Rondo Awards

Hey all,
Well its that time of the year again, time to send in your choices for this year's Rondo Awards.
They have added a new write in category this year. "Artist of the Year."

Not that I have a snowball's chance, but if any of you could find the time to vote and write me into this category I would be forever grateful!

Vote Here.

I noticed that both of the Scary Monsters articles that my work was in were nominated for "Best Article" though, so I'll take that as a win! (Even though I'm sure it was aimed at the writers.)

R

Erik: The Phantom of the Opera

Lon Chaney as Erik in Rupert Julian's 1925 silent-film version of The Phantom of the Opera.

The Phantom's makeup was designed to resemble a skull. Lon Chaney attached a strip of fish skin (a thin, translucent material) to his nostrils with spirit gum, pulled it back until he got the tilt he wanted, then attached the other end of the fish skin under his bald cap. For some shots, a wire and rubber device was used, and according to cameraman Charles Van Enger, cut into his nose and caused a good deal of bleeding. Cheeks were built up using a combination of cotton and collodion. Ears were glued back and the rest was greasepaint shaded in the proper areas of the face, he also put egg membrane on his eyeballs to give them a cloudy look. The sight was said to have caused some patrons at the premiere to have fainted.

Universal Studios' sound-stage #28, where the movie was filmed, is said to be haunted. Some people believe that Lon Chaney's ghost haunts the sound-stage.

Phantom of the Opera is in the public domain, and can be downloaded for free here.

To order a limited edition signed and numbered print, please visit the store, or simply click the button below.

WANTED! More Readers Like... WILLIAM PUGMIRE!

Hey all,
I picked up the new issue of Scary Monsters last night, (Click the cover to order it from Creepy Classics) (Unfortunately I'm not in the new issue, I was supposed to do portrait of Zacherley, but I just plain ran out of time and missed the DEADline...) and while reading the letters section I found this from William Pugmire in Seattle WA.

"I appreciated Tom Triman's superb article on FRANKENSTEIN. Most of the photos were familiar, but I had a shock when I turned to page 97— I thought at first that Robert Scott's outstanding illustration was a photograph! It is magnificent, and I wish that you had reproduced it in color as your back cover. I'm going to hunt for Mr. Scott's website, where hopefully I can see the painting in color. Please let him do a cover at some future date!"

William, Thanks for your feedback; at first I was sure that my Mom must have written in! I hope you found your way here.
Unfortunately due to a slight color blindness I tend tend to do all of my work in Glorious Black and White, but, since you requested it I took the time to colorize the portrait. I hope you enjoy it!

Take care,

Rob



And be sure to stop by tomorrow for a brand new portrait!

CafePress Store Now Open!

Good News! The print shop is now back in business, and after many requests for T-Shirts and the like, I have opened a CafePress shop. Now you can get your very own ScOttRa Monster Art T-Shirt, Coffee Mug, or a Super Snazzy Wall Calendar.

Order Yours Today!

And please be sure to let me know what other products you'd like to see.

Robert E. Howard

Robert Ervin Howard (January 22, 1906 – June 11, 1936)

I became a Conan fan in 1982, I had leant a friend my copy of Norman Winski's "The Sword and the Sorcerer" a book that set my 14 year old mind a fire, filled with graphic descriptions of sex and high fantasy. In return my friend leant me his Lancer/Ace edition of Conan #1. I was enthralled by the amazing Frazetta art on the cover, and by the time I finished "Tower of the Elephant" I was addicted. I was instantly embarrassed that I had praised "Sword and the Sorcerer" so highly, here was the real deal. Later that year "Conan the Barbarian" opened at theatres and between that and the piles of "Savage Sword of Conan" I had aquired I was firmly hooked.

I beacame a Robert E. Howard fan while on vacation with my family. I don't remember the details, but we had to stop at a mall for something and I wandered into a bookstore and started looking around and stumbeled upon a book with a half naked woman lying at the feet of a powerful man dressed all in black, his pilgrim hat upon his head and sword at his side. The title was "Solomon Kane: The Hills of the Dead" by Robert E. Howard. And there right below his name it read "From the Creator of Conan." I don't know why I never thought to look for anything else by Howard before that, all I knew was that I had to have this book. When my parents finished their business and came to get me I quickly begged for the money to buy the book, and they gave in, probably to get us back on the road as quicker.

What I found in the pages of that book filled me with such wonder, as I followed Kane's quest to hunt monsters and vanquish the world of evil. I was hooked, from then on I have searched high and low for anything Howard. It's an obsession that continues to this day. I haven't made the pilgimage to Cross Plains, Texas yet, but I hope to one day soon.

To purchace a signed limited edition print please be sure to visit the store, or click the button bellow.

For more information on Robert E. Howard be sure to check out the following links:

Mike Kane has made an impressive short independent Solomon Kane film based on Howard's poem "The Return of Sir Richard Grenville." Watch it here.

Robert E. Howard.com

The Robert E. Howard Amateur Press Association

The Cimmerian

Yvonne DeCarlo

R.I.P.
1 September 1922 — 8 January 2007

You can read the sad news here.