Phil Cooper, The Shovelisk, 40cm x 40cm, acrylic on paper
Chimera Book 1 / Chapter 14 – The Souvenir Society
“As usual, I’m spoiled for choice with subject matter in Chapter 14, there is SO much going on, and quite a few new characters appearing who would be great fun to illustrate. In the end, though, I couldn’t resist painting a skull with his brains showing so Doctor Ossifer it is this week. I’ve added a rather strange, shadowy background to the image, a nod to 1920s German Expressionist film, as Doctor Ossifer has Teutonic roots and I’ve recently moved to Berlin myself where some of those films were made. It’s tempting to go about the city speaking in Doctor Ossifer’s German accent and shouting at people, ‘It’s fascinating to meet you’ – but I mustn’t!”
Phil Cooper’s Dr Ossifer painting on his art table in his Berlin studio, December 2020
Red's Kingdom 