Illustration for a portfolio
on sea scenes. This work approaches me to The Arabian Nights ambience I
like so much, most of all, by influence of my uncle José Segrelles, an illustrator
who treated these subjects jolly well. |
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Giants, as characters,
have always fascinated me. This is maybe due to the artwork by the great
Gustave Doré, without doubt a source of inspiration for many fantasy illustrators.
Some curiosities on this cover: look at the giant's origin (Saturn?) and
also to his nose, pretty similar to mine...
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A cover for a German
customer, that I made at a stretch. That's in fact quite rare in me, since
I need at least three working periods in order to finish my works on oils
(almost a week). |
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This cover has a curious
story. The same artwork has been repainted for three times: first to replace
the monster of the original background with the dragon, second to cover
up the girl for censoring reasons, and third to uncover her up. All layers
are still there. |
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Cover commisioned by
an American publisher, where I had to follow very strict guidelines. This
is not my usual way of defining a dragon, specially in what respects to
its number of extremities... |
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Cover and back cover
commissioned by an American publisher. It was really frustrating to see,
when the book was published, that a mass of text hid all the ambience work
at the back cover. |
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While I was painting
this cover I imagined THE MERCENARY in an underwater plot. Many years later,
it inspired me the eleventh adventure of the series: The Escape. However,
when defining the underwater equivalent to THE MERCENARY, I decided to replace
the manta with a marine beast which was more similar to my usual dragons. |
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This cover has an impenetrable
anecdote: it has been always impossible that scans and slides of this picture
achieve the original glazes and Prussian blue shades with certain fidelity.
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I ignore where this illustration
can be found now. My agent sent it to Federico Fellini many years ago, when
the great Italian director showed enthusiasm for my work. Some days later
I stared astonished when I picked up the phone and Fellini himself warmly
thanked the gift! |
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My wife was my model
here to prepare this cover. Like many of the orders for the severe American
market, the artwork is out size so that details were preserved when printed
(about 65 cm height). |
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