New Work Published: Lovecraft EZine Issue # 32

Available online right now is issue 32 of the Lovecraft EZine, featuring one badass cover by Lee Copeland.   This issue also has a piece of work I created for the story "King Kane", by John Howard. 

It's a perfect blending of two of my favorite icons, Lovecraft and Citizen Kane.  As such it was as much fun to read as it was to illustrate.  Head on over and check it out.

Meantime, here's my illustration for "The Yellow Sign" by Robert Chambers from issue 30 of the EZine.  The plan is to make this one of a few dozen pieces for an illustrated version of H.P. Lovecraft's "Supernatural Horror in Literature" to be published under the AIM Comics imprint...eventually.

New Work Published: Drabblecast # 335 - To Whatever

Hooray!  It's Lovecraft month over at the Drabblecast.  All things squamous and cthonic will be celebrated throughout the month of August, with some decidedly great fiction coming down the line.
This week's offering is "To Whatever" by Shaenon Garrity, featuring an episode cover by yours truly.  This one's a lighter sort of creeping doom, paying homage to stories such as Rats in the Walls and Dreams in the Witch House.  Give it a listen.
By the way, if you get Drabblecast in a mobile podcatcher, you should know that the art, frankly, looks terrible.  Seems I didn't plan well enough for the scaling necessary for small screens.  I strongly recommend you take a look at the full-sized version, as there's a couple of nice Lovecraftian in-jokes there.

New Work Published - Lovecraft EZine # 30 - The King in Yellow Issue!

In the wake of the beautifully nihilistic TV series "True Detective", there seems to have been a renewed interest in Robert W. Chambers "The King in Yellow" and Ambrose Bierce's "An Inhabitant of Carcosa", and deservedly so.  As predecessors in weird fiction to internet darling H.P. Lovecraft, their work is deserving of much more attention, and this month, the Lovecraft EZine looks to deliver that.

To be fair, Mike Davis and his EZine were there first.  They waded deep in the swamps of weird fiction long before Mssrs. Harrelson and McConaughey ever set their toes in the water, so that dedicating an issue to "The King in Yellow" is just a natural progression for the magazine.  In the tradition of so many great past issues, they present issue # 30 - The King in Yellow Tribute Issue.

I'm always pleased to be able to contribute something to an issue of this magazine, but this time I'm proud to say that I get to tackle one of the grandmasters himself.  This issue features my illustration for the iconic tale "The Yellow Sign" by Robert W. Chambers.  This month's contribution is a creepy black and white piece depicting the disturbing watchman from Chambers's story, with a few interesting design touches.  Astute observers may be able to pick out several uses of the seal of Hastur (the "yellow sign") incorporated into the piece.
I'm also excited to be able to say that this month's illustration is the first of many to come for a planned illustrated edition of H.P. Lovecraft's "Supernatural Horror in Fiction" that I hope to release under the AIM Comics imprint within the next year (i.e. as soon as I can get the illustrations done).  I have been planning for some time to do illustrated versions of public domain works, and I can think of no better starting point than Lovecraft's essential essay on the history of horror fiction.

While you're waiting on that, go now and read Lovecraft EZine issue 30.  It's free to read online, but can be purchased in mobile and print editions.

But watch out for that yellow sign.

Oh..and meantime, here's my illustration from issue #29 for Eric Ian Steele's "The Groaner in the Glen".

New Print Available: Making the Cut!

For anyone who's interested, my art for the cover of "Making the Cut" from Lovecraft EZine is now available as a print and on several other products via my DeviantArt page.  Go check it out, won't you?

New Print Available: Cthulhu!

Now available on my DeviantArt story is my interpretation and portrait of Great Cthulhu himself.  Reworked slightly from its earlier versions used by the Lovecraft eZine, I will be selling copies of this print at East Coast Comics Expo in May.  If you don't want to wait, you can get Lovecraft's baddie in all his squiddy goodness in a variety of sizes and formats through my DeviantArt page.

Grab one now and maybe...just maybe....Cthulhu will devour your soul last*.  No promises. 

*Offer not valid in R'lyeh or affiliated Dreamlands.  Offer not open to cultists, wizards or any member of the Whateley family.  Artist assumes no responsibility for the disposition of your eternal soul, the likelihood of being devoured by squid-headed bat-dragons from beneath the ocean, or night-gaunts.  If after purchasing, you find that sleeping abnormalities wake to resurgent life, and blasphemously surviving nightmares squirm and splash out of their black lairs to newer and wider conquests, consult a doctor.  For all the good it will do.

New Work Published: Lovecraft EZine #28

Available online right now is issue # 28 of the Lovecraft EZine.  This one's a bit of special issue, in that it's a tribute to Lovecraftian author Willum H. Pugmire.  Pugmire is an author and personality who has been active in the genre since the early 70's.  From Wikipedia:

"Pugmire is a self-proclaimed eccentric recluse, "the Queen of Eldritch Horror, "^[13] as well as a self-identified "punk rock queen and street transvestite".^[9] He has worked in various theatrical capacities, sometimes appearing at parties as characters including 'Count Pugsly', a vampire.^[14] In the documentary film, The AckerMonster Chronicles!, about Forrest J Ackerman, Pugmire describes how he was influenced by Ackerman's magazine, Famous Monsters of Filmland and shows the audience the issue in which his photo appears in 'Count Pugsly' makeup."

 My piece for this current issue uses that "Count Pugsly" photo as a springboard to illustrate a poem by none other than Jessica Amanda Salmonson, an author whom I've long admired, and whose work I am thrilled to have a chance to decorate with my doodlings.  

Head over to the 'zine's page to read the current issue today.  It's free to read online, and as always, will be available later in mobile and audio formats.  It's time well spent.

And in the meantime, here's my illustration from Issue #27's story "He Knew Not the Month Was October" by Zach Shepherd, possibly the only existing portrait of a kangaroo of the apocalypse.  If this one strikes your fancy, you should know it's available in various printed sizes and formats from my DeviantArt print store. Enjoy!

New Work Published - Lovecraft EZine Issue #27

Available online right now, it's the October 2013 issue of the Lovecraft EZine.  This time around, publisher Mike Davis has done his second annual tribute to the classic Lovecraftian novel "A Night in the Lonesome October" by Roger Zelazny.  All the stories published in this issue revolve around the themes and ideas developed by Zelazny in that original novel, itself based on legendary figures such as Sherlock Holmes, Jack the Ripper, Frankenstein and, of course, Lovecraft's Mythos.
This time around, I had the pleasure of providing an illustration for "He Knew Not the Month Was October" by Zach Shephard, possibly the first ever story featuring the kangaroo of the apocalypse.
The entire issue is free to read online right now, with downloadable versions for your mobile device to be available shortly.
But that's not all....if you haven't yet read Zelazny's book (and if not, why not?), there's a chance for you to get your hands on a copy.  Just comment on one of the stories and you will be entered for a chance to win a copy of your very own.  Sweet deal just for reading some great, free fiction.

While you're over there, be sure to check out Lee Copeland's cover for this issue...it's a slick Halloween-y piece that is, I think, one of the best pieces of art produced for the magazine yet.

Do yourself a favor this Halloween, and treat yourself to some inspired free fiction from the crew at Lovecraft EZine; reading that's just right for a night in the lonesome October.

Oh..and meantime, here's my contribution to the previous issue, a Chris Pratt-inspired piece for William Meikle's story "Between"....Enjoy.

New Work Published - Lovecraft EZine # 26

Up now for your reading delight is the latest issue of the Lovecraft EZine, in whichI have an illustration for the story "Between" by William Meikle.  Since William is a current Newfoundland resident, and since I am a former resident of that province, I felt inspired this time to do a slight homage to another famous Newfoundlander, artist Chris Pratt.  While Pratt's work would hardly be considered Lovecraftian, he uses a mathematical regularity in his depiction of traditional Newfoundland settings that I've always thought had a touch of the weird to it.  I've tried to bring some of that mentality into this context while still remaining true to the story.  Feel free to let me know how well (or poorly) I did.

The EZine is free to read online right now, or if you want to wait a couple of days, you can grab it in the right format for your mobile device of choice.

Meanwhile, in case you haven't seen it yet, here's my illustration from issue #24's "Less a Dream Than This we Know" by Christopher M. Cevasco, that one being a slight tribute to classic pulp illustrator Hannes Bok.
 

New Work Published: Lovecraft EZine #24

Up today is issue 24 of the Lovecraft Ezine, featuring an illustration of mine for the story "Less a Dream Than This We Know" by Christopher M. Cevasco.  This is a surprisingly touching semi-fictional, semi-biographical piece concerning the passing of the Elder One, H.P. Lovecraft himself, and is very much worth a read.

My illustration for this story was inspired by, and is clearly a homage to, Hannes Bok.  Bok is my favorite golden age pulp illustrator of Lovecraft's work, with his picture for "Pickman's Model" being an early iconic influence on my vision of monsters in general, and Lovecraft in particular.  With this piece, I tried to evoke his subtle stipple-tone style in a way that I felt complemented the story.

One of my favorite things about being an illustrator for Lovecraft Ezine, aside from how easy on the deadlines publisher Mike Davis can be, is the fact that I get to switch up my art style for each issue, and often get to play around in the sandboxes of some of the greats who have gone before me. 

Go check out issue 24 of the Ezine...it's free to read online, and will shortly be available for your mobile device.  Either way, it's worth a read.

Meantime, here's my photo-manipulation from issue 23's "Not With a Bang, But With Waves Whispering", featuring one of my family waiting at the shore....for the Old Ones to rise from the deep?  Ftaghn!

New Work Published: Lovecraft EZine # 23

After a bit of a delay, the latest Lovecraft EZine is online with a raft of new stories for your enjoyment.  Once again, I've got a bit of work featured with one of their pieces.  This time, it's not an illustration but a photo from my personal archives that I've manipulated a bit for the poem, "Not With A Bang, But Waves Whispering" by Wendy Wagner.

Last summer, I visited family in Newfoundland and took some photos with the intention that they would be used either as reference for illustration, or as illustrations themselves.  The photo attached to this story was set up with one of my daughters on the beach.  I spent a lot of time playing on these particular rocks when I was growing up, and thought it was great to be able to photograph my own kids in the same setting.

Editing this one for the magazine was simple; I just desaturated the whole thing, ran the History brush over the central figure, then duplicated the rocks to a new layer set to Multiply, applied Threshhold and made judicious use of the eraser.

As always, Lovecraft EZine is free to read online, but I heartily recommend supporting the magazine by purchasing the mobile edition for $2.99, or at least getting the podcast edition for just 99 cents.  It's well worth the money, and helps this fantastic publication survive.

Meantime, here's my illustration from issue #21's story, "Dunwich Redux" by Tim Scott.  It was a bit of a rush job, but it got the job done.  Enjoy.

New Work Not Published: Tsathoggua!

Recently, one of the podcasts I enjoy, "The Double Shadow", ran a contest in which they asked listeners to submit artistic interpretations of the fictional deity Tsathoggua, created by Clark Ashton Smith.  Tsathoggua is described as: 

"He was very squat and pot-bellied, his head was more like a monstrous toad than a deity, and his whole body was covered with an imitation of short fur, giving somehow a vague sensation of both the bat and the sloth. His sleepy lids were half-lowered over his globular eyes; and the tip of a queer tongue issued from his fat mouth."

Below is my own entry for that contest, showing the frog-like on himself, squatting above a basin of Formless Spawn in his dwelling.  The rest of the entries for this contest can be seen here, but for some reason (likely just overlooked) they did not include mine in the slideshow, so I'm posting it here for your...enjoyment?

New Work Published: Lovecraft Ezine 21

Once again, I get the honour of gracing the virtual pages of Mike Davis's wonderfully eldritch publication, The Lovecraft EZine.  This time, I'm illustrating the exellent pastiche/tribute/unofficial sequel story "Dunwich Redux" by Tim Scott.  The illo for this one is, frankly, a compendium of all the Photoshop cheats I know how to employe, including digital painting, photo manipulation, blending layers, custom brushes, and straightforward copying. I've even managed to, very subtly I think, blend in public domain work by Bosch and Brueghel.  Despite being a bit of a dog's breakfast, and a rush job too, I think it's actually rather good.

Issue 21 is available for reading on your portable device (Kindle and Nook) right now at Lovecraft EZine.   The price has just gone up to $2.99 per issue, but it's well worth it at that price, especially considering that the money also gets you a podcast version of the stories in this issue.  I strongly recommend you check it out.

In the meantime, here's my illustration from issue 19 for young author Logan Davis's story "The Amtopians".  It was a fun little piece done from Logan's concept sketch and rendered in Photoshop and ArtRage, the latter being not my favorite tool, but a fun toy to try once in a while.  Enjoy.

New Work Published: Lovecraft EZine #19

Issue 19 of the Lovecraft Ezine is up, and once again, I have contributed an illustration for your viewing pleasure.
It's a bit of a special occasion this time.  Publisher Mike Davis's young son Logan has written a story titled "Amtopians", for which Mike has had several of the contributing artists create illustrations.  It's  fun little story, and a good start a budding author.  With my own daughters beginning to branch off into creative fields, I'm all for supporting your kids' efforts like this if you have the opportunity, so it was a pleasure to create an illustration to support Logan's story.
With this one, a scene in his story reminded me of some of the covers of the schlocky horror paperbacks I used to read in the 80's and 90's, so I tried to create an illustration reminiscent of that period.  Check it out here and see how well you think I did.
Lovecraft EZine is, as always, free to read online, or you can grab a copy (with illustrations) for your mobile device for under a buck.  Either way, it's always worth a read, and just seems to be getting better with each issue.

Meantime, to whet your whistle, here's my illustration for Derek Ferreira's "A Counting Game" from last month's Roger Zelazny tribute issue.

New Work Published: Lovecraft Ezine # 18

I've been very busy lately with a series of small, private commissions that I, unfortunately, cannot run here.  Meantime, though, I've been able to squeeze in a couple of more public pieces of work that I will be sharing here as they become available.  First and foremost is the latest issue of Lovecraft Ezine, issue #18.

I've sung the praises of this magazine here before, not only for having the wisdom to accept me onboard as an illustrator, but also because I am a rabid Lovecraftian fiction fan who regularly scours the net for new sources of eldritch fiction.  The Lovecraft Ezine is, at present, one of the two best and most reliable feeders of my particular addiction (the other being Innsmouth Free Press, who haven't had the wisdom to take me on board yet, but I'll work on that...).  Editor and publisher Mike Davis works tirelessly each month to put together a package that's sure to please any fan of HPL's work, and lovers of good, dark fiction in general.  And let me tell you...this month he's outdone himself.

Issue 18 of Lovecraft Ezine is a tribute to not only Lovecraft himself, but also to another writer who, until recently, I had no idea had written anything in the Mythos....Roger Zelazny.  I've long appreciated Zelazny's "Amber" series as one of the most entertaining fantasy/sci-fi series of its time, and I've read a few short pieces by Zelazny that I thought were entertaining, but to my chagrin, that's about as far as my involvement with the writer went.  Then, recently, Mike Davis announced that this month's issue of the Ezine would be themed around Zelazny's novel, "A Night in the Lonesome October", which I had never before heard of, let alone read. 
Unable to resist the call to illustrate something related even loosely connected with such a writer, and discover some new Lovecraftiana at the same time, I grabbed a copy immediately and plowed through it as quickly as possible.  And thoroughly enjoyed it.  For anyone who hasn't read it, Zelazny's novel brings together a group of important 19th Century literary figures in a series of events closely related to the Mythos of Lovecraft's fiction, in a story that crosses genres from mystery to horror to historical fiction nimbly and enjoyably in a way that few writers can.  Here's the kicker:  the story is told from the perspective of the characters' pets.  Mainly from the viewpoint of a dog.  See, each character has an animal "familiar" - a dog, a cat, a snake, etc. - who assist their human counterparts in the proceedings of the novel, and the story told is as much, if not more, their story as it is that of the significant figures involved.
Aside from lifting the story from a pastiche of Lovecraft, this device allows Zelazny to inject a level of wry humour into what could otherwise be a very serious, almost bleak, story.  It is this unusual perspective that provides much of the raw entertainment of the story and makes it stand out from most of the other works written in the context Lovecraft created.

With this issue of the Ezine, Davis put the call out to writers to submit stories based around the events and characters in "A Night in the Lonesome October", and got back a wealth of fantastic work.  The list of authors includes authors such as William Meikle, Edward Morris, and Orrin Grey, among many others.  Eight stories and an essay in all, each illustrated by the talented crew of the Ezine, including yours truly.  Here's the thing:  the introduction for this issue is written by none other than Trent Zelazny, Roger's son and a successful author in his own right.  It's as close as the magazine could come to getting a blessing from the man himself.

This time around, I had the pleasure of illustrating "A Counting Game" by Derek Ferreira, a macabre tale featuring a certain prototypical vampire hunter and a famous detective...and a small menagerie of animals, including a vampiric bunny rabbit.  No joke. 
For this one, having recently been inspired by the art of Mark Summers in a Poe collection we had kicking around the house, I decided to try out a new style.  I'll let you decide how well I succeeded at it.

So, while I know I've urged this before, let me say with all sincerity that if you only ever try one issue of Lovecraft Ezine, it should be this one.  Not that you're likely to stop at one, what better place to start?
Remember, this thing is free to read online.  Of course, I highly recommend you do as I will do and support the magazine by purchasing a Kindle or Nook edition to read on your e-things, but that's up to you.  Either way, you should check it out, and don't forget to leave a comment, either here or at the Ezine's website, to let me or the other creators know what you think of the work.

Lovecraft Ezine #18 - perfect pre-Halloween reading.

New Work Published: Lovecraft EZine #9

Lovecraft eZine issue 9 is now available, featuring my illustration for Henrik Sandbeck Harksen's story "Just an Accountant".  This time around, I tried to evoke a little of the spirit of Virgil Finlay for my illo.  I've been studying Finlay's work recently, and am amazed at his innovative use of hatching to create texture and depth.  Check out the story, and be sure to let me know what you think.

Also, keep an eye out for a cover by me for an upcoming issue of Lovecraft eZine, possibly as soon as January.

Road to R'yleh

Anyone who's read past posts or knows my reading habits knows that I'm a Lovecraft junkie.  I like a good mythos tale, whether penned by the man from Providence himself, or by one of his many worthy successors.  A good portion of my personal library of comics, books and movies is dedicated to adaptations of Lovecraft's work or works set in and around the universe he created. 
Unfortunately, really good Lovecraftian fiction on the net seems to be hard to find.  Not that there's not plenty out there, but when stacked up against mainstream writers like King, Lumley and Alan Moore, the quality's just not there.  That's why, when I find a source of mythos fiction that's worthwhile, I cherish it for the enjoyment I know it will bring me.
One of the few of these, probably the most active one at the moment, is Innsmouth Free Press.  Aside from an interesting (if somewhat too TV oriented) blog that sometimes presents itself as if it were actually reporting events in an around Arkham (a neat literary device), the owners of this site also publish a magazine of mythos fiction that's professional in both the quality of the publication itself as well as in terms of the fiction it contains.  Although the magazine itself is free, IFP is actually a paying market for writers, meaning that they are getting work that is well above the average pastiche. 
Their latest issue has just been made available for free download, and along with it, they are doing their first fundraiser.  Their goal is to raise $1500 in June to pay for production costs of their website and magazine.  I've just made a small donation, and I'd like to suggest to any readers who might be interested in quality Lovecraftian fiction or just quality fiction in general to check out their magazine and, if possible, hit up their Donate button and throw a couple of dollars their way.  It's up to us to make sure that good markets like this not only do not disappear, but continue to grow and improve. Click the banner below to visit their site and see what they're all about.

First We Take Manhattan...Then We Take R'lyeh

Tor.com is doing a Lovecraft theme this month, just in time for Xmas.  I come by my love of Lovecraft by way of 70's Warren magazines, when Berni Wrightson blew my little mind with his adaptation of "Cool Air".  Later, listening to OTR adaptations of "Dunwich Horror" and seeing John Carpenter's "In the Mouth of Madness" (not a Lovecraft tale as such, but as close as any movie ever got) cemented the relationship.  Now I can gladly say I've read the entirety of Lovecraft's fiction, seen most of the movie adaptations, listened to (I think) nearly every radio show produced from his work, and consumed as many comics adaptations as I could get my hands on.

Best of all, I've been involved in some Lovecraft based work myself.  My favorite to date has been Derek Pegritz's sadly discontinued online mythos novel "City of Pillars", for which I designed webpage banners and a set of postcards that have never been published. 
As part of it's Lovecraft month, Tor invited readers to submit their own artistic interpretations in this thread,which I was more than happy to join.  I've just added the image you see below, which is one of the aforementioned postcard designs.  I've got to say, I'm very happy with the way this piece turned out.  For more fun, go to the Tor thread and see all the other fantastic art that's being posted, both in the original post and in the comments. 

The latest Remake/Remodel over at Whitechapel is a golden age criminal character called "The Octopus", which led to this Necroscope-inspired piece of work....



For anyone who's curious, "Nemo Woodbine" is a name that Warren Ellis once proposed as an "Allan Smithee" of the comics world...an alias to be used by anyone who did not want to or could not sign their real name to a piece of work.

The Great Old Ones are Coming!

This week, I've been working on some web banners for Derek Pegritz, author of "City of Pillars", one of the freshest stories set in the Lovecraft mythos that I've read in quite a while. From the information I've been given, "City of Pillars" is only the beginning, and he has a much larger tapesty of work planned for this projects. What he's published so far is very much worth reading, and what he intends to publish is worth watching for.
Derek found my work through my recent post "Things Go Wrong At Guantanamo", which was inspired by his work, and has asked me to create some art for his website redesign. Naturally, being the Lovecraft acolyte that I am, there was no way I could refuse. Not all of his banners will be my work, but keep an eye on his site and you will see my work there. Meantime, here's a teaser of one of the images I've completed for this project.



The source for this image is a photograph by deep sea diver Jim Lyle, used with permission. Jim is an excellent photographer; check out an impressive collection of his work at Scuba Diving Magazine.

Things Go Wrong at Guantanamo

Has anyone else noticed the resurgence of popularity of H.P. Lovecraft's work on the internet lately? Like some elder god rising from the depths, his stories ascend through the chthonic miasma of the digital age, bringing him a popularity he's not enjoyed, I suspect, since the first run of Weird Tales. Whether this is due to the emergence of much of his work into public domain, the culmination of popular works by authors such as Brian Lumley or Neil Gaiman, or some bizarre alignment of the stars, I cannot say, nor dare I predict what ineffable doom it spells for our benighted plane of existence.
He's been celebrated as a dildo cozy on Boing Boing, parodied in a webcomic at the Unspeakable Vault of Doom, celebrated by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, and represented in his many aspects at Ectoplasmosis (whose "Cthulhu Cthursday is must see internet every week). Leave us not forget that the internet almost collectively wet its pants at the possibility that the monster in Cloverfield was going to be Cthulhu. And you know you've really made it to the top when Tori Spelling stars in an adaptation of your work.
Don't get me wrong, I love a good squamous horror as much as the next being; I just wonder why and how it's come about. Time was when only the most hardcore of nerds or horror fans even knew the name of Lovecraft, now he seems to pervade the net like the shadows that haunt fabled Arkham.
So, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, I says. I for one would like to welcome our tentacled masters, and here's the proof. Inspired by reading Chapter 2 of Derek Pegritz's "Footnotes to the Human Species", here's my interpretation of how things might play out after dark at a certain well-known prison.....