Illustrator Thomas Howes’ detailed character studies capture quirky personas

Throughout illustrator Thomas Howes’ portfolio are wonderful character studies that manage to convey a narrative despite being set against a blank background. The scenes he creates are often cluttered with figures interacting with each other or as separate little portraits.

Among the work created for coffee merchant Butterworth and Son (as part of Thomas’ day job as a coffee roaster), and Village Review magazine, the Suffolk-based illustrator also works on numerous personal projects. An ongoing series is Fan Art, a collection of illustrations inspired by old TV shows and movies like Star Wars and Mars Attacks. “I’ve always loved making fan art, ever since I was little. I found any excuse in school to draw the T-rex from Jurassic Park or Obi-Wan Kenobi fighting Darth Vader,” explains Thomas. “In 2012 I made VideoStore a collection of fan art that was made just for fun. Since then I’ve been working on even more. Hopefully soon I’ll have enough to release a few small press zines and stick them all in there.”

Depicting the quirks and personality of his characters through pleasing colour palettes and inky features, Thomas’ characters could easily belong in a comic book, with their heroic personas and offbeat features. Throughout we see cool silhouettes in sunglasses, men wearing vests and machetes and an homage to Robocop. In the near future the illustrator hopes to open an online shop on Etsy where he’ll be selling prints, pins and temporary tattoos.