Raygun Gothic Pulp

Airbrushed pulp, ink and chrome.

The retro-futurist illustration language of mid-century pulp science-fiction covers, minus the mastheads. Opaque gouache and frisket-masked airbrush gradients sit inside a delicate, varied-weight dip-pen ink skeleton on heavy illustration board. Cadmium yellow, vermilion, chartreuse, emerald and deep indigo glow against a deep black void, curved forms carry chrome-like reflections and crisp white gouache speculars, and a faint offset-litho grain keeps the whole thing feeling printed. Transfers to people, rooms, food and landscapes as well as machines.

raygun gothic

pulp sci-fi

gouache

airbrush

retro-futurism

illustration

Create an adventurous look

Raygun Gothic Pulp shown across eight consistent reference subjects — One visual language across portrait, fashion, interior, architecture, process, object, botany, and landscape.

The same style, under different pressure.

From expression to silhouette

Faces and full silhouettes reveal how the style handles identity, proportion, and clothing. Fine calligraphic dip-pen and quill ink contours of varying weight with occasional light hatching, containing hard-edged crisp silhouettes and streamlined, rounded retro-futurist forms.

From room to threshold

An interior and an architectural threshold test depth, light, and spatial rhythm at two different scales. Poster-like staging with a dominant lit form against the void, strong diagonals, posterized planar rendering of organic surfaces and no lettering anywhere.

From making to object

A process image and a still life show whether the treatment stays tactile both in motion and at rest. Matte gouache opacity over illustration-board tooth, fine airbrush spray grain in gradient zones, dry-brush on cloth and organic surfaces, and subtle offset-lithographic print artifacts.

From botany to ritual

Organic forms and a shared food ritual put color, softness, and visual appetite under pressure. High-chroma cadmium yellow, vermilion, chartreuse, emerald and indigo laid opaque against a deep black or near-black void; dramatic directional light with graphic chiaroscuro, ambient reflected colour in the shadows and chrome-like speculars mapping the surroundings onto curved surfaces.

From palette to landscape

A close material study and an open landscape show how the same sensibility travels from detail to horizon. Opaque gouache and airbrush with dip-pen ink on illustration board

The elements of the look.

Void Black

#090607

Deep Indigo

#0a0d26

Vermilion

#d0240e

Cadmium Yellow

#f1b40d

Chartreuse

#c0b729

Moss Green

#687537

Teal Shadow

#243337

Crimson

#55131a

Line & shape: Fine calligraphic dip-pen and quill ink contours of varying weight with occasional light hatching, containing hard-edged crisp silhouettes and streamlined, rounded retro-futurist forms.
Color & light: High-chroma cadmium yellow, vermilion, chartreuse, emerald and indigo laid opaque against a deep black or near-black void; dramatic directional light with graphic chiaroscuro, ambient reflected colour in the shadows and chrome-like speculars mapping the surroundings onto curved surfaces.
Texture & surface: Matte gouache opacity over illustration-board tooth, fine airbrush spray grain in gradient zones, dry-brush on cloth and organic surfaces, and subtle offset-lithographic print artifacts.
Composition: Poster-like staging with a dominant lit form against the void, strong diagonals, posterized planar rendering of organic surfaces and no lettering anywhere.