MODERN PEOPLE. MODERN PROBLEMS. OCCASIONAL ALIEN INVASIONS.

Criminals. Investigators. Soldiers. Survivors. Psychics. Witches. Frightened witnesses and dangerous-looking strangers.

The modern world requires a large supporting cast—and not all of them can be attractive professionals smiling pleasantly into the middle distance.

Brad McDevitt Stock Art – Modern Collection 2 provides 25 TIFF files representing 20 distinct illustrations, suitable for publishers, writers, game designers and Games Masters producing contemporary, horror, crime, action, paranormal and science-fiction material.

The collection combines character portraits, action scenes, atmospheric illustrations and stranger subjects, from street violence and surveillance to witches, alien invaders and whatever precisely is wrong with that car.

The artwork may be used in personal and professional projects, subject to the terms of the attached licence.

INSIDE THE COLLECTION

The supplied files are:

• Cackling Witch

• Noir Nightmare

• Scarred Woman

• Scarred Woman – greyscale

• Modern Street Gang Fight

• Alien Invader

• Psycho Killer

• Bad News and Booze

• Punk Psychic Investigator

• Punk Psychic Investigator – greyscale

• Full Moon

• Full Moon – greyscale

• Stalking Wolf

• Stalking Wolf – greyscale

• Nocturnal Surveillance

• Terrified Man

• Skulls

• Skulls – greyscale

• Mental Patient

• African Man

• Auto Warriors

• Body Bag

• Commando

• Demon Car

• Derelict

The Derelict illustration is a character portrait rather than an abandoned building or location.

CRIME, ACTION AND INVESTIGATION

Several pieces are particularly useful for contemporary crime, action and investigative material.

Modern Street Gang Fight, Psycho Killer, Body Bag, Nocturnal Surveillance, Terrified Man, Commando and Derelict can provide artwork for:

• Crime adventures

• Police and private investigations

• Espionage

• Gang conflicts

• Military or paramilitary operations

• Conspiracy thrillers

• Survival scenarios

• Supporting characters and suspects

• Victims, witnesses and dangerous strangers

The illustrations can establish a situation quickly without dictating exactly what has happened.

A terrified man may be a witness, victim or suspect.

The derelict may possess important information, require help or simply provide a face for somebody encountered on the street.

The body bag may mark the beginning of an investigation—or its unsuccessful conclusion.

The artwork provides the image.

The writer decides what it means.

HORROR AND THE PARANORMAL

The collection also includes material suited to modern horror, paranormal investigation and urban fantasy.

Cackling Witch, Noir Nightmare, Punk Psychic Investigator, Full Moon, Stalking Wolf, Skulls and Demon Car offer imagery for occult, supernatural and unsettling projects.

They can be used for:

• Witchcraft

• Psychic investigations

• Nightmares and visions

• Shapeshifter stories

• Supernatural predators

• Occult conspiracies

• Modern gothic adventures

• Horror chapter headings

• Cursed or unusual vehicles

• Games in which ordinary reality has become unreliable

The filenames provide broad themes, but remain flexible.

The Demon Car might be supernatural, technologically modified or merely associated with a particularly dangerous driver.

The Stalking Wolf might be an ordinary animal, shapeshifter, engineered creature or symbolic image.

The Noir Nightmare can illustrate a dream, psychological collapse, occult vision or an entire urban-horror setting.

Nothing requires you to use an illustration according to its filename.

Rename the character.

Change the context.

Put the artwork wherever it works.

SCIENCE FICTION AND STRANGER SUBJECTS

Alien Invader and Auto Warriors extend the collection into science fiction and speculative modern gaming.

The Alien Invader can support stories of:

• Extraterrestrial contact

• Alien infiltration

• Government containment

• Pulp science fiction

• Invasion

• Conspiracy

• Creatures discovered in laboratories or crash sites

The figures titled Auto Warriors might be used as unusual combatants, enhanced humans, futuristic characters or whatever else best suits the project.

The artwork does not come with rules, setting information or an imposed explanation.

That makes it adaptable across modern, near-future and science-fiction games.

CHARACTERS FOR YOUR CAMPAIGN

The collection includes several portraits and character-focused images suitable for player characters, non-player characters and incidental figures.

These include:

• Scarred Woman

• Punk Psychic Investigator

• Terrified Man

• Mental Patient

• African Man

• Commando

• Derelict

A single portrait can provide the spark for a complete character.

Who scarred the woman?

What does the psychic investigator perceive?

What frightened the man?

Why is the commando involved?

What does the derelict know that everyone else has overlooked?

The images can illustrate characters already written or inspire new ones when a project requires another suspect, witness, ally or antagonist.

They are particularly useful when the players become fascinated by somebody the Games Master invented thirty seconds earlier and now expect to possess a complete history, motivation and portrait.

ATMOSPHERE AND INCIDENTS

Not every illustration is a simple character portrait.

The collection also contains scenes and symbolic pieces suitable for chapter openings, adventure introductions and atmospheric layout work.

These include:

• Noir Nightmare

• Modern Street Gang Fight

• Bad News and Booze

• Full Moon

• Nocturnal Surveillance

• Skulls

• Body Bag

• Demon Car

Use them to introduce a scene, divide sections, establish tone or provide visual context for an encounter.

Bad News and Booze might accompany a weary investigator, a troubling newspaper report or the aftermath of an unpleasant discovery.

Nocturnal Surveillance can introduce espionage, observation or the uncomfortable knowledge that somebody is watching.

Skulls provides a straightforward image for death, danger, horror or the emblem of a particularly unsubtle organisation.

Sometimes artwork illustrates a specific piece of text.

Sometimes it simply prevents the page from resembling an insurance contract.

Both are valuable.

25 FILES, 20 DISTINCT SUBJECTS

The collection contains 25 TIFF files representing 20 distinct illustrations.

Five subjects include an additional greyscale version:

• Scarred Woman

• Punk Psychic Investigator

• Full Moon

• Stalking Wolf

• Skulls

The remaining 15 files are separate illustrations.

This distinction matters: the collection contains 25 usable image files, but not 25 completely different subjects.

PROFESSIONAL ART FOR INDEPENDENT CREATORS

Commissioned artwork remains the best way to obtain precisely the image a project requires.

It is also expensive.

Independent publishers must divide limited funds between writing, editing, layout, promotion, printing and the increasingly eccentric ambition of paying themselves.

Stock art provides a practical alternative.

This collection can help you:

• Illustrate characters and encounters

• Break up dense sections of text

• Establish atmosphere

• Complete adventures and sourcebooks

• Add impact to chapter openings

• Create player handouts and case files

• Populate supporting-character sections

• Build a reusable library for future projects

• Reserve commission funds for essential bespoke artwork

• Replace those accusing boxes marked ART GOES HERE

Use one image to complete a short scenario or spread the collection across a larger publication.

The pieces cover enough subjects to support several different genres without forcing every illustration into the same project.

READ THE LICENCE

The artwork is supplied for personal and professional use under the terms of the attached licence.

Read the licence before publication and ensure that your intended use, alterations and attribution comply with its requirements.

Some pieces may also appear in other Brad McDevitt collections where they suit more than one genre.

You can explore the complete Brad McDevitt Stock Art range.

The witness is frightened.

The psychic has seen something.

The derelict knows more than anyone expects.

Your manuscript still needs pictures.

Solve the manageable problem first.