I just finished the illustration for a horrorstory novel written by Jacob Weinreich. The story is about two brothers with a vivid imagination, that have developed a story about "the Creep" that lives in the cellar. The Creep is real to the boys, and they are both fascinated as well as scared by this imaginary creature. The story of the Creep, where it came from and how it ended up in Denmark is told throughout the book simultaniously with the story of two brothers living with their alcoholic mom in the projects and struggling with the bullies at school. The two brothers plan to capture the worst one of the bullies, and feed him to the Creep in the cellar.
I have tried to illustrate the two different worlds (the imagined world and the real world) by using two different drawing styles. The imagined world of the Creep is done in inkwash and charcoal and the real world is ink and ziptone.
First I had to design the Creep. In the book its descriped as being 3 meters long, reptile looking, big strong legs with long claws like a bird, bending forward as it is about to take a leap, the head is somewhere in between an eagle and a lizard with multiple long sharp teeth...and finaly a tail like a rattail with yellow spots on.
A couple of years ago I illustrated another book for the same author "Det blev en far". That book was written with a lot a humour and satire about the subject: becomin a dad for the first time. The new book "The Creep" is a serious, no humour, horror story book for young readers. The publishing house gives me full creative freedom, so it's only my own expectations I have to live up to, which can be a challenge. I had in mind that I wanted to do the book, that I myself as a 10 year old kid, would have read ten times in a row at the local library.
I really enjoyed illustrating the book, and hope that my contribution will help to thrill and scare the readers.
Thanks for reading
Erik
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