Fastner & Larson - Devil's Playground

I've long been a fan of Rich Larson and Steve Fastner. Their unique, twisted sense of humor, combined with a knack for catching a sense of playful sexiness is something that aligns perfectly with my personal tastes (for better or worse). I'd long thought about reaching out to them about a possible commission project, and in the early months of working from home during the covid lockdowns, I decided to give it a try.

Typically, I try to pitch a few different ideas to the artist when I'm proposing a commission, figuring that if there's a particular one they're more enthusiastic about, it'll show in the final results. In this case, I gave them four different scenarios, including this one, which they chose: an idea I had dubbed "The Devil's Carousel". There's a trope from pinup art of the pretty girl riding a carousel horse, and I thought it would be fun to have their take on the idea, but instead of a horse, she'd be riding the carousel version of Cerberus.

I was delighted with the final piece, to which they gave the even better name of "The Devil's Playground", and it was really interesting seeing how each of them bring their unique skills to the partnership. Rich did a great job bringing the idea to life with his original sketch, and Steve's color scheme for the final piece blew me away. I had wondered how he might tackle Cerberus, and his final choice of having him a gray statue-like stone was pure genius.

As happy as I was with the final result, I was even more pleased to learn that they liked it enough to use it as the cover of their most recent collection.