The White People

by Arthur Machen

This is a study cover - it has never been published.

I have to say I felt a bit overawed by this one when i decided on it - almost as if I was committing some sort of sacrilege!  It felt an audacious choice - not only is it one of the greatest stories I have come across (the singing strangeness of it just burned its way into my mind when I first encountered it), but it was hard to create this modern-looking ullustration for a clasic story that you always imagine should be illsutrated with Austin Osmon Sparre decadence, Tartarus Press simple elegance . . . or just a blank white page!  Nevertheless, i wanted to see if i could do it.

A blank page - or a book perhaps, i thought.  The green book that the story revolves around . . .

It was the idea of bringing that green book to life that enabled the piece to start evolving. 

The result is this - designed for full wraparound cover art.