The Chad Frye - Illustration GuySometimes it is just fun to sit in a comfy chair and let your hand and mind go nuts on a page in the ol’ sketchbook. Such is the genesis of today’s Monster Month offering. Purple pencil, blank page, and some unhinged mental musings…
During last year’s Monster Month, I introduced you to my neighbors, the monsters who live above me. (If you missed that post, CLICK HERE for some context!) While their noise levels have lessened slightly by a decibel over the past year, they recently unleashed a torrent of audio pollution upon their unsuspecting neighbors that tops anything they were guilty of before. Yes, I speak of the event known as “the slumber party.”
When parents open themselves up to host an overnight gathering of little female monsters from all over town in their home, they know that it means very little sleep for themselves. This is fine for them to do when they own a house (so long as they keep the windows closed), but when one shares walls and floors with other people who are not celebrating the occasion with them, the word “inconsiderate” is not strong enough.
I learned something that day – little girls are highly capable of sustained energy. For four hours, one could clearly hear banging, thumping, squealing, growling (yes, growling), yelling, singing, loud music, and probably the slurping from a fresh kill. In my home, pictures were tilting, ceiling fans falling, cracks forming, book shelves twisting, glasses shattering, and nerves were rattling.
Once the trembles subsided that night,I went to bed. Somehow going to bed late does not mean little monsters sleep in late. Right at the crack of dawn the walls started cracking again. There was no escaping it – no matter where you went in my home you were assaulted by the continued revelry from above – even in what is usually the quiet sanctuary of the bathroom. Truly monstrous indeed.
So, if you live in an apartment, please be kind to your neighbors and figure out an appropriate way to celebrate your little monsters away from disturbing the rest of mankind.
Little can be more tragic than two brothers fighting a duel to the death, unless of course those brothers happen to be conjoined twins. Not only is turning and facing each other a slight difficulty, but who really wins when one gets shot? The results are truly monstrous indeed.
It is not often that I collaborate with another artist, but this year I came across an up-and-coming creator whose work was so young and vibrant that I knew it was impossible to pass up an opportunity to work some magic together. His keen eye for various color combinations using his preferred tools of the watercolor pencil medium brings such incredible energy to any two dimensional composition presented to him.
I drew bears and birds and even a reptile or two for this artist, and every one of them came to life with his unique sense of color. Then it dawned on me that those subjects were but a trifle to his skills. They were so easy that they were almost an insult to the mysterious workings of his technicolor mind. What this artist needed was a real challenge – something from the realm of phenomenal fantasy. What this artist needed was . . . a MONSTER!
What better subject could there be than a creature no one has seen before nor have they lived to tell about it?! I quickly sketched the mystical beast, and my collaborator proceeded to reach into deep wells of whimsy as he applied the workings of his wet media. The results are quite stunning.
So, without further ado, may I present to you the drawing by yours truly, painted by my fellow artist (and nephew) Marshall Frye, age 7.
Yesterday was the first day of the World Series! In honor of baseball (a sport I LOVED playing when I was in school), here is a monster about to show up “hit king” Pete Rose.
Now, of course I realize that the Cincinnati Reds are not in the World Series. However, a good friend of mine is a huge Reds fan, and I made this big red monster for him earlier this year whilst the Reds were in the fight. Swing away!
Who is to say that one monster’s face cannot be the comfortable warm home of another monster? This just might be the way to live for the upwardly mobile. Well, mobile to be sure. Living in this manner would prove challenging to accept your packages from Amazon, but it might be a decent tradeoff considering you wouldn’t have any grocery bills. I personally prefer less saliva in my living room, but the world doesn’t revolve around my opinions.
Matthew 7:5 – Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye. (KJV)
Meet the Malffs who rise up majestically from the moist mist while moving their marvelous mugs in magnificent motions timed with their own merry music. Moreover, their mobile members morbidly meander in a most malleable manner to suggest the majority of their bones have no meaningful mass, at least none that can be measured. Contemplating the whole mess can make your mind melt.
Today’s creature is brought to you by the letter M.
