Working on some personal pieces based off the wonderful mystery novel penned by James Lovegrove titled "Sherlock Holmes & The Christmas Demon." It's a wonderful read full of adventure and detective work. It inspired me to come up with some visual designs as if this became a motion picture. Here is the first of many pieces to come. This is an establishing shot of the Allerthorpe mansion "Fellscar Keep." I thought it would fit nicely on the border of England and the Scottish Highlands. The game is afoot!

Circus Siren

Digging through archives of my old work from circa 2012-2014, I stumbled upon this puppy. A Siren themed around a circus. Part of a game project that didn't make it off the ground unfortunately. That happens a lot in this industry. The idea I had here was riffing on the mythos of sirens and how they would lure sailors to their doom. Not to put too fine a point on it, but they made shipwreck of their livelihood. In mythology, Siren's are evil. So I was trying to think how to create the aesthetic combination of haunting beauty and mystery. I was thinking about how in nature, there are insects and creatures that are quite colorful yet have a deadly poison to them. I combined the design of jesters on stilts from a circus but with a little elaboration mimicking a spider. Females and spiders have at times been thematically intertwined. This was that result. If I saw this lengthy individual I'd be high tailing it the other direction. Don't let the sirens entice you! Run!

 

From the deep...

Worked up a quick color key for an idea I have for a production illustration. I love how simple and purposeful old school gouache painting brush strokes were done for animated films and tv shows. I tried to utilize that technique for this scene so as to get my idea across quickly with color, light and value. I will be taking this to a completed painting soon.