Abigail Larson

Abigail Larson is an American illustrator. She creates mixed media original artwork in the dark fantasy genre, drawing on themes from Gothic and horror literature. Her illustrations often feature Victorian fashion and fantasy or horror elements such as ghosts. She uses a combination of traditional sketching and digital coloring to complete her illustrations.

Larson works primarily as a freelance artist. Her credits include coloring books, tarot decks, comic books, and television shows. She has illustrated for several major publishing and production companies, including DC, Dark Horse Comics, Netflix Animation, and Disney Books. She has also served as a character designer on several projects. She won the Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist in 2016.

Early life and education Larson was born and raised in Virginia. Her father is an archaeologist and her mother is a cultural anthropologist. As a child, she dreamed of becoming an opera singer, but suffered from severe stage fright; she also dreamed of joining the circus. Larson's family has been supportive of her career as an artist.

Larson attended Virginia Commonwealth University, graduating in 2010 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Arts. Her concentration was Drawing and Illustration. She credits her high school art teacher with being an early supporter of her work and encouraging her to apply to art school. Larson has contributed artwork to several games by Choice of Games. She has also designed a loading screen for Fortnite. Beginning in 2020, Larson was a character designer on the Netflix Animation original series Blue Eye Samurai. She worked full-time on the series, and was particularly involved in designing the show's costumes. In 2021, Larson worked on the first issue of rock band Evanescence's graphic anthology series Echoes from the Void. The series featured stories inspired by the band's music. Larson contributed both cover art and interior illustrations. Her cover for issue #1 was later turned into an NFT as part of a project by the band. In 2023, Larson returned to do the cover art for the one-shot sequel to the mini-series The Witch Queens, Lady Baltimore: The Dream of Ikelos.

Other projects Other projects that Larson has worked on include book cover art, tarot decks, coloring books, sticker books, illustrated re-publications of classic stories, children's literature, and tabletop RPGs. The advertisement ran in print in Vice and Bust. The project was funded through Kickstarter.

Between 2010 and 2015, Larson contributed artwork to multiple events at The Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia. At a 2014 Halloween event, her illustrations were used on a wine bottle label for the Vincent Price Signature Wine Collection and the can for a local craft brewery's red ale. She also illustrated posters for Richmond's annual Zombie Walk.

Personal life Larson lives in Turin, Italy, with her husband. Larson often exaggerates perspective and proportions in her work. She then inks the drawing and does a watercolor wash, which adds depth and texture to the final piece. Finally, she scans the drawing and does the final colors in Photoshop. Some of the inspirations that she has discussed include the work of Edgar Allan Poe and H. P. Lovecraft; Bram Stoker's Dracula and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; novelists Charlotte Brontë and Shirley Jackson; and classic fairy tales such as those by the Brothers Grimm. Also in 2016, she received an honorable mention in the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles's 55th annual Illustration West competition for her Penny Dreadful #1 variant cover.

In 2022, her art book Crimson was a finalist in the Illustration category.

Publications and credits Book covers Gothic Blue Book IV: The Folklore Edition (short story anthology, Burial Day Books, 2014, ) Loteria by Cynthia Pelayo (first edition, CreateSpace, 2012, ) Titan Magic: Body and Soul by Jodi Lamm (2013, CreateSpace, ) Literary Noir: A Series of Suspense Vols. 1–3 (collection of Cornell Woolrich stories, published by his estate and Renaissance Literary & Talent, 2018) VANITY: The True Story Behind The Scarlet Countess Elizabeth Bathory by Jurii Kirnev (first edition, Chaos Imperium Press, 2017) Gothic Blue Book VI: A Krampus Carol (short story anthology, Burial Day Books, 2020) Santa Muerte and The Missing by Cynthia Pelayo (original cover art for each book, published by Post Mortem Press in 2012 and 2016 respectively; and the cover art for the 2021 combined reprint published by Thunderstorm Books) Rear Window and Other Murderous Tales (collection of Cornell Woolrich stories, published by his estate and Renaissance Literary & Talent, 2022) Teen Titans Go! to Camp! #6 (DC, 2020) Evanescence: Echoes from the Void #1 (Incendium/Opus, 2021) Cradle of Filth: Maledictus Athenaeum #3 (Incendium/Opus, 2022) CREEPSHOW Vol. 2 #2 (Image Comics, 2023)

Comic book cover art credits Edward Scissorhands #9 (IDW, 2015) Penny Dreadful #1 (2nd print, Titan Comics, 2016) Assassin's Creed #14 (Variant C, Titan Comics, 2016) Assassin's Creed: Templars #9 (Titan Comics, 2017) Penny Dreadful #8 (Titan Comics, 2018) The Magic Order #5 (variant C, Netflix/Image Comics, 2018) Lady Baltimore #1–5 (Dark Horse, 2021) A Man Among Ye #5 (variant B, Image Comics, 2021) Doctor Who: Missy #3 (Titan/BBC, 2021) Evanescence: Echoes from the Void #1 (Incendium/Opus, 2021) GRIM #1 (variant, BOOM! Studios, 2022)

Gallery shows Creature Features: October Shadows, 2012 Viktor Wynd Fine Art (Last Tuesday Society): The Party Show, 2012 Gallery Nucleus: Power in Numbers 5, 2020 Gallery Nucleus: Playbills: A Broadway Poster Show, February–March 2020 Gallery Nucleus: Phantasy Arcade 2: Insert Coin, December 2021 – January 2022

Illustrated books/interior art Sarah Faire and the House at the End of the World by Alex Gianni (2013) The Spirit of Krampus by Kate Danley (2014) Abigail Larson's The Cats of Ulthar (illustrated edition of H.P. Lovecraft short story of same name, One Peace Books, 2016) Crimson (artbook by Abigail Larson, Caurette Editions, 2021, ) Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (limited edition, Subterranean Press, 2022) Sketch.Box: Abigail Larson (sketchbook by Abigail Larson, Caurette Editions, 2023, )

Other media Dark Wood Tarot (Sasha Graham, Llewellyn Publishing, 2020, ) The Nightmare Before Christmas Tarot Deck and Guidebook (Minerva Siegel, Insight Editions, 2020, ) Horror Tarot Deck and Guidebook (Aria Gmitter & Minerva Siegel, Insight Editions, 2022, ) Court of the Dead: Dark Harvest (card game, Skybound Games/Sideshow Collectibles, 2019) Alice's Wonderfilled Adventures (colouring book, Impact/Penguin, 2016, ) Disney Art of Coloring: A Twisted Tale (colouring book, Disney Books, 2023, ) Sticker Jigsaw: The Edgar Allan Poe Collection (Odd Dot, Macmillan Publishers, 2024, )