The scenes in Rodrigo Aviles’ paintings and  illustrations are often unnerving. Ghostly swordswomen float over the sleeping  world. Courtly figures are transformed into psychedelic mushrooms. Abstract  animals and people with demonic faces stand their two-dimensional ground. Killer  robots rampage through the streets. Even his most surreal pieces, however, carry  a strong narrative quality, and all those visual stories carry a dark  appeal.

In addition to handling art duties on Sebastian  Castro’s Adventure Calling, Aviles has provided colors for Mark Andrew  Smith and Armand Villavert’s Gladstone’s School for World Conquerors,  Smith and Matthew Weldon’s The New Brighton Archeological Society, and  Smith and James Stokoe’s upcoming Sullivan Sluggers.

Aviles’  own work has a nightmarish quality to it, with dream logic scenes that are  neither simple nor overstuffed. And while his fanart is largely straightforward,  it comes with a few surprises. His super-cropped rendering of Gandalf, showing  just the wizard’s staff, sword and the tip of his hat, is one of my favorite  pieces of Tolkien fanart, relying on negative space to create a sense of  drama.

You can see more of Aviles’ artwork on his Flickr  photostream and his Tumblr.