EXTRACTS: The Art of Commando (illustrators special) © 2019 The Book Palace (144 PAGES in Full edition)

140 Irina which would bring forward the character and also make the snowflakes stand out more. Being mindful of the request by editorial to play up the title of the story I added some stronger red highlighting and used a mixture of Vibrance, Saturation and Levels in Photoshop to really bring out the red on her face, telescopic sights and the German soldier targeted. With no small amount of trepidation I sent off the cover for approval by the editor and was delighted by the response and praise for my first cover. Here is the press release for the issue: 5153: Action and Adventure: The Red Devil Hiding in the thick snow, the Red Devil is watching. In the battle-torn, bomb ‑ shelled carcass of Stalingrad, she stalks her prey. Her sights aimed and her finger taut, she pulls the trigger… Specially selected for the cover, Graeme Neil Reid’s exhilarating art shows our hellish heroine in a blood red light, capturing her plight for the Motherland as well as her deadly shot! |Story | Iain McLaughlin | Interior Artwork | Vicente Alcazar | Cover | Graeme Neil Reid | ● Having completed the watercolour painting, Graeme scanned the artboard enabling him to add extra effects such as the snowflakes and allowed him to make any necessary retouches before emailing it off to Commando HQ. He has since gone on to produce many more covers and is now a firm favourite with both the readers and the editors at Commando . ● Graeme shares more of his amazing artistry on his website: www. gnreid.co.uk and you can see more of his Commando production process at: www.patreon.com/GraemeNeilReid