Guess Who’s coming to Dinner? A PSD Tuts+ tutorial

We were pleased to hear the team at PSD Tuts+ really liked our last tutorial “The Monstrum Dichrous” and they asked us to make another one. We were asked to make the subject of our image an alien, but that was our only restriction, we we’re allowed to go any way we wanted with it. 

I wanted to avoid any of the standard cliché’s (a space station corridor, space marines/explorers about to be ambushed, you get the idea). So I started to browse the web for something random to inspire me; when looking to avoid cliché’s it helps to completely avoid the subject you’re thinking about. 

I always keep an eye on the photography of the excellent Marcus Ranum (http://mjranum-stock.deviantart.com/), as it turns out Marcus had recently posted a photo of a model dressed in camouflage sitting in an American diner and inspiration hit me! Why not draw a story about an alien that isn’t hell bent on destruction, abducting people or mutilating cattle, who instead is an incognito visitor that isn’t interested in humans at all, just our tasty pancakes! It’s obviously been a while since his last visit to Earth as he’s wearing old fashioned clothes to try to blend in.

You can see the tutorial over at PDSTuts+ now.
 

Have fun,
David
Twitter.com/DavidCousens

A tribute to Chris Bachalo’s “Death” plus WANTED UNDEAD OR ALIVE…

In an unintentional theme this week, we’re featuring two fantasy based illustrations. First off we have my tribute to Chris Bachalo and Neil Gaiman’s “Death”, the star of the books ‘The High Cost of Living’ and ‘The Time of Your Life’. I’ve always been a huge fan of Bachalo’s work so this image was great fun to make.

Secondly, a long time ago we posted this image, but we couldn’t tell you what it was for…

We can now reveal that this image was made for the newly released “WANTED UNDEAD OR ALIVE: Vampire Hunters And Other Kick-Ass Enemies of Evil ” by Jonathan Maberry and Janice Gable Bashman.

If you haven’t already heard of the book (shame on you!) here’s the book’s description as kindly provided by Amazon.com:

These days you can’t swing an undead lycanthrope without hitting a Minion of Evil. They’re everywhere – TV, film, the basement-right behind you! It’s never been more important to know what you can do to keep them at bay. Garlic? silver bullets? holy water? torch-wielding mob?
From today’s foremost experts on nightmares-come-to-life, this indispensible guide identifies and describes mankind’s enemies – supernatural beasts, ghosts, vampires, serial killers, etc.-and unearths effective time-proven responses to each horrific threat.
* Separate fact from fiction, the deadly from the merely creepy.
* Learn when to stand your ground and when to run screaming for your life.
* Determine which monster-specific heroes to call and their likelihood of success.
* Consider your own potential as a Champion for Good, Conqueror of the Damned.
Whether we’re talking ancient vampire hunters or modern-day FBI profilers, it’s good to know someone’s got your back in the eternal struggle between Good and Evil. And this book, with over fifty illustrations, as well as commentary from luminaries like filmmaker John Carpenter, author Peter Straub, and the legendary Stan Lee, provides all the information and reassurance you need to sleep soundly at night. Just not too soundly.

I’ve just realised this is the second time we’ve worked alongside Stan Lee without him knowing (Stan was a big part of the UK’s “Who wants to be a Super-Hero?” TV show on the BBC which we provided most of the on-screen artwork for). It’s like we’re slightly illustration-stalking him!

“WANTED UNDEAD OR ALIVE: Vampire Hunters And Other Kick-Ass Enemies of Evil” is Published by Citadel and is available everywhere now, so what are you waiting for? Go hunt down your copy now!

Have fun,
David
Twitter.com/DavidCousens

Character Design for ‘Deseble Rising’: Xaisen & The ‘design a Minkee’ competition winner

We’ve been lucky enough to have been asked by author Mark Saint (who has one of the coolest voices in the world!) to illustrate the character designs for his upcoming book “Deseble Rising”. Although we’ve got to keep quiet on the specifics, we are allowed to show you the very alluring Xaisen. Keep an eye out for more character designs showing up soon.

In other news, talented illustrator Louise Holden aka Minkee recently held a competition to design what sort of animal a Minkee actually is. It’s always nice to have a purpose when I draw my warm up image of the day so I couldn’t resist entering, and I won. We’re now the proud owners of a Limited edition Minkee Print that will adorn our soon to arrive baby’s newly decorated nursery. Go take a look at her site and get one of your own.

Have fun,
David
Twitter.com/DavidCousens