…In the style of Albrecht Dürer.

An example of how software can aid design. I recently found the image below in a file somewhere: It’s the result of some experiments I did with tesselations using plugins for (what I think was) corel paint. This then developed into the form design below, and the finished design above.

Exactly the same technique as the shoebill-tribesman image. Possibly a little ambitious with the multiple light sources. Also, its not necessarily effective as an illustration – there’s possibly just a little bit too much to detract from a central focus. You’ll notice in the thumbnail there’s no figure and no light source, but in the developed image its struggling to be the focus. So, a poster then. See below for detail and bottom for  the source thumbnail sketch.

Just ’cause.

Environment. I’m not sure what’s being cooked up here, but “Phtagn” can’t be entirely savoury.

Image developed from a notebook thumbnail sketch of what was to be just a doorway design. Part depression-era gangster, part cult leader, all creepy. Plenty of masks and (obviously) textures.

Another private, portfolio-expanding piece that possibly little to no sense. I often wonder how many illustrators use models, how many use search-engined image reference, and how many just use their wits and anatomy training. I went with the last here, and perhaps it shows – I don’t know. Technically, I took a different approach to the one I usually use: Instead of taking a principal piece of reference and working outward from its inherent tonality, I created my own by using fill layers with different transparency and different blend modes. Its a much more naturalistic way to work, as these colour layers work the same way glazes do when oil painting, and you can work straight from a monochrome initial layer.

The two birds are shoebills. Alright, they don’t grow quite to these dimensions, but they’re quite creepy-looking, ruthless birds that stalk the swamps of East Africa. Other influences on the image are the Mursi tribesmen, who decorate their bodies with paint and have intricately-wrought ceremonial headpieces. Another huge influence is obviously the ubiquitous photo-portrait series by Pieter Hugo entitled “The Hyena and Other Men“, the imagery of which was so potent its turned up in the unlikeliest of places since 2007.

Domehead. A little more sleek than initially planned. He was supposed to be more gothic – grimy bronze alloy rather than kitchen-appliance aluminium. Maybe there’s a more arresting juxtaposition this way.

Not entirely sure what’s going on here. Maybe some StreetfighterII-type scenario. That really does look far more like a Giger-monster than I realised. That or a grotesque from a medieval carousel.

Extreme job stress. Another concept from deep in the bowels of an old notebook.