Well, here we are on the eve of the final day of MONSTER MONTH. Have you been enjoying it? I hope so, because I’ve sure enjoyed presenting all these wacky characters to you this month.
This is one of my favorites for the month. It’s a traditionally created piece made with ink and gouache paint on blue Canson paper. I had doodled this idea about three years ago, and it just languished in my idea file. When I saw it again, I knew I had to do it, and part of the fun of this one was doing it with those traditional methods. If I ever have a monster art show some day, this will look really great in a frame.
I’m sure you can tell, but just to be clear, it is a version of Little Red Riding Hood.
“My, what big drool you have!”
(I think drool has been a recurring theme this past month.)
Come back tomorrow to see the GRAND FINALE of this year’s Monster Month!! It’s a doozy.
When out West roaming the lonely frontier, the mind can play a lot of tricks on even the most seasoned hombre. You start to hear things. You start to see things. You start to smell things – things that no living creature should hear, see, or smell.
If you should find yourself riding along a dusty trail surrounded by mysterious mesas and you hear the blood-curdling twang of the undead coming from a whirling dust cloud preceded by the stench of a fortnight’s worth of rotting decay, you might just want to tuck yourself behind a boulder to dare to take a peek at the soul-less cowboy riding by on his four-eyed, flaming-haired demon bull followed by his flitting gang of howling bats ready to do his evil bidding.
I’d bet he’d cheer right up if he could just get a nice glass of water.
How about a closer look at some great hat hair.
Speaking of smell, this painting actually smells REALLY good! You see, the paint was something I brewed up – literally. It’s COFFEE, punctuated with some brown colored pencils.
Back in my days at Disney Animation in the late ’90s/early aughts, one of Walt’s old animators Walt Stanchfield used to come in and give us drawing classes once a month. I remember he showed us some sketches he did in a diner that he shaded with coffee. Every now and then, I like to give it a try, too. As you can see, it takes to the paper in a gritty kind of way.
There are only TWO days left in this year’s MONSTER MONTH! Stick around for what are two of my favorite pieces of the month. Saved the best for last!
Hard as they try, trolls are never very good chefs. They never use enough seasoning, their meat always tastes quite gamey, and they’ll eat anything that’s not related to them. It’s truly an ugly existence, even more so when you realize they actually have nothing of benefit to offer society.*
Although, they might offer a bit of a humorous escape for people if some producer gave them a cooking show.
Tastes a little undercooked.
*Of course, I’m talking about REAL trolls here. Not those fictional technicolor Smurf-like creatures who sing all the time.
Time can be our friend, or it can be a cruel joke.
When time is more of the latter, that is when one must call upon the services of the Time Warrior. He travels through time to write the wrongs one has done, but he does so for a price – a price that you don’t always fully grasp until it’s too late!
Waitaminnit – is it EVER too late if you can hire the Time Warrior? Yes, yes it isn’t.
Ink and gouache on brown paper. Sidekick not included.
Here we are 24 days into Monster Month, and there hasn’t been one self-portrait in the batch. Seems reasonable that after drawing all these monsters, there should be at least one depiction of the artist as a creature that goes bump in the night. (In real life when I do that, it’s likely due to stubbing my toe in the dark on the way to the bathroom.)
So, why not trot out everyone’s favorite blood-sucking vampire from Transylvania as inspiration? I call him CHADULA. Mwuahahahahaha! (Cue the lightning strike!)
“I vant to draw your blood! No, really, I want to draw it, not drink it!”
I’ve made appearances in past Monster Months. You might remember me as Frankenstein’s monster, a hairy beast, a zombie – even as the Wolfman a couple of times. If you are adventurous, you could click on the “self portrait” category on my blog and see if you can find my other beastly incarnations.
Well here’s something different in this month-o’-monsters – an actual bonafide monster job! Back in July I was hired to work on this advertisement for the Disney+ animated series Monsters At Work.
The agency had already written the ad, and another wonderful artist had illustrated it and laid it out (that means the graphic design part of it), but then two things happened: 1. it went through changes, and 2. the other artist had to go out of town and didn’t have the time to make the changes. So, I filled in as needed.
Click on the image to enlarge.
So, what you see here is a true team effort. I illustrated all the characters except three monsters in step 5 and Mike Wazowski (which are all by the talented Liz Masters), and then I re-laid out the steps and bottom info with all the new text following the look that Liz had already established. It was a super fun gig, and obviously I love drawing monsters. Happy to have had a crack at the Disney/Pixar creation all thanks to Liz for pulling me in on it!
Oh, and Disney+ tweeted this out back in July just a few days after I had finished it. Quick turnaround to meet the launch date of the new show!
