The Chad Frye - Illustration GuyRemember kids, it’s always safest to go into the woods with a buddy – preferably a buddy larger than yourself to increase your chances of him getting attacked first so you can get away…
Today’s monster has kind of a strange yet short backstory. At my current animation day job I was working in a large room with several other artists. Somehow we got to talking about dinosaurs in museums, when the thought was brought up by someone about dino bones in France. Then our imaginations got the better of us, and we were wondering what a French dinosaur might have been doing when he was trapped in the earth. Naturally, he had to have been a street mime.
I know, I know – it was a VERY strange line of thinking, but we were all storyboard guys after all. Of course, I had to stand up and mimic how a stubby-armed tyrannosaurus mime might have performed in silence on a quaint Parisian street corner. To further illustrate my point, I quickly sat down to my Cintiq tablet (a computer screen you can draw on with an electronic pen) where I banged out this quickie sketch in about a minute…
The sketch, while certainly not anatomically correct, has such an energy to it that I thought it’d be fun to share it with you. One of these days I’d like to turn it into a full-blown watercolor illustration. Perhaps that will make an appearance in a Monster Month of the future!
Oh, and if you ever run across a real Dinomime, be sure to toss him a tip if you value your life!
I grew up in Florham Park, New Jersey where the fire department was valiantly staffed by volunteers – not an uncommon phenomenon in the East Coast suburbs. To think that these guys were ready and willing to run from wherever they were to help a family in need in that way was and continues to be phenomenal. They are trustworthy heroes all.
THAT being said, I wouldn’t trust this particular “fireman” one bit…
Every couple with children really should schedule a date night from time to time. You know, an evening for just the two of you without the kids. The children tend to consume your every waking moment to the point that you need to be reminded of your love for each other.
Go back to a time in your minds when your young love was budding – no mortgage to worry about, no children, no responsibilities, and quite possibly no money. (If that last one is the case, zip forward just a scooch to when you don’t have to negotiate with the maitre d.) Sounds nice, doesn’t it?
It’s settled then! Go get yourselves a babysitter right away to take care of the little squirts so you can head out to a nice romantic restaurant for two. Just don’t call the service that these children’s parents hired…
One never knows where one will acquire inspiration for a character design. One must always be open to all avenues of muse-dom. For instance, one could be reading an article about the television show Dancing with the Stars (which one DOES NOT watch by the way), and see that actress Jennifer Grey is appearing on the show. In seeing a photo of Ms. Grey, one notices that someone must have visited a surgeon of plastics causing said observer to be wistful of the day when Ms. Grey had a hook nose as seen in Ferris Beuller’s Day Off. And there you have it – Hooknose the character is born.
We all see them – homeless fellas standing at freeway ramps and street corners with their signs requesting your financial assistance. However you respond to them, perhaps it’s best in this case to definitely avoid making eye contact…..
(Feel free to click on the image to see a slightly larger version.)
The daily routine of a job can really wear on you. Hour after hour of doing the same task affects you mentally, and even physically. Every now and then you need a good coffee break to let your system reset for the next round of whatever monotonous routine you have been hired to do. Whether it be scaring children, hiding your car keys, or even making bumps in the night, monsters need these coffee breaks, too.
If you followed last year’s Monster Month, you might remember a morbid ink sketch of a monster enjoying some ice cream that was posted on this very day. I’m not sure why exactly, but the thought of one of these hairy beasts truly enjoying some frozen dairy delights just strikes me as funny, peculiar, and just a wee bit nostalgic. Ice cream is definitely tasty, so why wouldn’t creatures that go bump in the night decide to bump into some for themselves? Well, at least the ones that aren’t lactose intolerant I suppose.
