Widely known for his unique style of painting, utilizing both airbrush and traditional freehand, H.R. Giger has become a dominating name in genre entertainment art and design; if not by name, then definitely by his creations.
Born in 1940 in Chur, Switzerland, Hans Rudi Giger began studying architecture and industrial design at the School of Applied Arts, located in Zurich, in 1962. Starting in the ‘70’s, Hans Rudi began utilizing the airbrush as his tool of choice in his creations. He has become one of the most recognized and respected artists to pick up an airbrush.
It was Giger’s book Necronomicon, published in 1977, that provided the visuals which would later become the inspiration for the 1979 film Alien from director Ridley Scott. It was Giger’s first attempt at film design concepts and won him an Oscar for Best Achievement in Visual Effects in 1980 for his designs of everyone’s favourite alien species. Responsible for not only the drawn concept art of the Aliens, Giger was also responsible for creating and sculpting most of the films creatures and set designs. Giger later went on to add Poltergeist II, Alien3 and Species among others to his resume as concept designer.
His use of dark colours, primarily consisting of blacks and greys, adds to the other-worldly eeriness of his works. Often described as “biomechanical surrealism” and “fantastic realism,” Giger‘s combination of flesh and machine created a style and texture he could call his own. Having a background in architecture and industrial design added to Giger’s command for his architectural landscape designs, creating a dark and surrealistic setting for his creations. His absence of hard lines in both his creations and his settings adds a ghostly feeling to his creepy supernatural. Clive Barker described Giger as surely having “one of the most original visions in the late 20th century art.” Published collections of his art now top twenty books. Giger’s mastery of the traditional arts crosses the painted boundaries and extends into sculpture, furniture creation and his own architectural and interior design projects.
A collection of Giger’s works can be found in Switzerland within the walled city of Gruyeres in the H.R. Giger Museum. The four level building complex, inaugurated in 1998, houses the largest collection of the artists’ most prominent works. Also contained with those walls, you can find paintings, sculptures, handcrafted furniture and film designs, all dated from the early 1960’s through to present day. Amongst his own works, you’ll find the artist’s private collection of original art including pieces from the likes of Salvador Dali among others.
Giger became a legend with his use of the airbrush in the creation of his biomechanical creatures, landscapes and sculptures. Most notably is his creation of what became probably the most recognizable alien species on our planet, and H.R. Giger did this by putting it on paper.
Jeff Graham was a graduate of a Graphic Design program where he learned the basics of both traditional and digital art. He worked in the field designing advertisements for a few years before moving on in life. Having been a fan of comics, art and movies since childhood, Jeff translated his love into actual work by becoming a grunt worker at a local comic shop and then transforming that role into that of Store Manager. Again, after a few years, Jeff decided to move on. Jeff now works as a Paramedic in southwestern Ontario. While his dedication to pre-hospital medicine is solid in nature, he still considers comics, art and movies his first loves. 
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