Karaoke Singing Octopus - Con sketch

Well I told ya I did a karaoke singing octopus sketch at Wizard World last November. Well here he is. Pretty random but it was fun. Thanks for the scan Christoper!

*In completely unrelated art news, the Titans just resigned one of my favorite players of all times Jevon "The Freak" Kearse. Hell yeah. Our defense is going to be ridiculously sick next year. I can't frickin' wait.

Gary Gygax 1938 - 2008

Man my life would have been a lot different if this guy hadn't been around. I'm hoping he's chilling with all the deities and demigods in the sky. We'll miss ya Gary.

Sleeping Chimera

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.

Live Art Event!

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.

Stick a fork in it.

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

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.

Moonbeast

*Totally inspired by Eric Talbot's blog.

Hands

Executioner's Counting Rhyme

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.

Menkrus

*A pudgy, out-of-shape demon who smokes cigars...I think I've been watching too much Sopranos lately.

A whole lotta nazis...

A few more pages for Imperial Lance.

Leapfrog Lydia

Click for larger image.

Limericks for Jack

Blanket

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.

Gerald Cusp

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.

Arvid Olaf Draugr

His name was Arvid Olaf and Draugr was the last.
A captain never was so despised by men before the mast.
"We cut him from his hawser. We spun his guts to twine.
We feed him lead and pitched him o'er and so besmurched the brine."
So let this speak as epitaph, to mark his gruesome life.
For those who plant the seeds of woe will harvest only strife.


*Okay, I got a little carried away with this one but he was a good distraction. Also my submission to this week's Illustration Friday: Tales and Legends. Words by Mr. Hoskins.

Shoebox Shoggoth

There once was a season of gladness,
when a package arrived at my address.
The wrapping was merry, but the message contrary
cause it said: DO NOT OPEN 'TIL MADNESS

Emesi

Emesi the demon turns inside-out
while the tentacles roll down his chin.
If ever he gets to, he'll drag you along
and then you'll be outside-in

*For those that didn't know, my genius buddy Loren Hoskins is doing the writing/prose/lyrics for my monsters. This one being my favorite so far. Loren is an extremely talented comic, writer, voice talent, musician, and friend. (He reads this blog so feel free to give him props.)

Rankin Bass' Hobbit 1977

I was seven. I lived in inner Houston. I had just started 1st grade. And then I saw this. I remember watching it on the couch with my Mom and being completely and utterly mesmerized.


Rankin Bass' (the greatest animation production company ever, bar none) Hobbit was the biggest, most influential movie of my life. I loved the art, the music, everything. I soaked the whole thing up. I pored over the book, I listened to the picture book album over and over at school when I had my time on the record player(this was way before the time of vcrs or dvds so I had to wait for the reruns on tv) I was completely hooked. This is from the inside cover of my illustrated copy of the book:

I still, to this day, can recite the movie end to end and if it's on, I'm watching it. I used to have an audio tape that my good buddy DJ George Holland made me that I'd listen to in the car. Seriously, this movie is like crack for me.

For those non-nerd types, Rankin Bass is also the production company that did all those badass Christmas shows, the Thundercats and The Last Unicorn.

"There are moon letters here...see?"

The Revenant of Abbot Caen

In book five of his manuscript, William of Newburgh writes of the medicinal revival of a corpse performed by a monk in 1197. Upon the day of his execution, the abbot uttered only one passage from the bible before his purification was dispensed:

"The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light" [Luke 16: 8]

Murder Mites

Where blood has been spilt,
upon moor or on stone,
will gather the mites
that make murder their home.

IF: Plain

My contribution to this week's Illustration Friday, topic: Plain. As in High Plains Drifter.

circa 1989

Here's a blast from the past. 1989. Senior year of high school. Done in high school, Mr. Becker's biology class to be exact.

On another note, I saw Cloverfield over the weekend. Don't waste your money (*note: I am an extremely tough movie critic). And if you are in the slightest way prone to motion sickness, stay far away from this movie. The camera effect (ala hand-held camcorder) is relentless. I'm going to try and write a more in depth review of Cloverfield on another blog soon.

Fever Fen

"Fevyr Fenne be prankish, sharpe of wit and pronne also to showe of distemper. Most often will they be found out amoung the mosse of the quagmyre. If thou hast been bitten, soone will that parte of thy body swell with rott, and so decrepit be. If thou by word or action so soothe or make confidence of this beaste, it shall remain devoted to thee for a tyme and this will not see the change of fourteen years. Bewarre such a friend."

- from the Bestarium Diabolus by Marcus of Gramercy, 12th Century

Mae

Unnaturalist and surgical fiend, Dr. Mason Wyckersham, was known to have performed over two-hundred documented, experimental procedures on ghouls, demons, and fish. He was quite mad.

Pictured here is one of his earlier amalgamations which he called: Monstero-Arthropodia Elefantius IV.

Perhaps the most disturbing thought, in this case, is that of the three previous, failed versions of the monster.

Grudge Bug

Covetous, cold and gnashing of teeth
The Grudge be a bug you don't want to meet.
Contentment, be none and so you depart
They envy your life and the beat of your heart.

*The "monster a day" has become a creative collaboration between myself and my most talented friend Loren Hoskins. He's writing the excerpts and I'm doing the drawing.

Undermurk

This is an undermurk. They are rarely seen detached from their host in this fashion. Typically they are to be found affixed to the undersides of the flippers, or webbed feet of marsh creatures such as the Fever Fen, numerous species of plasmatic monsters, and the Blue-bellied Bog Runner.

Hidden away in the membranous skin-folds of these swamp dwellers, undermurks can hardly be called idle passengers, for while they do indeed feed upon their host, the relationship is extremely beneficial. The multi-chambered shell of the undermurk acts as a sort of filtration system removing poisons and toxic enchantments from the bloodstream. A healthy swamp monster or marsh demon is, almost always, absolutely filthy with these little brutes.

A system of undermurk shells can be employed to assemble a rather crude device for purifying liquid. However, though oft attempted by marsh-trippers and Waste Survivalists, an undermurk purification system is persnickety business, to say the least. Few have succeeded, rather more than some have been envenomed, and most have died in terrible, terrible ways.

Undermurks will instantly sour a basin of milk, up to 2 feet away.

Spiky Dirt Walker

Back to Frogg Island

I'm back to work on Frogg Island which, when finished, will be the setting for Captain Bogg & Salty's newest album that they're currently in the studio recording. (Click to see a much larger version.)

BFS#2

BFS

Blue-bellied Bog Runner

Bumblesmudge

Necro Mantis

Thanks for the name suggestion Loren. You the man.

Stitch

A break from drawing nazi airplanes, I drew a catch-up monster in theme with this week's Illustration Friday's topic: Stitch. Two birds with one stone.

Long-horned Sneed

Cyclops

I can already tell that the 365 monster thing is going to be challenging yet a lot of fun.

Life is Bad, circa 1978

Okay so this is really old school. 1978. I was 7. I was digging through all my old stuff trying to find some good stuff to post and this one was pretty funny to me. I instantly realized the worm was saying this, not the bird. My cynicism had started at an early age.

Gillman

Okay so last year my quantity of posts was mainly due to all my fish posts so I figured I needed something similar to keep my number of posts up this year. So for 2008 I'm going to try and post a "Monster a Day". It kind of opens things up for me and I think it will be fun.
I'm going to raise the bar for myself and my goal by the end of the year is to have 365 monsters, one for each day. Yes, I already have some catch up to do. The problem I have is coming up with cool names so if any of you out there have any ideas feel free to email me with them. I'm sure I'll need the help...

Omar - space guy

Some character design work for a game company I did a few weeks back. I don't get to do much sci-fi stuff so it was a cool change. The description I received from the art director was, "like Shahrukh Khan (tons of google image results on that guy), dressed like he's attending a formal dinner, with a ceremonial saber at his side."

Gold Dog Art

I need homes for all this misfit art I have lying around so I opened an etsy shop to see about getting rid of it. I'm going to try, at least, to add new stuff there every week including; original art, prints, fish drawings, wizard rocks, sculpture, etc...
Check it out.

Let sleeping dogs lie.

So for 2008 I wanted to make some changes to the blog, maybe a new banner, re-work the sidebar, add some links (which I really need to do), etc... One of the things I'm going to try and start doing is once a week I'll post something old, from my past. We'll see how that goes. This is a picture I drew with yahoo messenger's whiteboard program a few years ago of my two boys, Zak & Tanis. Both dudes are now flying around in dog heaven, sleeping and chasing balls for eternity, and I keep it on my bulletin board to keep them around.

268

268. That's the number of posts I made to this blog in 2007. 268. Whew...
Easily my most prolific year art-wise. Hopefully 2008 will be just as productive. I have lots of work to do, lots of shows to do, and plenty of personal projects I plan on completing this year. I hope all you guys out there had a great Christmas and New Year's (or whatever you may celebrate). Thanks for hanging with me and viewing my little blog thing.
This rock is my first "art" of the year and the first time I signed anything with 2008 on it. Weird. I can't believe another year has flown by.
Thanks again for stopping by. I promise lots of art this year.