ADVANCED VISUAL STORYTELLING

   I'll be teaching an upcoming class at the Animation Collaborative on ADVANCED VISUAL STORYTELLING starting on September 23rd.  It will be a 12 Week Intensive course... there are a few seats left, so if you are interested, click HERE-!

Toy Story THAT TIME FORGOT

   I will be at Comic-Con International on a PANEL to introduce the upcoming TV Special: TOY STORY THAT TIME FORGOT, which I have been working on as HEAD OF STORY for the last 2 years-!


   More information on the show is coming soon…meanwhile please enjoy this totally awesome Mike Mignola exclusive produced for the show.

NEW CONTACT

Friends:

  I have been in a version of the BERMUDA TRIANGLE for awhile, and my Contact Info has been limited and out of date.  I wanted to post a NEW email address through which you can reach me with any questions, comments, inquiries or stories :

derekmonster8@gmail.com


I'm aiming to get back into some regular posting here on the blog soon, so thanks for your patience!

GODZILLA Teaser Poster

awesome:

wish i could be @ San Diego Comic Con just for this panel-!

STAR WARS STORYBOARDS

I was pleased to find out that a new book collecting previously unpublished Storyboards from the STAR WARS PREQUEL TRILOGY was being released by LucasFilm.  I hadn't expected that any of this material would ever see the light of day, as Storyboards are often excluded from typical 'Art Of' books.

    Fortunately, our work had a champion in author J. W. Rinzler, who conceived and pushed for this edition. My Story contribution was entirely on EPISODE III, and much of the my artwork fills the last 60 pages of the book-!

  The book is also chock full of great Story material by Iain McCaig, Ed Natividad, Benton Jew, Rodolfo Damaggio, Brian Kalin O'Connell, and more...CHECK IT-!

RAY HARRYHAUSEN - R.I.P.

   So many heroes have been passing away of late, but few have had a more powerful impact on who I am as an artist and designer as the legendary RAY HARRYHAUSEN.  When fans,  students, or colleagues ask me who have had the most influence on my work, Ray usually tops the list.

    It is impossible to SUMMARIZE the scope and depth of Ray's contribution to Filmmaking, Visual Effects, Animation and Storytelling.  His influence was SO pervasive, that it becomes difficult to identify any Filmmakers of the last half century who haven't been impacted by Ray's work.

  Beyond all of his filmic achievements and innovations, it is in his ICONIC Creature Design and Animation that my heart connected with him.  His manifestation of character and pathos in his creations was staggering, and few have matched his delicate touch and sense of wonder.  I asked him once HOW he got so much emotional anguish out of his creatures ( especially in their death throes ), and he stated that he felt that it was only when he put real EMOTION and EMPATHY into his creation that it transformed from merely a 'Monster' to a 'Creature'  In all my life, I'd never considered that distinction...

 I will always have tremendous gratitude that I had the opportunity to meet with him on two occasions ( the first time pictured above ), and to talk to him about our mutual passion.

  I'll miss you Ray.

BLOWN OUT

 Back in the days when I worked in the ILM Art Dept, the phrase "BLOWN OUT" would be used from time to time to describe a particularly cool, awesome, thrilling, or generally over-the-top kind of thing...today's, "BLOWN OUT" nod goes to this WonderCon Promo Reel for the upcoming Kaiju-Robot-Lovefest, PACIFIC RIM-!

ROGER EBERT R.I.P.

 

 We lost a giant today, the hugely influential Critic and Writer, ROGER EBERT passed away at 70.  I grew up watching Siskel and Ebert review movies on the PBS show SNEAK PREVIEWS as well as subsequent programs, including AT THE MOVIES...and I sort of feel like I've lost a family member.
   I think I always related more to Ebert's take on the films ( Gene tended to be a bit too tightly wound, IMO ),  and I'll never forget the good impression Ebert's rave about EVIL DEAD 2 left on me. I couldn't find that clip online, so I'm posting S&E's review of ALIENS instead, in memoriam.

KAIJU FOOTPRINTS

I like the feeling of this new still from the upoming Kaiju vs. Robot film, PACIFIC RIM...and it reminds me of one of my faovrite shots from the 1954 classic GOJIRA:

Incidentally, Gareth Edward's remake of GODZILLA started shooting this week in Vancouver, BC....looks like it's going to be an interesting year for GIANT monsters!

BRADBURY: The Story of a Writer

Here's a cool TV special from 1963 about RAY BRADBURY ( thanks to BMcD )

RAY BRADBURY R.I.P.

one of the giants of the field has passed on...

  

i still have this paperback copy of DINOSAUR TALES,  probably the most personally influential of Ray Bradbury's collections...i read and reread it over it over and over as a kid, inspired not only by Ray's wonderful writing, ( including the seminal SOUND OF THUNDER ), but by the beautiful illustrations by the likes of  Stout, Steranko and Moebius...

interview on the KARL SHOW! (UPDATED)

UPDATE:  The full KARL SHOW! interview is now posted...check it out HERE

i'll be doing a 2 hour interview (w/ some music, too) with my friend Jason Lamb tonight on his Portland Radio Authority program, THE KARL SHOW! (starring jason) from 8-10om PST...tune in if you can, although i'll understand if you are watching THE AVENGERS instead.

more NEW MONSTERS

more new MONSTER drawings for EMERALD CITY this weekend

New MONSTERS

i've done a whole new batch of original MONSTER drawings for EMERALD CITY this weekend, where I'll be exhibiting with my pals TED and JAMIE...hope to see you there!

more JOHN CARTER artwork

some more early development artwork I did for JOHN CARTER:

go see JOHN CARTER-!

100 years since it was first published, and after a long and tortured road through the Hollywood development system spanning nearly 70 years, JOHN CARTER is finally in theaters. I started working on THIS version over 4 years ago, contributing Visual Development art and Storyboards...

Here's some of my early development artwork of Tharks, Woola, and the White Apes ( you can find some of these and more in the ART OF book )

Go see it!

more Kaiju anatomy

i never get tired of Kaiju-related anatomical artwork ( thanks again monsterbrains )

TINTIN meets LOVECRAFT part 2

I just love these fantastic HPL/TINTIN Book Cover Illustrations from artist Murray Groat:

TR!CKSTER SYMPOSIA

TICKETS have gone on sale for the TR!CKSTER SYMPOSIA series. These are a series of in depth workshops and discussions taking place during TR!CKSTER. Some amazing talent is lined up, including Mike Mignola, Jill Thompson, Skottie Young, Doug TenNapel, Scott Morse, Jamie Baker and Ted Mathot. As if that wasn't exciting enough, Brian McDonald will be doing a compact version of INVISIBLE INK.

I'm also happy to report that I will be participating in 2 of the SYMPOSIA: "VISUAL STORYTELLING IN COMICS AND FILM", and "WORLD-BUILDING and the IMMACULATE REALITY"

TR!CKSTER

TR!CKSTER is coming...

SET

My piece for the upcoming TR!CKSTER Project...

ONE-Benefit Art Auction-THIS SATURDAY

MAVERIX STUDIOS ART AUTION AND BENEFIT FOR JAPAN RELIEF is this Saturday- April 2 · 7:00pm - 10:00pm @ The New People 1746 Post Street San Francisco, CA 94115 (415) 525-8630

We are pre-registering all potential bidders in order to cut down on the "waiting in line" time at the event. If you plan to bid on some of the 50+ amazing pieces (http://maverixstudios.blogspot.com), please send the following info to Xiaojing at PUREXJ@GMAIL.COM

First & last name
Billing address
Email
Phone

Once you are registered, you will receive a BIDDER NUMBER to use for the auction. All information will remain CONFIDENTIAL.