Introducing Tom Strom and his deadly cute illustrations

One minute, you feel like stroking the cute, cycloptic kitten as it sits amongst the birdhouses with a yellow chick perched in the crook of its tail. But the next frame has you whipping your hand back to avoid its claws. And that birdy? Well, he's pinned in the cat's fangs, a fat drop of blood dripping down like a tear. Because as sweet and benign as his creatures seem, there's a dark side to most things Virginia illustrator Tom Strom conjures up.

This suits some of his clients down to the ground. For example, he created album covers, t-shirts, and various graphics for death metal bands like Revocation and Baest. There's plenty of scope for dark horror with projects like these. But what Tom is really looking for is the chance to work his sweet little nature-inspired creatures into a narrative, using a softer, more nuanced palette.

"Usually, when you see darker-themed art, it's also coloured in a way that it feels dark and almost unnerving with heavy blacks, reds and the like. I wanted my work to have the same darker themes but a more approachable, brighter and inviting palette," says Tom.

Growing up in the woods of Western Massachusetts, Tom used the drawing skills he developed as he grew up to become a tattooist. It's a field that demands versatility, so he has drawn in a great many styles while honing his illustration skills alongside the ink work. "Over the years, I started to incorporate different parts of what I had learned and put them to use with what I was already doing. I had to create a lot of cute images and give them a personality that my clients would enjoy, but at the same time, I couldn't seem to stop adding a dark flare to each piece. It just seems to be how I'm wired," he says.

Unlike many new illustrators, Tom is eschewing digital tools to work with natural media. He can and does work digitally if the project requires it, but in his heart, he's devoted to watercolour, gouache, acrylics, oils and even sculpture. Tools like Procreate are fantastic, but in his images the textures, patterns and details are that little bit more intricate and individual. Leaves, mosses, rock and wood textures, fur and feathers – their soft, organic nature juxtaposes the shadows in his storytelling.

"I've always loved painting in its real form and learning to understand and control each medium. They offer things to me and a sense of creative direction that I just don't feel digitally," says Tom. "Nothing replaces the feeling I get from pushing paint on paper, panel, or whatever substrate I want to tackle. Painting also gives me the classic look that I fell in love with in the first place. Every artist I grew up loving works in traditional mediums."

At the time of writing, Tom is illustrating one of his own stories with a view to telling it in pop-up book format. He's illustrating the characters while learning the techniques of pop-up book design, and the pop-up cards he's created can be found on his website.

"My ideal illustration project would be a story or book cover," says Tom. "I like working with a narrative that I can really develop. I also love singular images that can capture a whole story in one shot, like you see on book covers. Album covers work in the same way. I've bought more albums than I can count solely because of the painting on the cover."