The Book of Imaginary Beings

For my Master Degree in illustration i had to choose a book to illustrate. It had to be a really interesting book because i would be working on it for a whole year. So i finally chose Jorge Luis Borges's "The Book of Imaginary Beings". It's an anthology of about 150 imaginary creatures that Borges collected from various mythologies,folklore and religions around the world,as well as characters from books or fairytales. I made all of the 150 of them which is impossible to share here but a sample.

all these illustrations were made back in 2010 and i would change a lot of things now, but i have a special place in my heart for this work, as it started as an experiment with a quite different illustration style (until then i used only realism) which later evolved to my present hyperrealistic work. Hope you enjoy!

Abtu and Anet

find fine art prints and applications with this design here

 

Behemoth

Carbuncle

Catoblephas

Celestial Stag

Centaur

Chimaira

 Chinese Fox

The Doppelganger

 Eastern Dragon

Eater of the Dead

Eloi and Morlocks

 Elves

Huallepen (fauna of Chile)

 Celestial Horse (fauna of China)

Hsiao (fauna of China)

Ping Feng (fauna of China)

 Ti Chang (fauna of China)

Goofang (fauna of USA)

Pinnacle Grouse (fauna of USA)

Ganesha

 Garuda

Griffin

Heavenly Cock

Hippogriff

Hydra of Lernes

 Jinn

Kami

Kraken

Kujata

Laubatores Teporis Acti

Leveller

Lilith

Mandrake

Monkey of the Inkpot

 

 Mother of Tortoises

Norns

Nymph

An Offspring of the Leviathan

Phoenix

Remora

Salamander

Satyr

Seahorse

Shaggy Beast

Siren

Sow Harnassed in Chains

Sphynx

Squonk

Tiger of Annam

Troll

Two Metaphysical Beings

Unicorn

Uroboros

Zaratan