Anatomy Of Japanese Folk Monsters

I just can't get enough of these ANATOMICAL DRAWINGS of various monsters from Japanese Folklore.  These are from a book called YOKAI DAIZUKAI by manga artist Shigeru Mizuki. I want this book!!!

ILLUSTRATED HORROR FILM POSTERS

These days, illustrated film posters are increasingly rare. So, in celebration of this diminishing art form, here's a GREAT collection of 100 illustrated posters for horror films: PART ONE and PART TWO.

APE 2009

Here's an awesome Polish PLANET OF THE APES poster to celebrate this weekend's convention, APE 2009-! If you've never been the the ALTERNATIVE PRESS EXPO before, it's definitely worth a look. Ted and I will be situated at Table #267-!!

Corben Ape Thing

Love this little Richard Corben panel from an 1974 TARZAN strip he did...

BIZARRE GELATINOUS CREATURE

"...not good for eating."

even more ERAGON creeps...

more ERAGON creeps...

Some of the development drawings that preceded the artwork from my earlier ERAGON post...

CEREBUS THE BARBARIAN

Here's a recently finished commision based on Dave Sim's CEREBUS THE AARDVARK...it was especially fun to do since i'd never really drawn a finished CEREBUS piece before-!

VACATION

   I will be on vacation in KAUAI until September 16th.  I can't quite decide which of these KONG faces better describes the feeling ...

SITHISIS: Visual Development

Back in 2004-2005,  I did a 14 page story for STAR WARS: VISIONARIES, a graphic novel designed and created with fellow artists from the EPISODE III Art Department.  We were given more or less free rein to do our own take on our favorite Star Wars characters.  With DARK HORSE set to publish, and LUCASFILM'S blessing, we all set out to create our stories. 

 

I wanted to do a piece centered on the Dark Lord of the Sith, PALPATINE, and I wanted it to give the reader a glimpse of some arcane and secret Sith Ritual. 

 I had lots of fun coming up with ideas and possibilities,  generating a bunch of sketches and designs.  I was even able to arrange a phone interview with Ian McDiarmid, who portrayed Emperor Palpatine in the films, and discuss with him some of his impressions and ideas he had about the character.  He was very gracious and insightful, and complimentary of my approach and the drawings I'd done...

ERAGON creeps

Here are some creature designs I did for the feature film adaptation of the popular fantasy novel, ERAGON back in 2005...I got called in specifically to take a pass at the RA'ZAC, ringwraith-like meanies who pursue the boy hero.  The major brief from director Stefen Fangmeier was to avoid visual parallels to the Lord of the Rings villains, so I took them in another direction.  This was a fun bit of design work, and the last bit of pure freelance that I did before I started work on WALL-E in the beginning of 2005...

Belated COMIC CON Photos pt.2

This guy gets the prize for the most chilling JOKER costume...scared me right out of focus....

Special E-VILLE Agent Anita Coulter showcases some product with the help of Wonder Woman and Green Lantern...

E-VILLE Booth crew in effect...Ted,  Nina and Stephan help make the magic happen.

Now there's some dedication...Wonder Twin Powers-ACTIVATE!  

ARRRRRR....

This dude gets my vote for Best CON Tee-Shirt.

Belated COMIC-CON Photos

Since  returning from this years Comic-Con, I've been up to the gills in work, so I haven't had a chance to post any photos from the show....here's a sample of some memorable moments:

Here's our booth...Ted at the ready...

The Convention floor was pretty much this crowded all 5 days.  An absolute sea of humanity...

Fantastic New School and Old School TRANSFORMERS costumes!  Bumblebee had a huge mob of fans wherever he went...

POTA crew...awesome!

I've seen more and more elaborate and groovy  STEAMPUNK related costumes in recent years...these two were a couple standouts...

Once again, Jamie and Rhode knock it out of the park as the DISCIPLES OF COMIC BOT!!

   And finally, there was this crazy Furry-Squirrel running around and looking creepy.  I had to get a shot...according to reports I read later, this might actually have been JOHNNY DEPP, roaming the CON floor undercover.  Seriously?...

COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL

It's almost time for the 40th edition of the COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL!

I've been attending this show on a regular basis since the late seventies, but it still never ceases to amaze me...

   You'll be able to find me, along with the mighty TED MATHOT, at Booth # 1215...on Row #12 towards the front 1/3 of the building.  We're listed as : E-VILLE/DEREKMONSTER/ROSE &ISABEL.

  In addition to my brand new DEREKMONSTER ANNUAL 2009, I'll have last year's ANNUAL, along with my GNOMON DVD and original artwork for sale.  The book will also be available for sale on this blog, however we won't be fulfilling any orders until after the CON...

See you in San Diego!

COVER

CRUNCH TIME!

Just a few days left before the DEREKMONSTER ANNUAL 2009 goes off to the printer...I'm finalizing layout now, adding last minute color tweaks and trying to finish the cover, which has been a real challenge... 

   There will be 32 FULL COLOR monsters in the center of the book this time around, distinguishing it from previous editions... 

  The book should be hot off the press just in time to debut at the 40th Annual COMIC CON INTERNATIONAL in San Diego next month! 

 

 

MONSTER BRAINS

      Somehow I missed this awesome blog run by Aeron Alfrey..

   MONSTER BRAINS has been going strong since 2006 and it's filled to the brim with  all kinds of fantastic monster artwork...tons of vintage and contemporary stuff...what a treasure trove for monster lovers!

   it's going to take me a while to sift through all of the archives there, but Ican't wait to dig in...!

California Academy Of Sciences

   I finally got a chance to visit the newly remodeled and revitalized CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES in Golden Gate Park over the weekend....and it was great!  My mom was up visiting from San Diego and she joined Nina and I as we finally made the effort to check out the new Museum.  The crowds were reasonable ( apparently it's been an INSANE wait to get in for months and months... ) The architecture and design of the place struck us right away...very modern, green, and cool. 

 Right away we saw the resident Albino Alligator who lives in a big swamp pit there along with giant snapping turtles.  Wandering through the beautifully designed and multi-leveled RAINFOREST was particularly exciting.

 In it, one is surrounded by butterflies, birds and amphibians of all sorts...it had a very magical and ethereal effect, although the heat and humidity combined with the crowds made it a little more challenging...

  We cooled off,  though,  as we descended beneath the enclosure into a vast web of aquariums, which were populated by all kinds of strange fishes, amphibians and reptiles...tons of great reference for my upcoming DerekMonster Annual 2009... 

  Afterwards, we climbed to the beautiful Living Roof and enjoyed the views of the park and of the neighboring and recently rebuilt De Young Museum...

  The Academy is a great spot to visit if you're in the Bay Area, and it was well worth the $25 price of admission....I'll be going back there for sure.

1906 Anniversary Photos and Event!

Cool item from SFGATE today...On the eve of the 103rd anniversary of the Great Earthquake and Fires of 1906, some RARE PHOTOS have been released...

  And if you're in San Francisco this Saturday, you can gather at a 1906 themed celebration at the CASTRO THEATER, featuring live Barbary Coast Music and culminating in a screening of the 1936 classic SAN FRANCISCO!

The WARREN Influence

   I spent a good deal of my childhood reading and enjoying the magazines of WARREN PUBLISHING.  In CREEPY and EERIE  I found and  devoured fantastic and macabre horror and monster stories.  My first ever magazine subscription was to FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND, which, under the guidance of the late, great Forrest J. Ackerman, introduced me to a wealth of genre movies.  Many of the FMOF covers were painted by the amazing Basil Gogos, who was a huge influence that fed my early desire to learn how to paint. 

  Click HERE to enjoy a massive treasure trove of cover artwork from the Warren Magazines, which includes many pieces by two of my other painting heroes, Frank Frazetta and Richard Corben ...

Japanese Monster Mummies

Check out this survey of the MUMMIFIED MONSTER REMAINS of demons, mermaids, kappa, tengu,  and other japanese creatures that are on display throughout Japan....

Thanks to BKO for bringing this to my attention, and to the Pink Tentacle for continuing to post so much cool stuff...!

Where The Wild Things Are

One of my favorite books growing up was WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, the beloved children's classic by Maurice Sendak.

  I couldn't be more excited about the upcoming film adaptation by Spike Jonez...especially in light of the images that have been released along with this magical TRAILER.  

EMERALD CITY CON: APRIL 4-5

Convention Season keeps on rolling as we exhibit in Seattle this weekend for the EMERALD CITY COMICON!!  

Ted Mathot and I will be there with our Books,  DVD's and Original Art...so come on by and say hello if you're in the area! Booth # 606

WONDER-CON 2009

   Convention Season is upon us!  If you are in San Francisco at the Wonder-Con, come on by and visit the E-VILLE PRESS Booth (# 920)...Ted Mathot and I will be there with our books, DVD's and original artwork...See you there!

Kaiju Anatomy

How cool is this...Anatomical drawings of GIANT MONSTERS!!

Check out more at the Pink Tentacle and make sure to click through to modern_fred's Flickr set...tons of great images.

I'll have another post soon about the influence the DAIKAIJU have had on me...

Love These Monster Stamps!

  These are my new favorite stamps, by Bay Area artist Adam McCauley...Well Done!

Go Chargers!!

Back To Work...

1906 is rumbling....

New Year Monster

Happy 2009 Everyone....

HOLIDAY READING

 THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck

    I recently finished reading THE GRAPES OF WRATH, another amazing book by John Steinbeck.  Over the last year or so, I've read a number of his books for the first time, delighting in the discovery that somehow I hadn't been required to read them in school. I feel lucky, as no author that I've read in  years comes close to Steinbeck for managing such incredible storytelling so consistently. 

    While  THE GRAPES OF WRATH joins EAST OF EDEN and OF MICE AND MEN as my favorite of his works, I still highly recommend pursuing other Steinbeck volumes, such as the Monterey themed CANNERY ROW, SWEET THURSDAY, and TORTILLA FLAT.  

    For those interested in lifting the curtain to witness Steibeck's process, I'd also HIGHLY recommend checking out JOURNAL OF A NOVEL: The EAST OF EDEN Letters.

   

   TEATRO GROTTESCO by Thomas Ligotti

   A great recent discovery...and completely by accident too!  Ligotti's Weird Fiction evokes elements of H.P.Lovecraft and Franz Kafka while maintaining a very distinctive voice.  This book is a good Ligotti-Primer, collecting some genuinely creepy and disturbing stories...I loved it and have sought after some of Ligotti's harder to find collections.

   DARK GODS by T.E.D Klein

   I got this book after I'd read a creepy story called  "THE EVENTS AT POROTH FARM", in a collection of American Supernatural Fiction.

   T.E.D. Klein, a modern practitioner of the "Lovecraftian Form", wrote very few novellas and the four collected in DARK GODS are really effective and  nearly as enjoyable as "THE EVENTS AT POROTH FARM".  Interestingly,  T.E.D. Klein greatly expanded this story for his novel,  "THE CEREMONIES".  For me, though, the longer form didn't help.  It bogs down in the pacing and  lessens the impact of the novella.  Maybe these kinds of creepy tales fare better in the Short form...

Here are some other books in my On-Deck Circle:

BAMBI Vs. GODZILLA by David Mamet 

MONEYBALL by Michael Lewis

SHUTTER ISLAND  by Dennis Lehane