Okay, I realize that TECHNICALLY, this lady does not look like a monster. However, the whole scene gives me a bit of the creeps, so it is being included in this creepfest I call Monster Month.
This started as a sketch of a gnarled old tree in my sketchbook drawn lightly with a blue pencil. As it started to take shape, the birds seemed like a natural addition. Then, of course, an old woman needed to be added, who is likely the birds’ mistress, or perhaps she is not. That is the beauty and mystery that a single drawing can do to the viewer. It makes one ask questions. Who is this woman? Why are those birds there? What do the birds and the woman have to do with each other? Why doesn’t this artist seem to know the answers to these questions?
Well, maybe I do have these answers, or maybe I don’t. That is the beauty and the mystery that an artist can wield with his ink brush pen…
I sometimes wonder what it would be like if aliens invaded the old west of America. Yeah, yeah, I know there was a movie called Cowboys & Aliens which was a fascinating version of how things could have gone, but I require just a little bit more silly in something like that. Silly as in, “What would a gunfight look like where one is armed with four arms?”
Perhaps this is how it would have gone down, by way of ink and gouache on tan paper…
If a bandito with four arms challenges you to a duel, politely decline.
Last month a new version of Stephen King’s It was released in the movies. I have not seen it. Despite enjoying creating monsters all the time, I embrace the silly, not really the spooky. Also, I remember seeing the television version of It back in the early 90s, and it ruined me. So, no thanks to any new scares.
It was the television version that I returned to for inspiration for this birthday card I made for a friend this past summer. Tim Curry’s version of the creepy clown Pennywise has done more than its share of damage to my dreams thank-you-very-much. So, here’s my silly ink and watercolor version for Emily’s birthday card…
I’m sorry, but all that candy and what-not can’t possibly be very sanitary down in the sewer.
This little guy may seem like a Romeo at first glance, but he was actually created on a sympathy card for someone who lost a loved one that was very much into monsters. So while many of these creatures can be silly and intended for vapid entertainment, once in a while a monster can reach out to say, “I’m sorry.”
Some monsters are just there to give a hug (after they put down the thorny rose).
Here it is, the first post of 2017’s MONSTER MONTH!!! For the first monster of the month, I thought I’d post one that was actually published this past year!
I was asked by Frank Pauer, the editor of the University of Dayton Magazine, to reimagine the university’s mascot in a sci-fi way. Frank asked a number of artists to do their own versions based on different themes, but sci-fi was definitely up my alley. Any excuse to include a monster, right?!
So, created entirely in Photoshop utilizing my handy dandy Cintiq monitor, here is my Dayton Flyer attempting to deliver a basketball against an opponent who couldn’t care less about fouling.
If you guessed October 2, you would be correct, but more than that, it is the start of Monster Month here on the ol’ blog. For many years now, each October I like to post a new monster sketch, drawing, painting, or illustration every weekday during the month that are fun, silly, and meant to be enjoyed by all ages.
I also will be posting these pieces of art that go bump in the night on my Instagram account. If you are on Instagram, be sure to follow me @ChadFrye_IllustrationGuy to keep up with the creepfest!Or, feel free to CLICK HERE if you want to see my Instagram page on the web.
So, get ready! Monday will be here sooner than you think!
Sometimes I really don’t know why certain ideas pop into my head. It can be completely empty one minute, then BAM! A completely random thought quickly inspires a completely silly drawing. Thus was the case this past weekend.
Without provocation, somehow my mind zeroed in on Charles Lindbergh’s historic first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, then in an instant, I wondered what an old man might feel about this event today had he been a child at the time. Then this drawing came to mind. Really, these thoughts all took place in a matter of seconds not having seen anything about Lindbergh. It was totally random.
Of course, if one were to do the math, this guy would be REALLY old. Lindbergh’s flight was in 1927, so if this guy was alive and remembered it – let’s say he was five years old back then. That would make this chair jumper 95 today. More power to him.
Anyway, I grabbed my trusty tan paper sketchbook, and this scene came forth.
I woke up this morning oblivious to the fact that today is a milestone in the life of cartoonist Sergio Aragonès. Today is his 80th birthday!!! I read about it online. The reason for not realizing that today Sergio is 80 is because he seems like a man twenty years younger creating wonderful whimsical drawings more common for a man fifty years younger!!!!
Sergio is a cartoonists cartoonist. He’s the guy we all would like to be professionally speaking – prolific and hilarious. I also like to think of him as the Hemingway of cartoonists. He is a man who has lived a life of adventure around the world. He has the BEST stories of where he has been, and what has happened in those locales. They are absolutely amazing (and have cropped up in his comics from time to time). “The world’s most interesting man” is an amateur compared to Sergio.
I first met Sergio at a National Cartoonists Society gathering in New York City in 1996. The next year I moved to California where seeing Sergio became a regular thing, and a friendship ensued. I became involved with a Los Angeles based professional cartoonist organization called the Comic Art Professional Society, otherwise known as CAPS. Sergio was one of its co-founders and biggest cheerleader.
Ten years ago, CAPS established The Sergio Award, unbeknownst to Sergio himself. The first recipient at a banquet was Sergio’s fellow MAD Magazine artist Jack Davis. After Jack was given an award, CAPS gave one to Sergio as well. All the artists in the room were aware there would be two awards that night except for Sergio. We all had drawn tribute art to Sergio that was published in a second secret program book that was handed out when the award was being presented. Below is the piece I did for Sergio featuring his popular comic book characters Groo the Wanderer and his dog Rufferto.
I drew this at the time I was working on the show “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.”
The very next year after that banquet, it was the 25th anniversary of the Groo the Wanderer comic book. While drawn by Sergio, it is written by one of CAPS’ other co-founders Mark Evanier. The gang at CAPS each drew their own version of Groo which was put together in a big jam drawing and was published in the pages of San Diego Comic Con’s program book that year. Some of the folks who contributed their own version of Groo included illustrator William Stout, Beetle Bailey cartoonist Mort Walker, Momma comic strip artist Mell Lazarus, current MAD Magazine editor Bill Morrison, Mulan director Tony Bancroft, children’s book illustrator Mark Fearing, Usagi Yojimbo comic book artist Stan Sakai, and comic book legend Dan Spiegle to name a few.
A gaggle of Groos created for San Diego Comic Con’s program book in 2007.
Of course, I contributed one to the above composition. Can you find it in the crowd?
This is my take on Sergio’s Groo for CAPS.
Well, all this was written just to honor the man of the hour by saying a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Sergio!
