Illustration Friday: Under The Sea

The Shark as portrayed by Bruce the Shark in Steven Spielberg's 1975 blockbuster "Jaws"

This week's Illustration Friday is "Under the Sea," and what better monster could I possibly have done?

Steven Spielberg's film (based on Peter Benchley's book of the same name) had a HUGE influence on me as a kid. I can still remember vividly the first time I saw it, My parents dropped my sister and I off at a little theatre in Brooklyn, Michigan so we could see it. And I don't think I have jumped higher to this day then I did when the body pops out at Hooper while he investigates the capsized boat. What a beautiful movie, I still rate it as one of my all time favorites.

A few years later I would take my father's boombox to the beach and blare John Williams' "Jaws" soundtrack and watch how many people would actualy get out of the water, that is until I was asked to leave.

This image is dedicated to my beautiful wife!

This is my third entry into Illustration Friday.

New visitors, please visit my other work here and feel free to leave comments.

Nightmare Demon #1

Nightmare Demon #1 from John Landis' 1981 classic "An American Werewolf in London."

I have always loved Rick Baker's designs for this film, and I still feel that the nazi monsters that Baker created for the classic nightmare sequence were strong enough that they could have easily been the main creatures in their own film.

"Have you tried talking to a corpse? It's boring."

A (Very) Brief Hiatus!

Unfortunately I most likely won't be posting any new art for the next couple of days, because I am working on a couple of pieces for the next issue of Scary Monsters Magazine and my deadline is lurking ever closer...

Please be sure to come back, as there will be many more monsters soon!

In the meantime I will try to post a little something each day to keep you entertained.

Here is today's treat.

What Monster Kid doesn't love a good puzzle?
(It might take a minute or two to load)

Mrs. Slydes

Mrs. Slydes as portrayed by Leona Anderson in William Castle's 1959 masterpiece "House on Haunted Hill."

I know its silly, but this scene always gives me the chills no matter how many times I watch the film. I wish I could go back and experience William Castle's work completely unaware of the gimmicks. What a blast that must have been.

I'm not 100% happy with this, but I think it has taken me more time than any other portrait so far and frankly I'm sick of looking at it...

Enjoy!

Goggle-Eyes

Goggle-Eyes designed by Phill Tippett for George Lucas' 1977 classic "Star Wars."

What can I say that hasn't already been said? The Mos Eisley cantina scene blew my young monster kid mind. I think at that point it was the largest scale monster scene I had ever seen, everywhere you looked there was a new one. And designs by ILM & Phill Tippett, and Rick Baker. Simply amazing stuff.

Pee-Money requested I do some Cantina aliens, and I guarantee there will be more in the future.

Illustration Fridays: Robot

Ro-Man as portrayed by George Barrows in Phil Tucker's notorious 1953 classic "Robot Monster"

With a name like "Robot Monster" how could you possibly go wrong?

George Barrows was lucky enough to be cast as Ro-Man partially because he owned his own gorilla suit. He also later portrayed a gorilla in an episode of "The Beverly Hillbillies".

Later in life he achieved broader success in such notable roles as Mack the dockworker in 1958's "Frankenstein's Daughter" as well as Ticket purchaser in 1979's "The Frisco Kid."

This is my second entry into Illustration Friday.

New visitors, please visit my other work here and feel free to leave comments.

And be sure to check out my son's entry here.

Farmer Vincent Smith

Farmer Vincent Smith as portrayed by Rory Calhoun in 1980's "Motel Hell" Directed by Kevin Connor.

"There's too many people in the world and not enough food. Now this takes care of both problems at the same time."

Farmer Vincent was requested by Monica.

Norman Bates

Norman Bates as portrayed by Anthony Perkins in Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 masterpiece "Psycho."

I love everything about this film, from Saul Bass' opening credits, to the last note of Bernard Herrmann's score.

I was lucky enough to see "Psycho" spoiler free. When I was in junior high I went to stay the weekend with my sister at college. And we went to see a double feature with a bunch of her friends. The two movies in question were David Lynch's "Eraserhead" and Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho." That night of movie going had a profound impact on my young mind that was second only to the first time I saw the original "Star Wars."

On a side note, one interesting piece of trivia I learned while researching this portrait: "Psycho" was the first film to show a toilet being flushed onscreen.

Zita's Demonic 'Do

Recently my wife and I were watching the 1932 version of "The Mummy" starring Boris Karloff and Zita Johann, when Kay gasped out. "My God, look at her hair." I looked up from my computer and was actually shocked to see the mark of the beast in Zita Johann's hair. I have no idea how many times I have watched "The Mummy" but I never noticed this before...

I took to the inter-webs hoping to find more information, wether it was strictly a happy accident, or maybe it was snuck in there by Director Karl Freund or possibly Jack Pierce. It's also a well known that Zita had a strong belief in the occult, maybe she was the culprit!

But saddly, I came up empty handed.

I didn't find out anything about her hair, but I did discover that the UPC number for "The Mummy" on VHS is 999:2860 and that the original DVD release happened in 1999 surly there must be some dark work afoot!

You be the judge!

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Sleestak

The Sleestaks from Sid & Marty Kroft's "Land of the Lost" used to terrify me when I was a wee monster kid.

I used to watch LOTL religiously. I have many fond memories of watching it at my Grandma's house on an old black & white tv. The Sleestaks were deffinatly a favorite feature of the show, I always felt that they had to be distant cousins to "The Creature from the Black Lagoon."

Yet another request by Kay
(Hey just where the hell are my Cthulhu wings anyway?)

Caesar

This started life out as a portrait of Caesar as portrayed by Roddy McDowall in 1973's "Battle for the Planet of the Apes"

Planet of the Apes was another huge influence on me, one of my favorite Christmas memories is of a time when my cousin and I both got planet of the apes masks and guns, and we spent the rest of the day keeping our sisters tied to chairs, and guarding our human slaves.

I'm not sure it works as a portrait of Caesar, but I'm happy with it if I think of it as a generic ape.

The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man

From 1984's "Ghostbusters" directed by Ivan Reitman.

"Ghostbusters" was a HUGE influence on me as a kid. My good friend Jason Baker and I would spend all summer building props and recreating key moments from the film on super 8. Unfortunately I lost contact with Jason years and years ago, and he kept all the film, so I can't post any samples, but I'd love to see them again.

The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man was requested by Kay, who still owes me a pair of Cthulhu wings!

I also did the image in Black & White, I had a hard time deciding which to post, you can see it here.

King Kong

The Eighth Wonder of the World!

From Merian C. Cooper's 1933 masterpiece.

For me as a kid this was it, you couldn't possibly find a cooler Monster than King Kong, sure I loved them all, Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolfman, you name it... but Kong was the King.

And Willis O'Brien's Kong is by far still the best (and for me the only) Kong. Peter Jackson's bombastic remake didn't quite hit that chord I had been hoping it was going to hit.

I recently had a conversation with my good friend John Rozum and we were dissecting what worked, and what didn't in Jackson's epic retelling. And I think I hit upon exactly why Jackson's version didn't have the impact we had all been hoping it would. The problem with his version is that Kong is just a giant ape, sure he's huge, but at the end of the day that's all he is. Where as Willis O'Brien's Kong was an ape MONSTER.

He was much more then just a big monkey.

He was (and always will be) special.

Famous Monster Movie Art of Basil Gogos

I just got this beautiful book and if you even remotely interested in Monster Art then you owe it to yourself to pick this up.

Basil Gogos is best known for his paintings that graced the covers of Forest Ackerman's "Famous Monsters of Filmland" magazine. And the main focus of this book is his amazing Monster Art, but the book also presents several of Basil's wonderful paintings he did for Men's Adventure magazines.

Your bookshelf and/or coffee table are aching for this, you can end their pain by ordering it here.

Jack Skellington

From Henry Selick's 1993 film "The Nightmare Before Christmas"

A lot of people are under the misconception that Tim Burton directed this film, he did not. He wrote it and created the character designs, but it was Henry Selick who directed.

This has to be one of my all time favorite films, I usually end up watching twice a year, Once at Halloween and again at Christmas. According to Ain't It Cool News Henry Selick is currently set to animate Alan Snow's "Here There Be Monsters" which should be quite a treat.

Bt the way, this portrait is for Conor.

The Saucer Men

From 1957's "Invasion of the Saucer Men" directed by Edward L. Cahn

The Saucer Men, creatures so vile they kill a man with alcohol.

I think the aliens designed by the legendary Paul Blaisdell for this film are probably my favorite aliens ever. This film also marks Bob Burns intro to the scene.

Unfortunately this film is still M.I.A. on DVD

Fats the Dummy

From Richard Attenborough's 1978 film "Magic" staring Anthony Hopkins as Corky and Fats the Dummy.

I saw this movie when I was but a wee lad, back when it was on HBO every other day, and it scared the crap outta me. I have been freaked out by ventriloquists and their dummies ever since.

"Magic" is coming out on DVD later this month, I really hope it holds up.

The Thing

From 1951's Howard Hawks/Christian Nyby classic "The Thing From Another Planet."

James Arness (who later became famous as Sheriff Matt Dillon on TV's Gunsmoke) was an unknown actor when he was cast as The Thing.

It has been documented that Arness reported to the set two months prior to filming for the development of the make-up design, which took two hours each day to apply. According to AMC TV, makeup artist Lee Greenway went through several revisions of the creature's face. He would test each one by putting the full makeup on Arness and taking him for a drive through Los Angeles. At one point, a woman in the next car screamed and fainted upon seeing the creature. Greenway "knew he had a winner" and used that face in the movie.

Despite the film's subsequent success, Arness was reportedly embarassed by his role as The Thing for the rest of his life and didn't even attend the film's premiere.

The Vampire

This was turning into a regular sausagefest, we needed a few broads in here to lighten things up!

So here is The Vampire from 1957's "Blood of Dracula" directed by Herbert L. Strock.

The Baby

The Baby from Larry Cohen's "It's Alive"

The film was released in 1974 and then re-released in 1977 with more publicity. Say what you want about the movie, But Bernard Herrmann delivered another excellent score, and Rick Baker's monster design still holds up in my book!

Inspector Dan Clay

Inspector Dan Clay as portrayed by Tor Johnson in Edward D. Wood Jr.'s classic "Plan 9 From Outer Space."

My first memory of Tor is one of absolute sheer terror. It seems silly now having seen Mr. Johnson's work, that he could actually instill genuine terror, but that's the way it happened.

When I was a kid my parents took me to the annual Jackson, MI. Jaycees Haunted House. There were the usual array of fake teethed vampires and chain rattling ghosts... But then, there was this guy in a green trench coat with two Tor Johnson heads lumbering towards me, and I don't know why, but it just totally freaked me out. My Dad says that it is the only time he has ever actually watched a human being do the Road Runner move, the one where your legs are moving but you aren't going anywhere, and that I drew blood scratching him while climbing up him for protection.

I recently found out that Tor Johnson died the exact same day my wife was born, and I am now under the belief that my wife is the reincarnation of Tor...

Between you and me it would explain a lot.

The Alien

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EDIT: I went back and worked on this image again, so what you see is not the original. Sorry to all who saw the 1st version!
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An Alien from Gene Fowler Jr.'s 1958 classic "I Married a Monster From Outer Space."

This has to be one of the most difficult things I have ever drawn, (and I'm not overly happy with how it turned out) but here it is in honor of my good friend John Rozum's article being published in Monsters From The Vault magazine.

John has written a 7 page appreciation of the film. You should be able to find the magazine at finer book stores, or it can be ordered here.

With a face like that is it any wonder they were on the verge of extension?

Sir Graves Ghastly

Sir Graves Ghastly was my Horror Host.

He was portrayed by Lawson Deming on Detroit TV from the late 60's to the early 80's.

My sister used the threat of Sir Graves to scare the crap out of me throught my childhood. I can vividly remember continuing to play in my sandbox after my Mom had called me in for dinner a few times, and having my sister came out to tell me that if I didn't come in right now that Sir Graves was going to pull me under the sand forever. Needless to say I ran screaming inside, I don't think I ever went back to that sandbox, and that's probably why to this day I spend most of my time indoors!

Be sure to check out Keith Milford's wonderful site Sir Graves Ghastly.com

The Skeleton

The Skeleton from Larry Blamire's brilliant "The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra"

Thanks go out to John Rozum for turning me on to this hillarious film. I can't wait for Larry's next opus "Trail of the Screaming Forehead"

"I sleep now!"

The Phantom

In honor of the master, Lon Chaney Sr. on his 120th birthday.

He was born on April Fool's Day, 1886, in Colorado Springs, Co.

The make-up he designed for himself in The Phantom of the Opera was an exercise in self-torture. He inserted a device in his nose that spread the nostrils and lifted the tip to produce the appearance of a naked skull. He emphasized this effect with protruding false teeth to which were attached small prongs that drew back the corners of his lips.