The Thing Artbook Illustration 2017

Robert Sammelin made this illustration for The Thing Artbook sometime in the 20th century using line drawing and digital painting. The black lines are so sharp and inky, and the colors are kept to a cool palette, punctuated by the red of the title. I can almost see Sammelin at work—digitally, of course—maybe sampling colors and textures directly from the film itself. I bet he had the film poster right in front of him and re-imagined it. The face that emerges is both human and totally alien. The mouth is wide open, ready to devour, but the eyes have this pained look about them, like it doesn’t even want to be doing this. Like all paintings, this illustration is a conversation across time, between artists, and with us. I love that tension, that ambiguity. The way it makes you feel one thing, and then another.