Nicolas Ruston: GIGANTIC New Artwork
This month, Unsung Stories published a riveting new novel by author Ashley Stokes titled GIGANTIC, the stunning cover of which features a brilliantly bold new artwork by Nicolas Ruston created specifically for this new literary work.
Book cover of GIGANTIC, artwork by Nicolas Ruston
Speaking about his new painting, Ruston explains “I created the original cover art as a large scratch-painting, using a technique I’d developed where thin layers of gloss are applied followed by globs of masonry paint. Then the image is scratched out using knives and surgical instruments, in this case, for added intensity, I also over-painted much of the surface with generous amounts of oil paint.”
Detail of the GIGANTIC painting by Nicolas Ruston
Ruston further reveals that “The sloped shouldered silhouette is Kevin, the anti-hero of this tragic tale. I wanted to capture Kevin’s grandiose sense of the thing he seeks, a yeti that possibly only exists because of Kevin’s obsession.”
Original ink drawing by Nicolas Ruston
“His sprawling shadow incorporates the forests of Surrey, where a Yeti sighting triggered the final days of Kevin’s long quest. I set out to blend the stuff of folklore with a tongue in cheek satire on the sensationalism of sci-fi b-movie posters, to capture and fuse something dramatic with something pathetic.” - Nicolas Ruston
Final GIGANTIC painting by Nicolas Ruston
Explore more of Ruston’s artwork here.
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GIGANTIC tells the tragi-comic story of Kevin Stubbs, an IT support worker living in the London Borough of Sutton. Kevin knows that Sutton is being stalked by a nine-foot-tall relict hominid. Alongside his trusty comrades in the Gigantopithecus Intelligence Team, he sets out to prove that a British Bigfoot is living in suburban London: FACT. But what he discovers forces Kevin to face up to his own failures, and the very real, very scary prospect that he might have got it all terribly wrong.
GIGANTIC is a satirical take on the murky pseudoscience of cryptozoology, and one man’s struggle to maintain a grip on reality.
Purchase your copy of GIGANTIC here.