampshire, revealing how an actual landscape can be transformed into a fantasy.