Ravenstein - cover art for the 2013 Halloween issue of Pittsburgh City Paper

Ravenstein. 

It all started with an email inquiry late on a Friday afternoon.

In her message, Art Director - Lisa Cunningham explained a brilliant concept for the Halloween issue cover that involved elaborate caricatures of Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Bill Peduto. It poked fun at the twitter scandal that Ravenstahl had reportedly been at the center of. I couldn't resist the opportunity to draw a caricature of the both of them!

That weekend I created the artwork. A mixed media painting of Doc Martin Dyes and gouache paint, with some line work done in colored pencil. I painted quite a lot of bleed so that Lisa could move it around however she wanted.

It turned out so well that in a poll readers voted it Best Cover of 2013!
I cannot tell you how honored I feel.

This is what the original painting looks like (click on the thumbnail to see the full image):

Below is an image of the CP cover:

Was this cover one of your personal favorites? If so, good news! The original painting is now for sale!  It is unframed, 18" x 13.5" on illustration board. 

From now until February 12th, 2014 it is only $250! (plus shipping)

If you are interested, please contact me via email. 

rhonda@rhondalibbey.com

Thanks!

Mother Hydra - Cthulhu Mythos art

As some of you know I have been working on a collection of drawings dedicated to the Cthulhu Mythos. These drawings will eventually become paintings, and I have plans to create something very fun with them. I will announce what that will be closer to the time I launch a Kickstarter campaign to fund the project.

This week's drawing is Mother Hydra. This character is the mother of all Deep Ones, and mate of Dagon. She and Dagon are both described as being just really old Deep Ones that continued to grow and mutate. So she may not be winning any beauty pageants, but there are advantages to being one of the meanest things in the sea and having thousands of minions.

I wanted to take a different approach from the usual creature with many heads (hydra) or giant Deep One. I hope that you enjoy this sketch in progress. Anyone interested in purchasing the sketch or the painting when it is finished, just let me know!