Today I chat with artist Douglas Klauba. An award-winning illustrator, Douglas Klauba was born and raised in Chicago, and is a graduate of the American Academy of Art. His paintings have been included in the art annuals of Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, the Society of Illustrators, and Imagine FX magazine. His artwork has graced the covers of books from Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. (Tarzan Trilogy, Untamed Pellucidar, Tarzan and the Valley of Gold, The Girl from Hollywood Centennial Edition, and Tarzan and the Forest of Stone), Flinch! Books (the Midnight Guardian series), and Craig McDonald’s Zana O’Savin Doc Savage pastiches.
Hi Doug! Thanks for taking some time to chat.
Thanks for thinking of me, Anthony!
First, I’d like to ask about your early influences. What are your earliest memories of really connecting with a piece of art?
Looking over my earliest childhood drawings that my family saved, you would see drawings of Batman and Robin, Superman, The Beatles, and lots of monsters. One of my earliest recollections of the visual world around me was movies and the magazine and comic racks at the corner grocery store. There I saw Famous Monsters of Filmland for the first time and my obsession with monsters began. Soon after, a newsstand/cards and gift shop opened next to the grocery store and that became my place to explore paperbacks, monster magazines, and comic books. I began collecting the Warren magazines, because the artwork looked the best to this 8-year-old developing artist. With the Frazetta and Sanjulian covers, and inside I found the Reed Crandall, Pepe Gonzales, and Richard Corben stories. And soon I would become obsessed with an artist named Wrightson. The artists that have influenced me the most is a long list. Some of them are: Frazetta, Basil Gogos, Steranko, Michael Wm. Kaluta, Barry Windsor-Smith, Franklin Booth, Joseph Clement Coll, Dean Cornwell, N. C. Wyeth, Roy Krenkel, J. Allen St. John, Hubert Rogers, Reynold Brown, Drew Struzan, Thomas Blackshear, and Alphonse Mucha.
What were your earliest creative outlets?
I was fortunate to be raised in a creative household. My father was a painter in the trades who grew up on EC and Classics Illustrated comics. His original career choice was to follow his older brother and become a Chicago illustrator. Instead, my father decided on marriage and starting a family. So he went into the trades. Our home was still decorated by oil paintings that my father painted. My uncle George was an illustrator at the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper, and I would see his artwork every week in the newspaper. We would visit my aunt and uncle often and I got to hang out in his home studio. We would visit his gallery openings, and I always thought it was pretty cool that my siblings and I were the youngest in attendance. I would soak up each experience. George Klauba is an internationally recognized painter and is best known for his Moby Dick series. There was always some form of inspiration throughout my early years - and beyond. Drawing was pretty contagious, and I did it daily, for hours. I didn’t lack imagination and when I didn’t have anything to draw, I would copy the Famous Monsters covers by Basil Gogos. My mother would often ask me to stop drawing and go outside and play with the neighborhood kids. But, throwing rocks at passing trains, or getting into fist fights grew old fast. One memorable Halloween, I entered a contest to paint a Halloween scene on a store front window. I painted Lon Chaney’s vampire from London After Midnight. I didn’t win the contest, but all of a sudden, I had made myself known as the neighborhood artist - and more importantly I met this kid, John, who lived two blocks away on another street. Like me, John had the Aurora monster models, collected the Warren monster magazines, he was into old monster movies and John had a Super 8 movie camera and his own projector! It was pretty fortunate to meet someone else that shared my interest in movies, comics, and monsters. Over the years we made our amateur movies, we tried our hand at stop motion animation, I worked with make-up to transform ourselves into monsters. We soon found other like-minded creative kids and spent hours creating fanzines, reading monster magazines, comics and going to the movies.
I’m always interested in hearing about the creative process. What medium and materials do you work with most frequently (your “favorites,” I guess)?
I love to draw in pencil. I am happiest when I am sitting at my drawing table and working on drawings. The last few years, I have been drawing with black acrylic paint. It was a natural transformation of working on a pencil drawing or using a black color pencil and I have continued to explore and enjoy working this way. It’s similar to any illustrator or comic book artist working with brush and ink - only I am using acrylic paint. I have been using acrylic paints for my color work since my advertising years of working in a Chicago illustration studio. Originally, I was hired because I was able to work in a variety of mediums from pen and ink, markers, watercolor paint, etc. But eventually the air brush was forced upon me at the studio, and I soon acclimated myself to this new tool and form of applying paint. I began exploring all that I could do with it and developed a working technique that has evolved into how I work today with acrylic paint. My process when working on a color piece has its measured steps. I start with putting gesso on a Crescent illustration board, followed by transferring my drawing onto the gessoed surface. I sometimes tighten up the drawing with color pencils before painting with the brush. At some point, I soon break out the air brush and apply color. I then finish up with my lighter values, using opaque acrylic paint. That’s basically the painting process from start to finish. The only thing not mentioned is finding good music to accompany the session (or listening to an old time radio drama) to help capture the mood of the narrative, the back and forth wrestling the artist will go through with the painting, maybe some frustrations, but eventually emerging through the challenges.
Has this changed over the arc of your career?
When I entered the art program at The American Academy of Art in Chicago, I was mainly a pen and ink artist that emulated Bernie Wrightson’s style. I had some experience with watercolors, but I didn’t have any confidence with working in color. I was intent on developing my craftsmanship with black and white ink and becoming a comic book artist. However, the few years at the Academy was more than I could have asked for. The academia of figure drawing, oil painting, watercolor instruction, and commercial illustration classes formed me into a much more rounded artist. My pen and ink illustrations became more developed, but I soon realized my passion for painting. In particular, I was drawn more towards pursuing a commercial art path, than a comic book career. Those were exciting times, as a developing art student. I worked at a few Chicago illustration studios that serviced advertising agencies for the next few years. I worked in every medium: pencils, pen and ink, marker renderings, watercolor / gouache paints, pastels, oil paints, air brush, and acrylics. It soon lost its lustre and the many hours of work, switching mediums, being told which technique to do a project - soon burned me out. I fell into an awful depression because I had lost my path. I no longer knew what kind of artist I was or wanted to be. I thought that if this was what the rest of my life was going to look like, I didn’t want it. But, instead of quitting, I left my studio position. And, within days (literally) I packed up my things and moved to California. I enrolled at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco for a semester, and studied with my favorite illustrators: Thomas Blackshear, Kazuhiko Sano, and Drew Struzan. The program, the fellow students, and the art community opened my eyes to becoming a better artist. The work that I developed, the friendships I made, put me back on a better footing of the artist I wanted to be and goals to pursue. I eventually ran out of money and returned back to my hometown of Chicago and intended to save up funds to permanently move back to San Francisco. But I became a busy illustrator, and life took its course. I eventually returned to working in pen and ink and developed a painting style of working in acrylics. The technique has changed a little over the years, but the process is more focused.
Does your process change at all depending on the type of project you’re working on?
Deadlines can dictate a path for a project. Under tight deadlines, I might not develop tight sketches or studies - and go straight to board. Spend less time constructing the drawing, and do more work with the painting process. It has its advantages, and the work is more immediate, and have a certain impact. The most important part of working on an illustration is the thumbnail sketch. Very small sketches, maybe 1 x 2, or 2 x 3 inches a piece. And I’ll sometimes do endless concepts. Usually, every assignment gets the 12 to 36 thumbnail session. I’ll immediately rough out every idea that comes to mind. The thumbnails are very simple, just shapes and scribbles - until something catches my eye.
I know you primarily as the artist of so many amazing book covers. Can you walk us through the process of developing a book cover? How much input does the author or publisher have throughout the project?
Once I finish the thumbnail session, I’ll pick the best of the lot and narrow them down to the best four or five to present to the client. I like having a discussion. I like getting input and much information or thoughts during this stage. This has worked well for me, so I don’t second guess myself or over analyze during the next stage of drawing studies and the finished pencil drawing. Once this drawing is approved, I have all of the confidence of creating the finished painting. I’ll spend up to 10 hours developing the drawing onto the board. Depending on the design and composition, applying paint can be 12 to 16 hours over 2 days, and then approximately 12 more hours of finishing. Depending how much time the painting wants to wrestle with me. Then I scan it and send the file for its approval.
What projects do you have coming up that fans should be on the lookout for?
I am developing an original pulp, sci-fi book of illustrations. I have been talking about it for years and I am slowly going through it. I would love to work on it full time, but commissions and projects come in at their own timing. I started a personal project earlier this year of painting black and white portraits of the classic movie monsters, as I reconnect with my younger monster kid roots. I also would like to strengthen my pulp influence. So, I’ll be exploring ideas with color paintings and black and white illustrations. Even while teaching part-time, I am always open for more assignments. I enjoy working with new creatives, and I like working in a team setting to develop new ideas and concepts. It’s that work that opens my eyes and fuels growth. In the meantime, I’m working on ideas and sketches for The Land That Time Forgot from ERB Books, as well as an alternative movie poster for the film, Caligula: The Ultimate Cut. You can also expect more covers for Craig McDonald’s Zana O’Savin books, as well as John Bruening’s The Midnight Guardian. And I look forward to any upcoming project from Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.
Thanks, Doug! Looking forward to talking to you more in person at Pulpfest in a few weeks!
Readers, it is not too late to register for and attend Pulpfest 2025 (THE pulp magazine-focused convention in the Northeast) and the other three conventions it hosts: FarmerCon (dedicated to the works of Philip Jose Farmer), ERBFest (dedicated to the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs) and DocCon (dedicated to all things Doc Savage related). Check out the Pulpfest website for registration and hotel information!