Wednesday 27 June 2012

McGinnis Beach Reconstruction

Reproduction of the Thunderball Beach artwork by Robert McGinnis. Gouache on artboard, 80 x 60 cm.
This particular artwork proved to be quite challenging due to size of the figures. The heads are quite small compared to the rest of the painting.Painting pupils the size of a felt-tip pen takes a quite steady hand. Copy and original as comparison below.
Before I start painting, I analyse the source picture and original photos that were used in the composition. Then I paint the heads first as they are the most important and also tricky part.I start with mapping out the black areas such the hair and eyes with black ink.
Once the heads are painted, I map out the light and dark parts of the bodies always starting with the components that are furthest back in the image to ensure seamless overlays with the front elements.
Then follows the water. I admire McGinnis for his approach of mixing finely detailed elements such as the faces with broad and loose strokes for the water - and it works perfectly.

Friday 22 June 2012

Femme Fatales Cover Art

Cover for Femme Fatales magazine from February 1998 featuring an illustration of Ursula Andress by David Voigt.

Audio Cassette Cover

Cover design for narrated audio cassettes of the James Bond movies published by Europa in Germany in the 80'.

Wednesday 13 June 2012

Italian Cover Artwork

Cover illustration for an Italian edition of Moonraker. Artwork by Ferenc Pinter.Thanks to Perry for sharing this!

Saturday 9 June 2012

Daily Express Illustrations by Robb


The British newspaper Daily Express serialised selected Ian Fleming novels in the 50' and 60's. Each part was illustrated with artwork from Andrew Robb. Examples form the October 1965 serialisation of Octopussy. The PDFs of old issues are available here.

Tuesday 5 June 2012

Danish Paperback Cover

Cover artwork for the Danish paperback edition of "Casino Royale" by Jan Fleming. Grafisk Forlag Kobenhavn 1959, cover design by William Petersen.

Cover Illustration

"The Man With The Golden Gun" themed cover illustration for the US magazine Mediascene, around 1974.

James Bond Book Covers

Cover artwork for the upcoming reissue of the Ian Fleming James Bond 007 novels (as eBooks) by Random House. Does anyone know who designed them?