Tributes | HR GIGER

Posted on Tagged , , , , , , Leave a comment

I’m excited to announce that I had the opportunity to contribute to yet another amazing project. From SPIRIDON and Éditions Caurette ─ in collaboration with the H.R. Giger Estate, comes a brand new art book for November 2025. Tributes: HR GIGER is now on Kickstarter; with a successful launch, we’re excited to see pledges now reaching the stretch goals!

This will be my second project with Spiridon, and I still can’t believe that I get to be part of a Giger-related publication. My drawing Hellgate will be included as one of the artworks in this book, alongside the works of over 100 artists. I will be sharing the full piece later on, but for now here’s a little preview.

Hellgate (preview), graphite & digital | Tributes: HR GIGER 2025

“In official collaboration with the HR Giger Estate: A collection of art, interviews, photos, and essays in tribute to HR Giger.”

– Spiridon, Kickstarter | Tributes: HR Giger
Interior preview, Tributes: HR Giger | Images Courtesy of Spiridon Giannakis

Limited Edition | A Giger Cover Tribute by Andrea Chiampo

Another special addition to this campaign is the opportunity to acquire a limited edition version of the art book. Featuring the unique spinal detailing again, this edition comes with a different cover with black edges; signed & numbered, with a limited edition giclée print from Nikolay Georgiev. What I love the most about this version, is the transition of the ‘corruption/infection’ when held side by side with the regular edition. You can see the hints of colour on the spine of the paler cover ─ fully spread to its eerily, inky, darkness to the second version.

Tributes: HR Giger | Images Courtesy of Spiridon Giannakis

If you haven’t had the chance to discover the art of Andrea Chiampo, I highly suggest doing so. He’s the artist behind this this amazing cover for this campaign; and I dare say it’s become one of my favourite book designs to date. From his own influence of Giger’s work, Andrea’s breadth of work ranging from 3-D illustrations to Intaglio printmaking, showcases his immense skills alongside his signature surreal & eerie worlds ─ an obvious choice for a Giger tribute.

LIMBUS, A FUTURED PAST | A look into his printmaking process, by Andrea Chiampo

Now Live on Kickstarter

TRIBUTES: HR GIGER

kickstarter.com/projects/spiridon/giger

Runs until December 11, 2025 12:00 PM EST

We thank you for your continued support.

Keeper, A Quick Watercolour Project

Posted on Tagged , , , , Leave a comment

Looking through some of my older pieces, I’ve realized this painting among a few others, have not yet made it the blog. This was done in October of 2022, as part of an experiment to see how my paintings could translate into bookmarks and other smaller products.

Laying down the first few watercolour washes over the pencil line-work.

I knew what I wanted for the concept of this painting, but was forced to work around the other design elements; such as the Celtic knots & negative spaces, which would work well for the composition of a bookmark design. The goal was to create a piece designed specifically for the dimensions and purpose of the product, rather than have one of my paintings slapped onto a bookmark template. I haven’t had many opportunities to work with graphic design, so I’ve been experimenting with creating pieces specifically for certain formats and hopefully other materials too.

Keeper, watercolours, 5.5×15.5cm (6.5x19cm paper), 2022.

Glittery & Gold | CODEX Obscurus

Posted on Tagged , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

I had the immense pleasure of opening my copy of CODEX: Obscurus this week. This was an artist collaboration of ‘witchy’ and occult themed artwork produced by SPIRIDON. The book itself is quite hefty, and I’m especially loving the texture on the cover and back  ̶  not to mention it’s glittery and gold. Each artist has a page dedicated to their work, so you get the enjoyment of seeing the work in proper scale (no small/quarter images). On top of that you have the talents of Viktor Pushkarev with all his lettering, graphic, and calligraphy work. I’m now on the hunt for a vintage frame for his lino-cut print. If you’d like to see some more of his intricate-designs, his contribution to Alex Konstad’s Artbook, Obliskura is a good place to start  ̶  link here (you’re welcome…it’s mind-blowing).

If you missed out on the original Kickstarter campaign, I believe there are a few copies of just the artbook itself out there for purchase from Liber Distri.

NightStar | Graphite Drawing

Posted on Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments
NightStar, graphite & colour pencil, 10×13″ (11×14″ paper), 2022.

PRELIM

Starting with some brief thumbnails in the sketchbook. Going through Nalini Singh’s second installment in the Psy-Changeling series for some inspiration. Admittedly these tiny drawings look like a bunch of chicken-scratch, but the ideas are there I promise.

(below)

Starting the preliminary drawing on a sheet of vellum/drafting paper.

Taking the finished line drawing and creating a simple lighting/value study on Paintshop Pro.

Drawing in Progress

Line drawing transferred onto a sheet of Strathmore Bristol paper, followed by light applications of graphite; slowly building up to the darker values.

Reacher | June 2022

Posted on Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

For this drawing I wanted to incorporate little things here and there from the show. I’ll avoid listing them all out, so as to not put out spoilers for those who have yet to watch the series or read the books. A side note ─ drawing skulls, bones, and such don’t bother me. I’ve got so say however, that I’ve never been more troubled by nature than while studying Snapdragon seed pods.

Killing Floor, graphite & white colour-pencil on paper.

The Woven Path | November Auction

Posted on Tagged , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Auction Begins Monday

This Monday The Changeling Artists Collective on Facebook will be hosting the auction for original artwork, prints, and drawings from the Woven Path Tarot Project. My watercolour painting will be part of the auction, as well as many other wonderful pieces from this Tarot project. XII. Death is my contribution to the deck; the original painting (without digital edits) varies a slightly to what will be seen in the finished product. So if you’re looking to get your hands on the original piece, please head over the link below to participate in the bids or BIN (buy it now) option. *Please note that the BIN option is only available for a limited time before the auction begins.

The Faery Ring

changeling artists collective

Nov. 22, 12:00 EST – Nov. 26, 12:00 EST

Auction here on Facebook | Info. & Bids

CODEX Obscurus | 2021

Posted on Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments
The Ritual, graphite, 12×16″ (on 14×17″ paper), 2021
Strathmore 100lb. 270 g/m2

I shared a little peek into this piece sometime earlier this year, but with the project now on full swing on Kickstarter I can announce that this drawing will be part of the CODEX Obscurus Artbook. This is a project by Spiridon Giannakis with cover and Tarot deck design by Viktor Pushkarev, and is a collaboration with an incredibly talented lineup of 145 artists and their unique take on witches & warlocks, witchcraft, the occult and various folklore. As a bonus, I along with several others will be putting forth our original artwork (The Ritual in my case) for purchase in this campaign. If you are interested acquiring an artwork please head over to the Kickstarter page for all the info.

Now Live on Kickstarter

kickstarter.com/projects/spiridon/codexobscurus

The campaign runs until the end of the month & there are just a few more stretch goals to go! If you would like to back this project please head over to pledge.

Limited Edition Prints & Campaign Bundles

There will also be a limited edition run of these amazing hand-made prints by Viktor. Here’s just a little peek at his process, but you can find more behind-the-scenes on the Codex Kickstarter page as well as on Viktor’s Instagram. Depending on the pledge, there will also be different extras from other artists in this campaign from high quality Prints, Postcards, Posters & Bookmarks; with the potential of even more bonuses with the unlocking of stretch goals.

Images Courtesy of Spiridon Giannakis & Viktor Pushkarev | CODEX Obscurus

The Ritual: a look into the process

For this project I decided to go with a full graphite piece. I wanted a break from painting with watercolour last year and although I hadn’t touched graphite in while, I felt confident again after laying down the foundation and just having at it. It also helped that I was excited to create something that was very much in line, thematically, to my own work.

I knew I’d be working with a lot of blending and powdered graphite ‘washes’, so I started by taping off the borders for a clean look for the finished product. Once the prelim sketch had been transferred onto the paper, I worked in layers from 2B pencils all the way to 6B & 7B for the darkest as I could go. To achieve softer tones in contrast to the more defined Celtic designs, I went to my trusty blending stumps as well as regular tissue paper. This project was also an attempt to improve on metallic elements (or in this case jewellery); working in grayscale and then using an eraser to create effects for a more realistic rendering.

I hope you enjoyed a look into this project and hope you will support our work through this artbook. Take care everyone!

Hunter | Graphite Drawing

Posted on Tagged , , , , , , , 4 Comments
Hunter, graphite & colour-pencils on paper, 8×10″, 2021

BACK TO GRAPHITE

I’ve taken a little break from watercolours again. This one being a more fun personal project, taking a character from author Nalini Singh‘s work and imagining it into a more illustrative piece.

Starting off using the same technique from my last painting (Banshee’s Wail), and layering the preliminary drawings so they are ready for the transfer stage. This time around I wanted to play with more dramatic lighting, as I slowly get more comfortable with it. I decided to do some simple black and white lighting samples on Paintshop Pro. It’s not a really an in-depth study; more of an assurance, so that I don’t desecrate the drawing when I work graphite powder onto the paper. Speaking of paper, I’m using Strathmore’s Bristol 100lb. (270 g/m2) in Smooth Surface. I’ve used both the vellum and smooth surface sheets from Strathmore for many years now, and I usually shift between the two if I want more texture or not. I tend to shy away from more textured paper however, because I like to scan my pieces for digital use.

I use graphite powder for mainly large surfaces I want to cover. I don’t have any experience with any store-bought brands, so I tend to just use the saved ‘residue/remnants’ of when I sharpen my graphite (using the blade method). Using a tissue, I work it in to the paper ─ for this particular piece, adding in various forms with my Blending Stumps. I ended up feeling that the piece was a bit on the grey-scale of things; in which my usual work consists of some pure black elements for contrast, so I thought it might be fun to add some colour instead. Sticking to the paranormal and fantasy aspect of the author’s work, I chose to just focus on the eye with various shades of green colour pencils. Overall, a much needed casual and experimental project; although I never want to see leopards or spots again.

Hope you all have a fun Halloween!

A CLOSER LOOK