Frank Frazetta RIP

One of my all time favorite artists passed away today...Rest In Peace, Frank

THE HOBBIT by TOVE JANSSON

When I was young my Mom took a course on European Children's Literature, and one of the books she gave me from the course to read was Tove Jasson's FINN FAMILY MOOMINTROLL. I loved it, reading it many times over, and I've always had a warm spot in my heart for the characters and for the beautiful illustrations...


I was delighted to discover that DRAWN has posted a link to JANSSON'S illustrations for THE HOBBIT, which I was previously unaware of....ENJOY!

THE NEW GOJIRA?

/Film has posted what MIGHT be the new design for the upcoming American GODZILLA film...
I think it looks pretty cool and honors the traditional design history, but it's missing something...'character' maybe? That said, Godzilla should be fearsome, unsettling and primal, so maybe stripping the personality is the way to go for the reboot..

HYENA DEMON

This is a commision I just finished based on the Hyena Demon from ABE SAPIEN: DRUMS OF THE DEAD...

GODZILLA MODE

These are some sketches of GODZILLA that I did during the WonderCon...

BIRTHDAY CARD

My pal Josh Cooley made this awesome Birthday Card for me yesterday...i just had to share it...

THE GODZILLAS THAT WEREN'T

Believe it or not, therer were two American GODZILLA projects that never quite made it out of the gate and were, for monetary reasons and more, never completed or realized...


In 1983 a GODZILLA 3-D project was developed by Steve Minor, with a script by cult favorite, FRED DEKKER ( Monster Squad, House ), and Concept Art and Storyboards by the legendary WILLIAM STOUT...
more on the Plot details and project history HERE.




Years later, JAN De BONT, hot off the success of SPEED, was slated to do GODZILLA..one HUGE ballooning budget later ( rumored @ 150+ million in early 1990's dollars ), the Studio pulled the plug...Stan Winston Studios was doing the creature work and G would battle some monster called Gryphon ( seen below in an early Carlos Huante design ):



...and although it wasn't produced for a specific Film project, I like this interpretation of Godzilla by sculptor Tony McVey:

WORTHY FOR REBOOT

VARIETY reports that a GODZILLA reboot is finally coming to fruition...COUNT ME IN!

GRASSROOTS

At long last, the CREATOR-CON effort is underway..!

FLASHBACK

I was browsing the always enjoyable MONSTER BRAINS blog the other day when I stumbled across an image that made my heart skip a beat...this is the cover of a book I had as a kid called HOW TO DRAW MONSTERS, a book I haven't laid eyes on or really thought about at all since then...
Using the power of the INTERWEBS, I quickly tracked down a used ( like new ) copy and am now eagerly awaiting it's arrival in my mailbox. I can't for the life of me remember any specifics about what lay on the pages within, but I'm excited to take a trip down memory lane....I'll report my findings in the near future-

EMERALD CITY

I'll be exhibiting at the EMERALD CITY COMICON in Seattle this Saturday and Sunday. I'll be at Booth # 606 with my pals Ted Mathot and Jamie Baker, so if you're in the area come on by and say HELLO!

PIPELORD

Here is a drawing of PIPELORD for an upcoming charity auction...I hope to resume more frequent posting soon-thanks for your patience!

NEW MONSTER PAINTINGS

I've finally wrapped up work on a new batch of monster paintings !!

These are for the upcoming ROOT BRANCH Winter Art Exhibit  at MAVERIX STUDIOS...some of these beasts have been lingering in my studio in an unfinished state for well over a year, so it feels really, REALLY good to finish them!  

CTN Animation Expo

I'll be attending the CTN Animation Expo this weekend, doing some LIVE monster-drawing demonstrations as well as participating in a PIXAR Story Panel.  If you are in the LA/Burbank area and you are a fan of Animation, this might be the show for you.  My schedule is as follows:

-Demo #1 : Friday @ 6pm

-PIXAR Story Panel : Saturday @ 12pm

-Demo #2 :Sunday @ 10am

 

There are many other Demos, Speakers, Panels and Screenings listed on the CTNX  site...

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...