The Chad Frye - Illustration GuyOne of my favorite places to eat is at the Colington Cafè in the Outer Banks (OBX to the initiated) of North Carolina. It is a classy joint at the beach in an old house set back off the road amongst some giant old and twisted trees. It is just a little bit of beach elegance.
I, of course, had to bring it down a notch by drawing on the tablecloth. Care for a little Old Salt of a monster with some sweet dessert?
Sometimes you’ve just gotta stop and smell the flowers.
After half a work week of rampaging and eating villages filled with peasants, a monster just wants to kick back and enjoy the simple things in life. So, whatever your occupation, take a rest on this hump day from the screams of “stop, please stop” and “don’t eat my children” to enjoy your life.
I often get asked “why monsters?” There are two answers to that: 1. the world of fantasy allows for as much creativity as one can handle, and 2. Jack Davis.
Jack Davis is the monster king. He has drawn many topics over his career for MAD Magazine, TIME Magazine, advertising art, movie posters, TV Guides, animation – you name it! However, his abilities with comic monsters have no comparison. While he has drawn the grotesque at times, it is his fearless work with a brush and ink on countless comedic takes on the creatures of the night that have delighted this fan for a long time. And which monster of his do they keep coming back for more? Frankenstein’s monster, naturally (or should I say “unnaturally”?).
On a rare recent visit with Jack, he told me that the Frankenstein monster is the one he gets asked to draw most often, and is it any wonder? Once he created that six foot tall Frankenstein poster in 1972 that captured the imagination of little boys everywhere while disgusting their mothers, he cemented his status as the king! I have had my own fascination with Frankenstein’s monster over the years, likely due to Jack’s influence. So much so that I include a Frankie every year in Monster Month! (Click here to see the collection!)
So, this year’s Frankie is a caricature of the monster king himself, Jack Davis, complete with his own zombie Georgia bulldog in a piece I like to call Jackenstein!
If you are unfamiliar with Jack Davis’ almost 90 years of sketches, paintings and illustrations (he was born with a pencil in his hand of course), please CLICK HERE to see some great examples of his work!
When your wings get tired, sometimes you just gotta set yourself down on the nearest pedestal, even if it happens to be on the horns of a fuzzy species of unknown origin. Who knows, maybe you’ll become friends.
Hey! Today is Friday which means tonight it is the start of the weekend! Woo hoooo! Families will be getting together doing super fun stuff like visiting a pumpkin patch, apple picking, costume making for Halloween, and yard work!! Well, maybe the yard work isn’t so much super fun, but leaf pile diving sure is! Whatever your family activities will be, enjoy them together.
My monster family just took a family portrait. There always has to be one who can’t just do a simple smile, am I right? Sigh. At least Grandma can see them all together in one picture.
It is a hot summer day where the air is so sweltering that it feels like you could take a deep breath and drown in the humidity. The ice cream man hands out half melted popsicles. Old people wobble by draped in a shawl of sweat. Even dogs sit in the shade refusing to chase cats. You feel a hot wind on your head, and are just dripping with ooze. But waitaminnit – is that from the heat of the day? Or can something more sinister be the cause of this new discomfort?
Now of course there are sea monsters, but then there are monsters who just love the sea.
The latter of these two monster types may have an infatuation with the water, but it does not mean that they are adept at traversing it. Some may float upon the water’s gentle ripples, while others have the body density to sink them to the bottom like a wheelbarrow full of rocks. Unless you are a monster who completely understands your limits within the liquids of this earth, it is highly recommended that you proceed with caution such as this swimmer.
Also, be sure to wait an hour after eating someone before going in the water.
Today comes a purple creature from the depths of my sketchbook. He doesn’t really care one way or the other about things. He minds his own business, keeps his teeth clean, and combs his beard once a week whether or not it needs it. Just your average, run-of-the-mill purple monster.
