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A hand-illustrated and painted artwork of the Colonial Marines Pulse Rifle from James Cameron's Aliens, as drawn and painted by artist John R. Mullaney. This lot comes directly from the renowned cutaways artist and technical illustrator. This unique artwork was commissioned and published by 20th Century Studios and Insight Editions for Alien: The Weyland Yutani Report in 2015. The artwork is rendered in pencil, watercolour, ink and gouache on 300gsm watercolour paper, which is also mounted on foam board. Mullaney has signed and dated the artwork.

Depicting one of science fiction cinema's most iconic pieces of weaponry, this unique artwork was one of nine artworks the artist created for the franchise. The initial pencil stage was set up from a digital model created by Alien brain trust creative Drew Pace (ILM). To ensure accuracy, every detail was reproduced as faithfully as possible from reference photography of the original screen-used prop supplied by Aliens archivist and collector Harry Harris. The 42 numbering on the ammo counter corresponds to the famous scene where Hicks shows Ripley how to use the weapon.

The original painting's scale is notable, being twice the size of its reproduction in the publication, and its colouring has been authenticated as true to the original prop. Written by S. D. Perry, the in-universe publication is especially significant for originating the Xeno classification XX121, which has subsequently appeared as lore in both Alien Romulus and Alien Earth.

Due to the nature of studio-licensed publishing protocols, this artwork cannot be reproduced for sale as a print, heightening the rarity of the original art. The painting featured as part of the artist's hugely popular Building Bigger Worlds exhibition, which took place in central London earlier this year. Nearly half of the ten original pieces by Mullaney licensed by 20th Century Studios for this title are already in private collections. Dimensions: 40 cm x 57 cm (15.75" x 22.5")

Sold without copyright; see copyright notice in the Terms and Conditions.

Estimate: £2,000 - 4,000 M


John R. Mullaney is an award-winning filmmaker and internationally-published artist specialising in technical and cutaway art for major sci-fi properties. Mullaney has been commissioned to produce studio-approved published artwork for Star Wars, Alien, Firefly/Serenity, Halo, Warhammer, Batman, Doctor Who and Wall-E. He recently held his first-ever exhibition of original artworks in central London with work spanning a 25+ year career. Notable owners of Mullaney's work include Alien: Romulus director Fede Alvarez.


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