Having multiple heads means you're never taken by surprise.
Originally an idea I had for a monster book compendium competition (say that 5 times fast) and it also fit the topic for Illustration Friday: Multiple this week.
*Well my good buddy Jeremy Mohler threw down a badass color job on the Chimera so we're entering the competition as a team. I think he did a spectacular job. Jeremy nailed the mood of a big shaggy chimera lounging in the high afternoon sun. It would be awesome to get into the book but even if we don't it was a great exercise and a collaboration we've been talking about for awhile.
So I'm going to try my hand at live art this Saturday night. Meaning I'm going to draw, standing up, in front of a lot of people with beers in their hands. So if you're in the Austin area this weekend come by and check it out.
Whew. Well besides a few tweaks, Imperial Lance #1 is complete. My part anyway. Man, what a learning experience. For instance I learned I like working small as opposed to large. The first half of the book was done on the traditional 11x17 bristol board and I felt completely uncomfortable with that so I tried switching to regular old crappy 8.5x11 printer paper and my process sped up considerably. Click the image to the left there to see it it's entirety, sans page 1 which can be seen here. O' boy I am glad that it's done. I will be consuming mucho adult beverages tonight. Yee-fricking-haw.
Dr. Mason Wyckersham
1838 - ?
To say that Mason Wyckersham was a "mad doctor", while rooted firmly in the realm of fact, would be gross understatement akin to proclaiming that the shark that bit you mercilessly in half, had "lots of teeth".
Wyckersham possessed a sort of contained madness, a subverted distortion, that he would not surrender to completely until his status in the medical profession had reached such a glorious capstone that, at first, his wild speculations and bizarre theories were greeted with the unbridled enthusiasm of the entire scientific community. He was dashing, intelligent, the picture of all that was envied. Wyckersham's operation theater and lecture hall had become not only the forefront of operative discovery, but the very hub of fashionable society. Slowly, this was to change.
The foundations of his observations began to warp and crack. More and more he would shun sleep and the companionship of his peers for the cold slab of the operation room. The public abandoned his lectures as his theoretical processes ran into the macabre. Rumors spread of body snatching, alchemy, and self-admistered surgical procedures.
When those closest to him made one final, desperate attempt to intervene, he said simply, "The veil has been removed. I have seen the face of the Great Faun amongst the branches of the bower. This cannot be undone."
Dr. Mason Wychersham locked himself away behind the high stone walls of Machen Manor House. There, his crazed, frenzied stumblings into the darkness of creation took on a ghastly reality. It was there that Wyckersham submitted himself, finally, to the absolute torture of his own grotesque intellect.
Yes he was mad, mad as the moon, but his hideous genius would change everything.
*Totally inspired by Eric Talbot's blog.
Executioner's Counting Rhyme
(to the tune of "Enny Meeny Miny Mo")
Hangman Headsman Guillotine
Pick a knickknack to show the Queen.
You play pebbles,
I'll play jacks,
Headsman plays with his favorite ax...and this... is... it.*Loren and I's contribution to Illustration Friday: Choose.
I've included my roughs in this post, you can click them below to see a bigger version. I usually do my thumbnails very small to get the initial layout down. Then I scan my thumbnail, blow it up, print it out, then work out the details directly on the printout. If you look closely you can see my initial lines on the second rough. Once I get the layout and details all worked out I'll scan this version, drop the transparency down, then print a copy and ink right on top of that. Sometimes I'll skip this step and ink right on top of my pencils, depending on how clean I want the final image. I'll then scan my inks (greyscale) and manipulate them in photoshop. I like to give my final lines a sepia look so I'll change the image to RGB then do a hue change. I try to let some pencil lines and "noise" remain giving the final piece a little more character. I wanted to color this guy but it's been a busy week and I've been sick. Yippee.
*A pudgy, out-of-shape demon who smokes cigars...I think I've been watching too much Sopranos lately.
Click for larger image.
Vampires can still attack you, if you cross your fingers
Vanquished demons never leave you, some part always lingers.
Humbly mumbled counter-spells, can rarely save your soul
And though you might create the beast, you'll never have control.
There are no silver bullets you can fire at your fears.
There's nothing that works, just half as good, as blankie 'round your ears.*Our contribution to Illustration Friday: Blanket. It's much less ambitious than I had originally planned and after a few unsuccessful attempts I realized I had to rein back a bit.
Although hideously transformed by exposure to the unknown toxins of The Waste, Cusp retained his gentle grace, and eloquence."There is no irony here, gentleman. The metamorphosis of study will always realign the perception of the observer in favor of those to whom he has dedicated his observation. I was merely fortunate enough to develop a physical representation that mirrors my empathy for these creatures of misunderstanding. This is a truer path to discovery, that I shall cherish."Gerald Cusp continues to study monsters in their natural habbitat. While Mr. Cusp's lecture tours are immensely popular they are also considered rather dangerous, as he has been known to eat a member of the audience, on occasion.
*Everyone have a great weekend and get ready for the most lopsided Super Bowl in NFL history. 9's call: 45-10 Patriots. Yee haw.
