Tuesday, January 27, 2009

From Pig to Alien

Where do ideas come from? That’s easy. Sketchbooks.

I did this sketch of a mama pig and her piglets at the county fair. What a job it must be, I thought, to nurse that many babies all at once.


Some time later I was inventing some aliens for a science fiction paperback cover. I went to my sketchbooks for ideas. The pig suggested the idea of an alien mother who gave birth to a lot kids at once. Fortunately she’s well equipped to feed them.

11 comments:

Kristi Valiant said...

Oh, that's hilarious. Well done.

Andrew said...

Wow, three posts in one day? You're on fire James!

That's a great tip for concepting alien worlds...just look at some of the common wonders we have around here, and give it a little twist.

Doug said...

Hi James!

Is there any chance that you like ripple chips? :)

Great design!

Sarah Stevenson said...

Ha! I really like that.

Random York said...

I would not have guessed this was one of your pics- it's pretty wild

Stephen James. said...

Cool drawing James.

darthpotato said...

Please, please tell me there's a print available for this painting!

James Gurney said...

Sorry, El Dude, not right now. But Glory Lane is reproduced in a big double page spread in Imaginative Realism.

Raven C. said...

Hi!

I really like your pig sketch, is it ok if i use for a flier i'm making? :) it'll really help a lot :D

mbpc

Unknown said...

Thank you, thank you,thank you! I have been searching for the name of the book this painting is on off and on for the past 10 years. I remember the pigish lady and found it through google pic while trying to find the book cover. It is one of the best covers for a book (and the scene is depicted in the book) that I have ever seen. Thank you again!

Arun Verma said...

Great design! Noticing common specifications made it more accurate. Take a look at Famous Names Alien for some funny name ideas.