Jessica Beesly
All illustrations 03

Ghost Illustration

“Boo” · Autumn · One piece, in detail

“Boo” is a ghost illustration with nothing frightening in it. A small ghost has curled into a deep orange armchair with a book, a lantern burns on the boards beside it, and fallen leaves climb the wall behind. Halloween, but the cosy end of it.

“Boo”

A little ghost has settled into a deep orange armchair with a book. There's a lantern burning on the boards, a mug going cold on the side table, and leaves scattered across the floor and pinned up the wall.

I wanted it to look like the warmest corner of the room on a cold evening, so the light sits low and everything past the chair falls away into shadow.

“Boo” illustration of a little ghost reading in an orange armchair beside a pumpkin-topped bookcaseView larger
Detail from “Boo” showing the ghost holding an open book, a blanket over the chair armView largerDetail from “Boo” showing a lit lantern and a fallen leaf beside the armchairView larger
Detail from “Boo” showing the pumpkin-topped bookcase below the painted BOO letteringView larger

In the details

Up close there's more of it: the ghost bent over its open book, a blanket thrown across the arm of the chair, the pumpkin perched on the bookcase under the painted lettering, and one fallen leaf beside the lantern. Character illustration lives or dies on that sort of thing.

Seasonal work, made to order

Autumn and Halloween pieces like this one are my favourite sort of commission. If you've got a scene in your head, describe it and I'll start sketching.

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