A skull that would be an ideal illustration for a horror story in a magazine or a book cover

A few years ago, I secured a 3D skeleton model for use in my illustration work — and as of yet haven’t been able to use it on any book covers, horror or otherwise. Thus, I’m posting a few illustrations here on my blog which I’ve created using the model as a starting point, and then painting from there. These are posted with the hope that some author or editor will spy them, and latch onto the notion of letting me create some cover artwork for their magazine or books.

As can be seen by the example above, I can create a very detailed skull. Likewise the entire skeleton can be posed for a painting from a variety of angles, with various lighting / shadow effects and a wide choice of backgrounds and props.

Behind door - skeleton art by book and magazine illustrator Duncan Long

A Way that seems right - bones painting for a magazine or book illustration

I have used the skull once in a graphic novel I created (based on Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” — you can take a closer look at the graphics in the book with the “see inside” feature here: The Raven: A Graphic Novel by Duncan Long). Here’s the picture where the skull makes its appearance in the story — as a candle holder:

The Raven 2_e2 Illustration from the Raven Graphic Novel

And the model also served as the starting point for this sketch of the Grim Reaper that appears in my book of short stories, Lightning War.

Grim Reaper illustration in Duncan Long's short story book

So…

If you need a quality book or magazine artwork involving skeletons, please contact me. I’m dying to get this guy on a few covers or as illustration in the text of a publication.

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When not groveling for an editor or author to let him paint a skeleton illustration for a book or magazine, Long works as a freelance illustrator. You can see more of his artwork — but very few skeletons — in his online Artwork Portfolio.