Monday, November 24, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving

 

Plant Monsters part III

The Slobbering Pine, aka Drosophyllum is a genus of carnivorous plants containing the single species Drosophyllum lusitanicum. This sticky plant lures its prey with the sweet smelling digestive adhesive that captures and dissolves prey. This monster just makes itself. If such a creature were very large and lumbering around looking for humans to snag I think it would make a wonderful creature for games and fantastic tales.
 

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Plant Monsters II



A thiseling, this monster is one of my own design and is a real prick. lol



This creature is my idea of a Triffid. Triffids are alien plant monsters from an old sci-fi film I watched as a kid. 





FEED ME!

Plant Monsters

I love plants and I love the idea of monster plants of all kinds. Botanical life comes in a wide array of interesting forms and I love to explore what I can make out of them in my creature designs. Here is tonight's project. Venus Hominid.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Octopus Woman

Also known as a Cecaelia, these creatures have very little lore written about them. They have been included in many old illustrations and Ursula the sea witch from Disney's The Little Mermaid (1989) certainly qualifies as a cecaelia. 

Monday, November 17, 2014

Krampus II

 

I have Krampus on the brain today, what can I say. This is a speed painting, it only took about 20 minutes.  

Krampus

 
 

When it comes to Christmas I have a hard time enjoying the more traditional elements. I hate the consumerist gift giving and the obnoxious music, but I have found certain elements of it enjoyable. I love Krampus, the Yule Cat, and scary ghost stories, among other older traditions of the season. A friend of mine has created a thirteen days of Creepmas project and I plan to post a Christmas/horror themed image here each day. Not all of them will be new projects, but I hope you will enjoy each one for what it is.
 

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Monster Dictionary


I am nearly ready to start editing my monster dictionary project. This is a test image of the first monster in the book. Adaro is a sea monster from the Solomon Islands and flies through the sky throwing poisonous fish at people. 




Thursday, November 13, 2014

Winter Isn't Coming



Snow in November is a rare thing in Tennessee, but it happened this morning and I was inspired to alter one of my digital paintings to match the weather.

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Artist Rights and Christmas Demons

So it seems that artists have very little right to protect their own work these days. I have a piece of my work floating around out there on the net that is being used to promote the new Krampus film by Michael Dougherty, who I am a big fan of, but it is so hard to make it as an artist in this world, and when people use your art to promote their article or their company or jut because they like it, and they don't pay you. They kill the industry just a little every time. Some want to say "It would be great exposure for you!" Bull!!! It is a great chance for you to exploit an artist to make you money! I am trying to keep a cool head about this kind of thing, but it is not easy. 

I have started to include my logo on my work as you can see, but the damage with my past work is already done, sad to say. If you see someone using an artists work and they are not credited, let the poster know in the comments who the artist is and give a link to the artists work if you can. 

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Rotten

I enjoy photographing my Jack o Lanterns after they have rotted and fallen apart a little, or in some cases, almost completely. These are some of the photos I have taken. I hope you enjoy them.

                 

          


Sunday, November 9, 2014

The Great Cthulhu


The Call of Cthulhu

H P Lovecraft inspired a multitude of imitators and homages to his strange and wonderful works, but none is more popular today than the great Cthulhu. 


Things in Jars

Sideshows and freak shows invoke a Kaleidoscope of emotions, the most common being fear, pity, and disgust. While humans and animals were both subject to being displayed for audiences to ogle, some inanimate objects and taxidermies were used in shows. One well known creature is the Fiji Mermaid. This object was the assembled parts of a juvenile monkey sewn to the lower extremity of a fish. Pulling from this rich history of freaks in jars as well as inspiration from a wonderful short story, Ray Bradbury’s The Jar, I chose to create this assembly of atrocities for the shelves of my office. I hope they make you as happy as they make me.   

 

  


Thursday, November 6, 2014

Lamia

 
The Lamia has many forms and many legends surround the creature. All agree that the Lamia is a horrible monster that feeds on the flesh of men and drinks the blood of children. The Lamia is of ancient Greek mythology, she was the queen of Libya who was transformed into a monster. Zeus, her lover, gave her the power to remover her eyes, the reason for this is unknown. In Edward Topsell's The History of Four-Footed Beast, the Lamia appears as a scaly lion with the head of a woman, but in Greek myth she has the tail of a serpent in place of her legs. Other tales say she is normal, but has a distorted face.      

 

The Jersey Devil

 

The Jersey Devil is a Cryptid said to inhabit the Pine Barrens of Southern New Jersey, United States. It is a demon born of a mortal woman named Deborah Leeds. The creature was her thirteenth child and reportedly was born a normal baby, but changed its form to become the horror you see above. On January 16 through 23, 1909, newspapers of the time published hundreds of claimed encounters with the Jersey Devil. Reports continue to pop up on occasion, even now.   

 

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Wendigo



The Wendigo of Algonquin lore is a demonic spirit born of the unforgivable sin of cannibalism. This monster is one of my favorite creatures. It is endlessly hungry for human flesh and eats any animals it comes across as well. It has associations with winter and madness resulting from solitude. Greed can also cause one to be transformed into a Wendigo.  

Monday, November 3, 2014

Halloween 2014

My monsters and I had a great October. Halloween came and went like a dream. It never lasts as long as we would like, I guess that is what makes it so precious. I hope you had a great October and that you are looking forward to the next one. I know I am.