The Chad Frye - Illustration GuyAs this year’s selection of MONSTER MONTH delectations winds its way to the end, I have one more zombie drawing for you direct from my sketchbook. It shows that even when headed out on the town to hunt for human brains on which to feast, a girl has to look her best. I just hope she doesn’t overdo it on the perfume. I hate that.
For some odd reason, I am forever fascinated with the idea that no matter how creepy and menacing a monster can be to us humans, these same monsters may also happen to really enjoy their ice cream. So much so, that there has been an ice cream eating monster in every Monster Month to date! They can have their homo sapien entrèe, then top it off with a cool, sweet dairy delight to eliminate that icky aftertaste.
Today’s art goes beyond just one drawing of a monster enjoying his frozen treat. I offer you a glimpse into a whole page of my sketchbook. You can see the beast of the hour there, but there is also a half conceived image of a creepy caterpillar creature, and what looks like a goofy dragon head.
Not sure if today’s monster is the chaser or the chasee. If it is chasing something, I would NOT want to be in his way. If it is being chased by something else, just think how much more hideous its enemy must be! No matter what the story is behind this drawing, it was just a doodle that sprung to life in my sketchbook.
I often like to draw things that look like they are in the middle of a story. Hopefully this one makes you wonder where he is from, why is he running, and where he is going. Or maybe its not even a he!!! YOU get to write his or her story in your own imagination.
You know, there’s nothing like holding a palette full of paint in one hand and twirling a brush with panache in the other to really make one truly feel alive.
Back in 2004 I was contemplating getting into using the watercolor medium. For many years I created illustrations with colored pencil and gouache, an opaque water based paint. Watercolor paint started catching my eye to the point of inspiring me to give it a try. But what would be a worthy image on which to test this new medium? The first piece to drip out of my brush involved an alligator and a bunny rabbit, but then….. MONSTERS!
In the classic Frankenstein movie with Boris Karloff, there is a moment when this big lumbering beast comes across a little girl. As an audience, you know what this behemoth is capable of, and the little girl who is none the wiser just sees a potential playmate. What if some monsters got snagged into playtime with a fearless little girl who just would not let them go? Instead, she is the monster, and they are the victims. With that backstory in mind, I created this piece which turned out to be the launch of my interest in fun monster art:
Some of you may have seen the above painting on my website, but what you have NOT seen before are some of the preliminary sketches from my sketchbook that were drawn in the quest for just the right combination of monsters to be tormented by this situation. An illustration doesn’t just fall into place with the first critters that come to mind. Below are a few beasties that didn’t make the cut:
The six fellas above were just a few of the dozen and a half heads that came out of my pencil. Three faces were needed, and three faces were found, but not all in a row. Scattered amongst the many pages of exploratory monster drawings were the three you see below – the three that made it into the final painting:
I like drawing bears, and every once in awhile I’ll take up a page or two of my sketchbook to doodle more versions of the fuzzy fellas. I don’t know what it is about them, really. They seem so huggable until you come across one in person, especially if you get between a momma and her young. Come to think of it, momma-in-law bears probably aren’t so great either. It’s not that they maul you with their claws, but the emotional mauling they can inflict will really do a number on your psyche. And they always seem to overstay their welcome.
If you like these critters, feel free to CLICK HERE to see a previous post from when I went bear happy.
I was thumbing through my most recent sketchbook and thought that perhaps you might enjoy this little blue pencil/inked sketch of a mean ol’ pirate face. He’s so bad to the bone that he comes complete with a skull scrimshawed on his tooth.
The title of this piece is “Arrrrrrr!” You may ask yourself, “why seven ‘r’s’?” Answer? Because seven are much more intimidating than six.
Everyone loves a good ol’ fashioned singing cowboy. That is, unless he don’t sing too good…
I was just doodling in my sketchbook the other day, and started doing the face of what became the cowboy. Often when I grab that sketchbook, I don’t quite know what will pop out. So, once the hat was added, the rest just came forth, after which I whipped out my brush pen and put a nice dark line on the whole thing.