Owl Creek Redux – Process

I’m hard at work on some new illustrations for the Good Ink edition of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” and “Horseman in the Sky” by Ambrose Bierce… Scout Books brought out the first edition as part of the American Shorts box set, and we are reissuing it as a “War Stories” three pack (along with some wonderful stories with two amazing artists I’m delighted to be working with… More info at Scout Books as the titles come closer to fruition!). The book is newly typeset so there’s more room for more images. Its great to work from Bierce’s ultra-rich prose… Here are some pieces in process.

On the left: 


“The black bodies of the trees formed a straight wall on both sides, terminating on the horizon in a point, like a diagram in a lesson in perspective. Overhead, as he looked up through this rift in the wood, shone great garden stars looking unfamiliar and grouped in strange constellations. He was sure they were arranged in some order which had a secret and malign significance.”


On the right:


“He felt his head emerge; his eyes were blinded by the sunlight; his chest expanded convulsively, and with a supreme and crowning agony his lungs engulfed a great draught of air, which instantly he expelled in a shriek!”