Freelance on the Galactic Tunnel Network

Tags

art, Chris Achilleos, Chris Foss, Fantasy illustration, Frank Frazetta, illustration, Jim Burns, Jim Burns sci fi, Keith Draws, Michael Raymond Whelan, Peter A. Jones, Peter Elson, Rodney Mathews, Roger Dean, Sci Fi, Science, science fantasy, science Fiction, Todd Lockwood

E.M. Foner always presents me with a challenge and this time was no different.

He offers an amazing universe filled with human, alien and A.I. interaction in his books and manages to achieve a great balance between the serious and humorous. Working with him on this helped me achieve that same goal.

I’m also finding my inspiration coming from a wide variety of artists. Lately I’ve been looking a lot at the mythical beasts and aliens created by Peter Andrew Jones, Jim Burns, Todd Lockwood and Michael Raymond Whelan (all of whom I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know over the past few years ) and so when serendipity presented me with the opportunity to do something on that theme with these covers I was very happy to get stuck in.

Of course I’m also feeling the influences of Chris Foss, Chris Archilleos, Peter Elson, Roger Dean, Rodney Mathews and even the great Frank Frazetta, but hopefully I ended up with something that is essentially “me”

Check the book out here:
https://www.amazon.com/Freelance-Galactic-Tunnel-Network-Foner-ebook/dp/B083HLFY1F/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=e.+m.+foner&qid=1593566553&s=books&sr=1-1
It’s well worth the read!

Posters: Here: https://www.deviantart.com/keithdraws/art/Freelance-on-the-Galactic-Tunnel-Network-847344956

The Loyalty of Water

Tags

Alan Lee, art, beautiful woman, book cover, Fantasy, Frank Frazetta, illustration, Keith Draws, KeithDraws, Peter A. Jones, Stephani Martin, The Loyalty Of Water, Todd Lockwood

When Stephani approached me to produce a cover for this book I knew it would be a Challenge.

However, in the end, I feel I produced one of my best covers. The story’s conflicts characters and environments meant I had plenty to work with. The influences of Frank Frazetta and Todd Lockwood, as well as Alan Lee and Peter A. Jones,  are very prevalent in this painting, though I’m always trying to add my own twist.
If you want to check the book out, go here.

Posters available here: https://www.deviantart.com/keithdraws/gallery/

Strong and Dangerous Women

Tags

Alan Lee, Battle, Bryan Choi, dangerous woman, Digital art, Erica Carson, Fantasy, Fantasy illustration, fantasy woman, Frank Frazetta, Frazetta, illustration, KeithDraws, Peter A. Jones, post apocalyptic, science fantasy, science Fiction, strong woman, strong women, Todd Lockwood

Bryan Choi and Erica Carson write these kinds of women incredibly well.

Women with complex backgrounds and motivations, who are determined to achieve their goals. Set in an utterly convincing world engaged in wars and power struggles, magical powers and weaponry salvaged from a bygone higher tech age, the tension and excitement of these books is incredible.

Once again you can probably see the influence of Frank Frazetta and Todd Lockwood, as well as Alan Lee and Peter A. Jones.

You can read about the Authors and see more of their work here: http://storygamers.com/about/
Poster and Prints are available here: https://keithdraws.deviantart.com/gallery/

Starcruiser Polaris Omnibus

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Action, Battlecruiser Alamo, Chris Achilleos, Chris Foss, Digital art, Frank Frazetta, FTL, illustration, Jim Burns, Keith Draws, Mother ship, Nebula, Peter A. Jones, Peter Elson, Polaris, Polaris Omnibus, Pushing the Envelope, Richard Tongue, Rodney Mathews, Roger Dean, Sci Fi, science Fiction, Science fiction art, Space Battle, Space ship, Starcruiser Polaris, Stars, Todd Lockwood

With these covers, I’m doing my best to push the envelope.

Action, intrigue and amazing vistas are all considerations so for this image, I imagined the Starcruiser Polaris bursting out of a nebular, guns blazing,  and I set about it. After a few false starts, this was the result.

POLARIS OMNIBUS cover art © Keith Draws

I love the idea that space has so many things we don’t understand, so many things we can’t even imagine (though I’m trying). I’m utterly awestruck when I think about this stuff and even more so when I’m asked to illustrate some of these incredible ideas by fine authors like Richard.

I do my utmost to infect the viewer with these feelings too just as my favourite artists did to me. People like : (in no particular order )  and I have to thank them: Todd Lockwood, Jim Burns, Chris Foss, Chris Archilleos, Peter Elson, Roger Dean, Rodney Mathews, Frank Frazetta, Peter A Jones and many more, without whom I would be painting landscapes.

This cover wraps the set as one book and so is no doubt a bargain you should not miss.

Check out his Author page on Amazon: https://goo.gl/Q1TCCZ

And his personal Blog: http://richardtongue.blogspot.com/

Posters and prints here: https://goo.gl/cxbA2d

 

Vampire Squid – My Interview

Tags

advice, book cover, Bruce Pennington, Chris Achilleos, Chris Foss, Comic, Comic Art, Digital art, Fantasy, Humorous Science Fiction, illustration, Jim Burns, Keith Draws, KeithDraws, Peter A. Jones, Peter Elson, Roger Dean, Sci Fi, science fantasy, science Fiction, Science fiction art, superhero, superhero illustration, superhero woman, Todd Lockwood, Vampire Squid

I meant to post this when it came out, but I got very busy… I hope you enjoy it.

From the Interview:

“A doodler from an extremely young age, encouraged by the freedom to do as he pleased at school, Keith Draws has been an artist at heart for his entire life. Inspired by the sci-fi, fantasy and superheroes that amazed him as a child, he has gone on to create art for bands, books and games.

With a new sci-fi novel series proudly displaying his artwork on the covers and a crowdfunded superhero anthology in the works, Keith is more in demand today than ever before. He has mastered the art of telling a whole story in just a single frame, using shape and colour and detail to create intriguing and captivating pieces that draw you into everything his named is attached to.

We spoke to Keith to find out how he developed his skills and where they will take him next.

---

Kirstie: How did you get into art?

Keith: Drawing and painting is something I always enjoyed but it became something more when I started school. At the time the school were running an experiment (it was in the ‘60’s). The whole infant block was open plan and the idea was that kids could enter and leave any lessons they wanted to at any time. So of course, I would wander off and draw pretty much all the time. It’s all I remember doing for those two years. More…”

Era: The Empowered art

Tags

Comic Art, Digital art, Era:The Empowered, illustration, KeithDraws, RPG., Shades of Vengeance

I know I’ve been a bit quiet lately. That’s because I’ve been working on all the art for this:

You can visit the Kickstarter here to learn all about it.
https://goo.gl/q9f89E

We made Number 1 in Amazon’s “Humorous Science Fiction” Chart

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beautiful woman, Digital art, dog, E.M. Foner, Humorous Science Fiction, illustration, Keith Draws, robot, Science fiction art, space station, starship, Union Station

Just found out “Union Station 1, 2 and 3” bundle, hit number one on Amazon’s “Humorous Science Fiction” Chart! And “Union Station 1″ is number two! ” While Union Station 13″ is number Four on the chart. Just wow…
Well done E.M. Foner!

Union station 3 book bundle cover art © Keith Draws

Child’s Play by Guerin Zand

Tags

Child's Play, Chris Foss, Digital art, Fantasy, Frank Frazetta, Frazetta, Guerin Zand, illustration, Jim Burns, Keith Draws, Peter A. Jones, Sci Fi, science fantasy, science Fiction, Todd Lockwood

When Gurin got in touch with me he told me:

 “I’ve seen your work for E. M. Foner’s Union Station series and I think your style is exactly what I am looking for.
I have the concept for what I want, based on an event in the book, and it does include a beautiful woman which I want to be sexy, innocent, funny but not sexual. That is why I think your work on Union Station is spot on.”

I liked the sound of this and after reading the book the image almost created itself in my mind. It’s an unusual book that tells the tale of a very different alien abduction. The protagonist has a lot of extraordinary experiences to deal with and uses his razor-sharp, yet gentle wit, to carry himself (and the reader) through the journey of a lifetime.
Guerin’s original idea was to have one of the main characters posed as I’ve shown her in front of the shuttle and while I liked this I was afraid it wouldn’t indicate enough  of what the reader would experience so I decided to feature some of the more spectacular scenery from the book too and after I’d worked out a layout, we both agreed this was the way to go.

Child’s Play cover art © Keith Draws

I’m sure if you care to look you’ll see some of the influences there. My buddy Jim Burns (he’s so good at alien tech and aliens in general that I always have to look through his stuff  just try and get into that headspace) , Chris Foss (for the sheer massive scale he can imbue in his work), Peter A. Jones ( for the dynamism and the colour), Todd Lockwood (whose painting technique and compositional sense astounding to me) and I’m of course trying to channel a little Frank Frazetta there (and I feel like maybe I succeeded a little this time).
I have to admit to being very pleased with the end result.

You can pick the book up here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B071K95PG5

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071K95PG5

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/729865

and posters are here: http://keithdraws.deviantart.com/

Meghan’s Dragon

Tags

book cover, Cover Art, Dragon, E.M. Foner, Fantasy Art, illustration, Keith Draws, Magic, medieval, medieval girl, Meghan's Dragon, Mort Drucker, Todd Lockwood

I’ve been working with E. M. Foner for a few years now.

He writes science fiction and Fantasy with a light comedic twist. In this case the cover for “Meghan’s Dragon” was to feature a young girl and her Dragon (who happens to also be extremely hungry all the time). And I have to indicate the humor found in the story.

Comedic illustration is never the easiest thing to do but when it’s done well it can be hilarious.

Mort Drucker

For me, there is nobody better at this than Mort Drucker (famous mainly for his work in Mad Magazine).

So when faced with this challenge I looked at what he does. And what he does is incredible, he sets up situations and then punctuates the joke using the characters facial expressions. I also looked at the Dragons created by Todd Lockwood, which are all pretty scary and used that as a direction to avoid!  So with that in mind, I set about working on ideas and after several roughs and some to and fro between the Author and I/we finally settled on this.

My indicator that it works is that my kids laugh at it and immediately make up stories about what’s going on… Mind you, They are both under 9 years old and they laugh at my jokes too, so maybe that’s not the best guide… Anyway…

It’s probably the first time ever that I’ve welcomed people laughing at my work! Maybe I’m dragoning this post out a bit so I’ll end it here.

Here’s where you can get this book: https://goo.gl/iuLvGb

And posters are available here: http://keithdraws.deviantart.com/gallery/

Swords Of The Imperium

Tags

book cover, Bryan Choi, Cover Art, Cover design, Erica Carson, Fantasy Art, Frank Frazetta, golden ratio, Horse, Horseback, illustration, Keith Draws, science Fiction, Science fiction art, Swords of the Imperium, Todd Lockwood, Warrior on horse back

The challenge of producing art for a series.

Working on a series of covers is always a challenge and it’s important to retain a strong identity and feel. So far so good I think.

Swords of the Imperium cover art © Keith Draws

This is the second cover for the new series of science fantasy/dark fantasy books by Brian Choi and Erica Carson.
If you want to buy the book or want to know more about the Authors :

Amazon/KDP sale site: https://goo.gl/M9bxyO

Author website: www.carsonchoi.com

Author facebook: www.facebook.com/Bryan-Choi-16…

Author twitter: @bchoiemdoc

Posters here: http://keithdraws.deviantart.com/gallery/