Earlier this month I shared with you a page from my sketchbook, which is where most of my monsters have their beginning (and sometimes their finish). You all enjoyed that previous post so much (CLICK HERE to see it again) that it seemed like maybe you would enjoy another page.
Well, here it is. There is no rhyme or reason to it. These doodles are just the product of a random mind unsure of what will flow from the pen at any given flick of the wrist.
Sketchbooks are so much cheaper than professional therapy.
The pens I buy just always seem to draw this kind of stuff.
If you get scared stiff by this monster, double-check to make sure you aren’t actually just stiff from the cold because he isn’t particularly scary. However, it is a little unnerving to see him shake a bit from the frigid temperatures.
This was just an ink sketch on the back of an envelope that travelled through the postal system. He would have been warmer had he been enclosed inside the envelope.
Hopefully the postal carriers kept their fingers away from those teeth.
Now what artist doesn’t welcome the chance to create something wondrous from observing a beautiful live model? Art history is filled with amazing masterpieces of those who have gone on before us who utilized models in their work such as da Vinci, Rembrandt, and believe it or not, Picasso. However, there are also those who pretend to be artists just so that they can spend time with a pretty model. These are truly monsters.
She’s just going to LOVE his rendition of her.
This actually is a drawing I did for my nephew who has an interest in art. I gave him his own sketchbook this year with this as the first drawing in it to help get him started. I’m sure he’ll have fun letting his imagination go wild!
Today is Columbus Day, which means here in the States that many people have the day off from work. The weather is still nice in much of the country, so I imagine there will be quite a few who will make it out to whack a few balls around the course. I love playing golf, but my play is usually pretty monstrous.
As you can see with today’s monster, it is actually a repeat of my Monster Month logo eyes, but in a way you haven’t seen them before! A couple of years ago, my pal Mike Kunkel (creator of the comic Herobear and the Kid) got a few cartoonist friends together to play a round of golf in a mini tournament that he called The Cartoonist Cup. One of the requirements of play was that we had to get our own golf balls made, which I thought was a terrific idea. It isn’t hard nor too expensive to get your own design onto a golf ball.
My evil eyes ball is flanked on the left by Mike Kunkel’s ball, and on the right is Jason Lethcoe’s custom golf ball.
We had a GREAT time on the course that day with a foursome that included Mike, myself, Jason Lethcoe and Stephen Silver. The reason you only see three balls in the photo is because Stephen didn’t realize we were supposed to get balls made, so at the end of the game, just the three of us traded balls with each other. They serve as a fun reminder of a good time with friends.
There is talk of getting together sometime to do this again, so perhaps in a future Monster Month I’ll have a new golf ball to share with you!
My friend Rick Detorie, the cartoonist of the syndicated comic strip One Big Happy, has a collection of vintage produce labels originally intended for the sides of crates back in the day. They are all gorgeous old designs in immaculate unused condition. Rick doesn’t like them the way they are, though. He asks his cartoonist buddies if they would draw all over them.
So, Rick let me choose one, and this one with three big apples just spoke to me. I immediately could see their potential. First of all, I was amazed at the magical apple tree that could grow three different types of apples, so that impressed me. Secondly, I could tell those were bad apples that needed to be exposed.
So, with a little white gouache and some black ink, this produce label takes on a much improved form…
I like a nice still life painting, don’t you?
I especially like the touch of the small print that came on the label which says….
What a nice guarantee. I wonder whose hand these apples picked?
Be sure to come back on Monday when more monster madness will continue!
What lovely lady monster doesn’t enjoy a few baubles now and then? A girl needs to look her best, and she deserves every extravagance life has to offer. What could be better than to wear every shiny and sparkly thing she can get her claws on – all at once?
Tiaras aren’t just for princesses anymore.
The story behind this piece is that my aunt was having a birthday when I was visiting the east coast of the U.S. earlier this year, and I wanted to do something nice for her. She does enjoy jewelry, and knows a lot about it having once been in the jewelry retail business. I was feeling the urge to draw a monster, so her birthday card combined my love of drawing creatures with her love of baubles, bangles and beads.
And I know what you are now thinking – NO, this is NOT a portrait of my aunt!!
Welcome to the creepy, spooky, and altogether ooky (I may have borrowed those words from somewhere) very first post of this year’s Monster Month here on the ol’ blog.
You may have noticed that last year I did not do any Monster Month posts because scary as it may sound, I was so preoccupied with work that it had slipped my mind that October had come once again.
There has been no mental slippage this year! Get ready for a new monster to be posted each weekday during the month of October. You will see twenty-one sketches, ink drawings, paintings, and various other artistic expressions of strange things that go bump in the night.
What better way is there to start such an entourage of entwined entities than with one of the greatest classic monsters who has been fearing fire since 1818, your undead favorite and mine, Dr. Frankenstein’s monster!
Frankie is just waving a Monster Month welcome to you!
Frankenstein’s monster has made so many appearances over the years on my blog that he has his own category on the home page. If you would like to see other iterations of him from the past, CLICK HERE! Regarding this new one, this Frankie is a traditionally drawn ink sketch from my sketchbook that was later color tinted in Photoshop.
