American illustrator Chet Phillips is the creator of terrific art projects such as Dr Mew, the Monster Zen book, the Steampunk Monkey Colouring Book and the Steampunk Monkey Cigarette Cards – but here at downthetubes I have to say I love his British Isles-inspired Fantasy Travel Postcard Set.
Paying tribute to vintage railway posters, the series re-imagines landscapes with fantasy elements such as giants, dragons, trolls and more – and of course, the British railway travel posters of days gone by immediately spring to mind on seeing them.
Chet began his career as a freelance illustrator in the early 1980s. He’s created work for advertising agencies, design firms, book, newspaper and magazine publishers and corporations, including American Airlines and Warner Brothers.
Since the release of his British travel poster-inspired set, he’s also released projects such as Magical Landscapes of Japan in a similar theme, a set of Strange Beasts Playing Cards and a Texas Fantasy Travel postcard set.
Trained in traditional media with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing, Chet, who lives in Austin, Texas with his wife Julie and two tabby cats Brodie and Lily, made the transition to digital media in 1992. His “Digital Scratch Board” is created with the natural media software Painter.
Chet’s Monster Zen is a book of “Japanese-styled” drawings of monsters, accompanied by haikus by the artist — available as a book or as individual prints.
• Chet Phillips is online at www.chetart.com | Buy his posters, books and more from his Etsy shop
John Freeman
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Star Trek Explorer (previously known as Star Trek Magazine) and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War and “Dan Dare”. He’s the writer of "Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies" for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
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