Capture Death's Persona In Acrylics

Veteran illustrator Milivoj Ceran reveals how he painted Death welcoming the dead to the underworld, going far beyond the Sideshow Collectibles source material

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Death, The Alltaker is a well-known character from the Court of the Dead universe, which is a product line from Sideshow Collectibles. The challenge was to capture Death’s complex character: is he to be feared or is he your saviour? After all, this is the viewer’s first – and likely only – meeting with Death as they make their way to the underworld!

Because I had complete freedom for the composition, I decided to add an element that has long been a favourite artistic feature: a highly decorative border. The macabre nature of the artwork meant it was an opportunity to combine Gothic architecture with skeletal elements.

The artwork needed to have an eerie feel to it. I made sure that every elements was weathered, dirty, tattered and even rusty. After all, Death isn’t a shiny, new character. Taking this approach enabled me to give him a realistic appearance despite his supernatural origins. The source material is a rather static composition, so I tried to add as many dynamic elements and sense of storytelling as I could.

As well as drawing on the Court of the Dead universe for inspiration, I also studied horror images, comics, fantasy art, pop culture, Gothic art, and 19th century and Victorian art. Illustrators are magpies! I was commissioned to portray a branded character, but also I needed to give it my own personal touch and style. The painting was commissioned as a limited edition art print, so I decided to paint it at a large size: 75x57cm (29.5x22.4 inches).