Macho Face

My science fiction Lost Cowboy Moon Time was just published on Smashwords. To promote this prequel to my 2010 work Dare Not Ask The Dead, I created this surrealistic illustration that depicts a major character-–a muscular young man from New Orleans who can read minds.

The mysterious feeling that I wanted to achieve was accomplished by my use of special lighting. I deliberately did not illuminate the character’s entire face so that I would make him seem elusive.

To emphasize his amazingly muscular body, I also paid careful attention to the lighting so that I would create shadows in exactly the right places, thereby emphasizing his masculinity. As if giving him hot boots to wear wouldn’t accomplish that?

Most obvious of all, however, is my use of the color red to draw the visitor’s eyes directly to the character’s crotch. This is one rare occasion where I chose not to depict the character nude–especially to persuade the visitor to want to see more of him.