“My paintings seem to make the strongest impression on people who are, well…who are crazy.”
-H.R. Giger
With the year coming to an end, as well as the Tributes: HR Giger Kickstarter campaign, I thought I’d share my drawing that will be included in the art book. It’s one of my favourite pieces to date, and I’ve been waiting to share the full version with you all.
Hellgate, WIP
When tasked to create a piece that would pay homage to a very unique body of work that is Giger’s, I was left clueless on where to start for days. It wasn’t going to be anything Alien-esque, but I did want to revisit some of his paintings like Bombs II (1983) or Katarakt (2004) ─ and one my favourites, the Bar installation from the HR Giger Museum. Below are a look at some rough thumbnail sketches that were used to draft an idea of how I wanted the composition to look; the shapes & negative space. Soon I had the beginnings of what looked like a gate, and the idea to introduce some Norse-Pagan themes that would coincide with my body of work as well. The ‘Blood-Eagle’ ritual came to mind when incorporating the male figure in the center, and from there shaping the figure with some ‘Giger’ elements that would work for this project; flesh & bones, as well as other ‘adornments’ if you will.
Linework & Drawing
Like always, I start with my line-work drawing on tracing paper before transferring the base drawing onto my paper (usually Strathmore’s Bristol in Smooth or Vellum surfaces). For graphite I rotated between 2H/3H pencil all the way up to a 7B, using my blending stumps in between layers. This time I wanted to experiment with some digital edits ─ nothing too complicated, but seeing how mirroring for the side panels would work with my photo editing software. Although successful, I don’t see myself using this technique again unless I absolutely need to. Editing anything digital without a tablet is a nightmare (but that’s a me problem, that has yet to be amended), but more importantly I just didn’t enjoy not completing the drawing to full; taking on the challenge of learning how to mirror a complex design the traditional route. It’s something that’ll unfortunately be on the back on my mind whenever I look at this piece, in what was an otherwise fun & exciting project.
Once again, thank you to everyone who supported us with the Kickstarter campaign. The Tributes: HR Giger art book is scheduled for release for backers December 2026. You can keep up to date through Éditions Caurette & all of Spiridon’s art book news & releases. Happy New Year, and see you all in 2026!
Art of Shaima 