the war of the worlds

book illustration

the project


Wraithmarked Creative contacted me to work on interior art for their deluxe edition of The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. Creative direction by Daniel B. Greene.

The book featured high-end offset printing, a smyth-sewn binding, an attached ribbon bookmark, as well as metallic gilding of the page edges. Additionally, it included a full-art dust jacket and an illustrated cloth-bound case, featuring custom art by Dark Crayon.

My role in the project included illustrating 12 interior artworks and 2 endsheets in traditional ink, to compliment the narrative. Once all of my illustrations have been finished, approved and prepared for printing - Shawn T. King designed the book into a consistent volume. 

the brief


The brief  included a quotation from the book, describing Martians in a rather academic, dry fashion - contrasted with a peculiar curiosity mixed with anxiety among the observers. I've been offered a choice to either focus on the people, or the Martians.

Since my academic background lies in natural sciences, the decision was quick. I've studied illustrations in animal anatomy books for years, but despite working with pen and ink on a daily basis, I never really tried inking one myself - which made it a perfect occasion to clash those two worlds together.

Consequently, after gathering a decent amount of inspiration and reference imagery, I proceeded to planning the composition and preparing a 3x4 inch thumbnail sketch, in order to communicate the layout and general idea I wanted to convey in my response to the excerpts from the book and guidelines from the creative director.

the thumbnail


I aimed to create something resembling an era-appropriate medical illustration, historically most commonly drawn with pen and ink (and quite frequently with an addition of powdered graphite). Having in mind consistency with illustrations previously finished for this project I opted to add some stippling rather than limiting myself to linework and hatching - even though the latter would be more true to the main source of inspiration.

I chose to include three projections: a side view, the underside with internal organs and an anterior view with the whole body laid out flat - to show as much as I can on one page, while avoiding over-cluttering the composition.

The side view - and therefore the main visual characteristics of the creature - got rooted in a style test I've been assigned with prior to starting the work on this book.

Upon approval I proceeded to inking the anatomical concept piece in full scale:

1/3 work in progress image of a black and white traditional ink illustration of Martian anatomy, from H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds book by vvilczy, 2023.
✖ 1/3 work in progress image of a hand-drawn book illustration in ink, depicting a scene from H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds book by vvilczy, 2023. Martian anatomy plate, as would be seen in an academic book - showcasing three projections: Fig. I: external structures, lateral view (on the top); Fig. II: internal structures, ventral view (on the left); and Fig. III: external structures, anterior view (on the right). The species name included in the annotation reads: Vampyroteuthis martiensis. The creatre resembles a beaked octopus, with most of its body consisting of brain matter. Internal anatomy also shows lungs and trachea, heart with blood vessels and nerve bundles.

Interior artwork for the Wraithmarked edition of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds. Illustrated with archival ink on A4 acid-free paper.
Commercial project.

© 2023 vvilczy. All Rights Reserved.

2/3 work in progress image of a black and white traditional ink illustration of Martian anatomy, from H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds book by vvilczy, 2023.
✖ 2/3 work in progress image of a hand-drawn book illustration in ink, depicting a scene from H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds book by vvilczy, 2023. Martian anatomy plate, as would be seen in an academic book - showcasing three projections: Fig. I: external structures, lateral view (on the top); Fig. II: internal structures, ventral view (on the left); and Fig. III: external structures, anterior view (on the right). The species name included in the annotation reads: Vampyroteuthis martiensis. The creatre resembles a beaked octopus, with most of its body consisting of brain matter. Internal anatomy also shows lungs and trachea, heart with blood vessels and nerve bundles.

Interior artwork for the Wraithmarked edition of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds. Illustrated with archival ink on A4 acid-free paper.
Commercial project.

© 2023 vvilczy. All Rights Reserved.

3/3 work in progress image of a black and white traditional ink illustration of Martian anatomy, from H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds book by vvilczy, 2023.
✖ 3/3 work in progress image of a hand-drawn book illustration in ink, depicting a scene from H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds book by vvilczy, 2023. Martian anatomy plate, as would be seen in an academic book - showcasing three projections: Fig. I: external structures, lateral view (on the top); Fig. II: internal structures, ventral view (on the left); and Fig. III: external structures, anterior view (on the right). The species name included in the annotation reads: Vampyroteuthis martiensis. The creatre resembles a beaked octopus, with most of its body consisting of brain matter. Internal anatomy also shows lungs and trachea, heart with blood vessels and nerve bundles.

Interior artwork for the Wraithmarked edition of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds. Illustrated with archival ink on A4 acid-free paper.
Commercial project.

© 2023 vvilczy. All Rights Reserved.

Black and white traditional ink illustration of Martian anatomy, from H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds book by vvilczy, 2023.
✖ Hand-drawn book illustration in ink, depicting a scene from H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds book by vvilczy, 2023. Martian anatomy plate, as would be seen in an academic book - showcasing three projections: Fig. I: external structures, lateral view (on the top); Fig. II: internal structures, ventral view (on the left); and Fig. III: external structures, anterior view (on the right). The species name included in the annotation reads: Vampyroteuthis martiensis. The creatre resembles a beaked octopus, with most of its body consisting of brain matter. Internal anatomy also shows lungs and trachea, heart with blood vessels and nerve bundles.

Interior artwork for the Wraithmarked edition of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds. Illustrated with archival ink on A4 acid-free paper.
Commercial project.

© 2023 vvilczy. All Rights Reserved.

the lettering

Lettering included on the illustration had a separate thought process. Aside from the projection inscriptions I needed a name for the species. I didn't find any concrete information on that matter in the book, nor in related media.

My initial inclination was to settle for the latin Homo martiensis sapiens but considering the species most likely isn't directly related to humans - and even if, people wouldn't want to openly admit the affiliation - I abandoned the idea, and after additional research into cephalopods - I moved towards Martians' feeding habits as a plausible factor influencing the naming convention.

I decided on Vampyroteuthis martiensis, as a nod to Vampyroteuthis infernalis - a vampire squid, discovered around the time the book's action takes place, so it would be reasonable to assume people would name the Martians in a similar manner.

Having decided on the textual contents, I took a rough scan of the anatomy study and mocked up text addition digitally. To limit the risk of smearing the ink on this clean background I'd normally combine those two files into one deliverable at this stage. However, as the publisher acquired the original (physical) piece as well, I wanted it to work as a whole when viewed in person too - additionally, having it inked directly on paper limits potential discrepancies in lineweight and rendering accuracy.

In order to minimize the chance of ruining the work I've already done I lightboxed properly sized text back on the paper. Eventually, the illustration with the lettering has been scanned, vectorized and prepared for printing.

selected interior illustrations

Black and white traditional ink illustration of a man standing on the edge of a forest, from H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds book by vvilczy, 2022.
✖ Hand-drawn book illustration in ink, depicting a scene from H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds book by vvilczy, 2022. A man is standing on the edge of a forest, looking downhill at a cylinder crashed in a field. The ground is plowed - and the foliage broken, indicating its landing route. There's smoke fuming from what seems to be the cylinder's engine.

Interior artwork for the Wraithmarked edition of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds. Illustrated with archival ink on A4 acid-free paper.
Commercial project.

© 2022 vvilczy. All Rights Reserved.

Black and white traditional ink illustration of the HMS Thunder Child ironclad, ramming into a Martian tripod, from H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds book by vvilczy, 2023.
✖ Hand-drawn book illustration in ink, depicting a scene from H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds book by vvilczy, 2023. HMS Thunder Child ironclad is ramming into a Martian tripod.

Interior artwork for the Wraithmarked edition of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds. Illustrated with archival ink on A4 acid-free paper.
Commercial project.

© 2023 vvilczy. All Rights Reserved.

Black and white traditional ink illustration of a Martian tripod towering over a town, from H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds book by vvilczy, 2023.
✖ Hand-drawn book illustration in ink, depicting a scene from H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds book by vvilczy, 2023. A Martian tripod towering over a market town of Richmond, flooded with thick and heavy black smoke.

Interior artwork for the Wraithmarked edition of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds. Illustrated with archival ink on A4 acid-free paper.
Commercial project.

© 2023 vvilczy. All Rights Reserved.

Black and white traditional ink illustration of a group of old people on the streets of London, from H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds book by vvilczy, 2023.
✖ Hand-drawn book illustration in ink, depicting a scene from H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds book by vvilczy, 2023. A group of old people gathering on the streets of london after the Martian invasion ends.

Interior artwork for the Wraithmarked edition of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds. Illustrated with archival ink on A4 acid-free paper.
Commercial project.

© 2023 vvilczy. All Rights Reserved.

Black and white traditional ink illustration of a man melted by a Martian heat ray, from H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds book by vvilczy, 2022.
✖ Hand-drawn book illustration in ink, depicting a scene from H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds book by vvilczy, 2022. A man is being melted by a Martian heat ray, reachiang up with his right hand, surrounded by flames and scorched trees.

Interior artwork for the Wraithmarked edition of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds. Illustrated with archival ink on A4 acid-free paper.
Commercial project.

© 2022 vvilczy. All Rights Reserved.

Black and white traditional ink illustration of a group of soldiers firing a cannon at Martian tripods, from H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds book by vvilczy, 2023.
✖ Hand-drawn book illustration in ink, depicting a scene from H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds book by vvilczy, 2023. A group of soldiers is firing a cannon at Martian tripods moving through the fields. One of the tripods is hit and covered in smoke.

Interior artwork for the Wraithmarked edition of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds. Illustrated with archival ink on A4 acid-free paper.
Commercial project.

© 2023 vvilczy. All Rights Reserved.

Black and white traditional ink illustration of empty streets of London after the Martian invasion, from H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds book by vvilczy, 2023.
✖ Hand-drawn book illustration in ink, depicting a scene from H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds book by vvilczy, 2023. The aftermath of the Martian invoasion - empty streets of London, filled with rubble. There's a toppled carriage in the middle of the composition, with a horse skeleton next to it and a crow perched on the wreckage. Buildings are seen on the sides of the road.

Interior artwork for the Wraithmarked edition of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds. Illustrated with archival ink on A4 acid-free paper.
Commercial project.

© 2023 vvilczy. All Rights Reserved.

Black and white traditional ink illustration of tripods moving through woodlands, from H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds book by vvilczy, 2023.
✖ Hand-drawn book illustration in ink, depicting a scene from H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds book by vvilczy, 2023. Two Martian tripods are moving through a forest, breaking trees on their path. A tangle of wires hangs from the machine's hull, right below a heat ray. There are dark, stormy clouds visible in the background.

Interior artwork for the Wraithmarked edition of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds. Illustrated with archival ink on A4 acid-free paper.
Commercial project.

© 2023 vvilczy. All Rights Reserved.