Doc Savage #87 The Spotted Man Cover 1977

This is Boris Vallejo's cover for Doc Savage #87, "The Spotted Men," and it’s made with oil paint, that much is clear. The airbrush-like application of the paint makes it feel like a dream, but the artist makes the most important parts of the image–the men–hyper real. Look at how the light shines on the figure’s muscles, how the folds of his pants are described. You can almost feel the texture of the denim on this guy’s jeans, but the Spotted Man has skin like wet clay. The tension of the scene is reflected in the colours. Vallejo has used them to make a hot, stifling atmosphere. It's a great action painting that looks back to the classicism of painters like Gericault, with contemporary colours of the 1970s.