Book cover showing shadowy figures watching from a moonlit treeline
Work

Cover and interior illustration for a poetry book about cryptids and mythological creatures.

Client

Richard Stevenson (author)

Sector

Publishing

Year

April 2023

Scope

Cover illustration, interior illustration

The problem

A poetry book about cryptids and mythological creatures. The creatures had to be frightening and funny at the same time, and there were a lot of them.

The approach

Every creature was drawn by hand first, then finished digitally. The real job was holding a whole cast of characters in one consistent style across the entire book, which is harder than holding one character.

The system

Cartoon crocodile and dingo hybrid laughing with its head thrown back
The Crocodingo. Frightening and ridiculous at the same time, which is the tone of the book.
Large shaggy creature in a cap standing among mushrooms in a dim forest
The Argopelter. Line work built heavy enough to survive being printed small.
Wide-eyed grinning creature crouched beside a brick wall lit by flames
The Naine Rouge. One style holding across a whole cast is the hard part.

In application

  • Cover, painted digitally and pitched at campfire storytelling rather than horror.

Result

Published by Purple Unicorn Media in 2023 and still available on Amazon. Richard Stevenson's collection runs through cryptids, fearsome critters and urban legends, quirky in one poem and genuinely dark in the next, so the cover and interior work had to hold humour and menace at the same time without tipping into either one. Richard passed away not long after release. This is among the last books published in his lifetime.

Need a launch cut or a sound to go with it? That gets built here too. The sound

Next project

Twelve months inside the Creature world.

Read the case study