The Uninvited House Guest v1.0

This is the first in a series of chapter illustrations for the SAS Hermit short stories. The Uninvited House Guest can be read at

I chose to illustrate this moment because it is a static and awkward but yet peaceful scene in the story. The development of this work can be seen in my scraps gallery.

Credit: The character of Screamer is based on the model Laura from the photography of Valentin Casarsa's Alice in Wonderland Series, reproduced with kind permission. File no. 2286359 from iStockphoto.com

What I used: Adobe Photoshop CS3, Wacom A3 tablet, Imagine FX magazine, Gnomon workshop: Practical Light and Color, pencil, paper, protractor, scanner, Nine Inch Nails (Ghosts I-IV, The Slip), Queens of the Stone Age, The Bloodhound Gang, All of the Discworld Audiobooks by Terry Pratchett, Goldfrapp, Kylie (and in the flesh), Doctor Who, Marvel Comics/Films, and a unique knowledge of reality and it's dimensions.

How long did it take: er... ∞. I finished this last Tuesday, but I'm not due to begin it until a week on Thursday. Alright let's say a couple of months on-and-off (including that Friday morning back in the 13th Century). The joys of being temporally displaced

Thanks to: Tobais Gould, (The man behind the words), for the inspiration, Becky Pritchard for the faith, Samantha Doll and my friends on DA, the reprobates in Laser, Lois Bell for her little smiles and being a joy in the world.

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© 2008 Ciaran McLaughlin. All Rights Reserved