Nightserpent.com blog- Fantasy art of Paul Carrick

further down the stream of consciousness...

2012-02-08T20:26:17Z

Hello!

For those of you who have been following my blog recently, you may recall that I've been carving out some time to paint for myself. Illustration can be fun and rewarding, but I think it's important to create some balance between catering to others ideas and giving one's own personal voice some outlet. Three entries ago when I painted 'Ports' I started the painting with absolutely no plan in mind, I just started making random brushstrokes on the board and then tried to see shapes in them and flesh something out. I enjoyed scrying some sense out of the abstract mayhem, much like a stream of consciousness writing exercise. I then opened the idea up to you guys to see what sense you could make of it, I found it quite interesting. After that I tried a more planned and conceptual approach with 'A Welcome Visitor' I enjoyed that, too, but something about the thorough planning took a lot of the spontaneity and excitement out of the process for me. There was far less discovery and surprise during he process, and I missed that.

So, I decided to try the 'stream of conscious' approach once again. I prepared the board with gesso and a neutral shade of grey and then just started making large sweeping marks on the board. From this I recognized things much like one might while looking up at the clouds, and the idea was to shape and reshape these forms until they felt right to me. During this recent painting I really felt a strong sense of flow, and it wasn't a sense or pressure of perfection that kept me going (some parts were completely painted over a few times), it was just a joyful feeling of creating what my instincts told me and allowing them to be. I've called it 'The Guide', it's acrylic on illustration board, 13x13":

(Vocem is latin for 'voice', for those who wondered)

For dessert..... Every time I looked into the mirror near my drawing board, I would notice this same person staring at me. How rude!! Since it's convenient that he was always there I took advantage of that old saying, "Paint a picture, it'll last longer!", so that's exactly what I did (8x10" acrylic on masonite):

I very rarely do observational drawing or painting, as most of my subject matter is unobservable, though I know I would benefit from the practice. One of the big challenges of drawing and painting from life, I've discovered, is that nothing ever stays the same long enough during the length of time it takes to paint someone or thing. When I've done landscapes, the sun, clouds and shadows move. People gradually move (some models in classes have even fallen asleep), and parts you used to see are no longer visible or vice-versa. I think that's a benefit of the self-portrait, as you can keep as vigilant as you like. However, there were still variables I hadn't considered. The first day I started there was fresh snow outside and it reflected a lot of extra light into the window I normally wouldn't get. The next day, the snow was gone, and the way the light moved across my face had changed- so I had to change much of the painting to keep it accurate. Even the subtle stubble of a day's beard changed the texture of my skin. Unless one works from photos (which involves it's own puzzles), I think the key is to accept the ever-changing qualities and be OK with the differences of what you saw and what you paint. Or so I think.

cheers!

~Paul

A welcome visitor

2012-01-17T19:33:57Z

Hello!

I guess one could call it a New Year's resolution, I've told myself that I will create more art for myself this year. Don't get me wrong, illustration can be rewarding and interesting, but it can also involve a deal of compromise that can leave an artist wondering what his or her art might look like if it were wholly self guided. No doubt, much of my voice often seeps through any assignment, but I am still trying to please someone more than myself. So, what would I want to paint? To tell you the truth, I found that a bit of an overwhelming question. Too many different directions come to mind, it's hard to know which way to go and when to pause and further explore any given idea. I've become so accustomed to being given the dimensions, subject matter and a time frame to work within, it's sort of strange for there to be no pre-set parameters. I started sketching and sketching, revising and changing both the subject and environment, presumably it could have gone on forever but I was eager to paint. I decided to settle on one idea with the idea in mind that I would simply observe what I liked about it and what I'd like to see more of, and with the next piece I could refine my direction. It's a little less overwhelming to think of it more a journey and exploration. A recent experience spawned a concept...

Last Halloween I went to a steampunk themed event, though I didn't happen to have a steampunk costume in my closet I wore something vaguely related. A little too high-tech I suppose, but it was the closest thing I had on hand:

Someone came up to me and commented about how she never sees steampunk villains, and judged me to be one. For some reason, that judgement struck me as funny- who said I was a villain? Yes, there's a skull in there, but I think it's more of a cultural conditioning of ours to equate skulls with evil. Snakes are the devil in some religions, and worshipped as gods in others. I'm told in Japan the color white is correlated with death, so it's all quite subjective depending on one's vantage point.

That experience reminded me of reoccurring themes in the interviews I've given over the years, where I'll often comment that my Lovecraftian creatures don't really seem evil to me and that I see more of an alien sense of wonder in them. Perhaps it's the lighting or inhuman anatomy and textures in the paintings that are commonly associated with 'bad guys' that makes the sense of wonder harder for others to perceive? This question sparked the inspiration for my latest painting, what if some of the context were to change- would that change people's perceptions? The current working title is 'A Welcome Visitor', acrylic 13x13":

I'd enjoy hearing people's impressions on this one. Oh, by the way, for some reason my blog software took it's sweet time letting me know there were some comments waiting to be approved from my last entry. I only just discovered them a couple days back but I did appreciate and reply to them. Thanks!

Some might recall a portrait painting I did of Lovecraft for Miskatonic River Press, it's now in print and ready for orders:

cheers!

~Paul

Another warped mind...

2011-12-06T20:21:38Z

Hello!

If you recall two blog entries ago I did an illustration for the band Cruxiter's upcoming self-titled CD release. Well, now I am happy to unveil the front cover! It features the Cruxiter itself, an alien artifact full of strange and bizarre knowledge that is far too powerful for human minds to comprehend. However, as dangerous as it is, the temptation to resist that knowledge is too strong to resist. Here on the cover we see yet another who has tried and failed to unlock it:

Acrylic 13x13" Once again my illustration experiences with musicians continue to be very enjoyable ones, I think it's because they are sympathetic to the creative process and are willing to let me run wild with my imagination and what excites me. I guess the comparison would be if I were to commission a band to make me a soundtrack- I could hang over their shoulders and micro-manage every single note, or I could trust them to run with what drives and excites them. I'm very happy with the outcome and so are they! I am enjoying this new direction in my art and am looking to see where it takes me. I wish the best for the band, their upcoming CD and tour.

In other news, I've been interviewed for the artvenue.com blog- please check it out:
http://blog.artvenue.com/2011/11/artist-spotlight-paul-carrick/ Thanks to Lex for the great opportunity! If you have a site, blog, zine, etc., and are looking for content (an interview or artist's spotlight) please feel free to contact me!

Last but not least, I wish to thank all the people who shared their interpretations (publicly and privately) of my last painting from my last blog entry It was fun and enlightening, and I would love to do it again.

cheers!

~Paul

Perhaps you can explain this one...

2011-11-06T18:48:48Z

Much of being an artist-slash-illustrator involves stuff that has very little to do with painting, but they are means to allow the painting part to happen. But, when the ratio of creating to chores becomes a little out of proportion, I can get the urge to make something in whatever time I can scrounge. I did this one a few weeks back, I had no plan but just attacked the surface with some abstract shapes and color. At some point I started seeing some forms in there and began fleshing them out and trying to apply some sense of logic to make them more believable. I used acrylic because I didn't have a big window of time to work around some of casein's slower-paced qualities, and that actually made me more appreciative of the medium I had used exclusively for years.

Ports 8.5x11" acrylic on illustration board

I can't tell you what this one is about, in fact when I was painting it I wasn't even certain which side of the painting should be up or down because they all worked. I'd be curious to hear what people think is depicted in the painting.

~Paul

In search of the Necronomicon...

2011-09-23T17:36:13Z

Hello!

I recently had two commissions that dovetail nicely together in theme, that being the Wilbur Whateley character from H.P. Lovecraft's famous 'the Dunwich Horror'. For those unfamiliar (and shame on you, by the way), Wilbur is the hybrid offspring of a human mother and a father which is an alien entity from some other dimension. He grew and developed quite rapidly into a very formidable being (he's not all human, so I'm not quite certain what to call him), and soon started looking for a way to bring his father into our world, which would most certainly spell doom for the rest of us.

The first commission is the cover for Chaosium's upcoming Miskatonic University sourcebook. This painting depicts the point in time when Wilbur breaks into the Orne Library at M.U. in order to steal a copy of the dreaded Necronomicon- a necessary tool for his quest. Warning, there are spoilers ahead if you have not yet read the story.....

Wilbur does manage to break into the library, but unfortunately (for him) he is taken down by a guard dog and then we get to witness how inhuman his anatomy truly is...

"The thing that lay half-bent on its side in a foetid pool of greenish-yellow ichor and tarry stickiness was almost nine feet tall, and the dog had torn off all the clothing and some of the skin.... It was partly human, beyond a doubt, with very manlike hands and head, and the goatish, chinless face had the stamp of the Whateleys upon it. But the torso and lower parts of the body were teratologically fabulous, so that only generous clothing could ever have enabled it to walk on earth unchallenged or uneradicated. "Above the waist it was semi-anthropomorphic; though its chest...had the leathery, reticulated hide of a crocodile or alligator. The back was piebald with yellow and black, and dimly suggested the squamous covering of certain snakes. Below the waist, though, it was the worst; for here all human resemblance left off and sheer phantasy began. The skin was thickly covered with coarse black fur, and from the abdomen a score of long greenish-grey tentacles with red sucking mouths protruded limply.

"Their arrangement was odd, and seemed to follow the symmetries of some cosmic geometry unknown to earth or the solar system. On each of the hips, deep set in a kind of pinkish, ciliated orbit, was what seemed to be a rudimentary eye; whilst in lieu of a tail there depended a kind of trunk or feeler with purple annular markings, and with many evidences of being an undeveloped mouth or throat. The limbs, save for their black fur, roughly resembled the hind legs of prehistoric earth's giant saurians, and terminated in ridgy-veined pads that were neither hooves nor claws"

It confuses me how he would suffer such a simple fate, so the concept of the painting emerged out of my attempt to make sense of it. I imagined that if someone were to find this book, especially one so desperate to acquire it, may be tempted to take a quick look out of burning curiosity. This cursed tome is infamous for driving it's readers over the brink of sanity, and I can certainly imagine it having an hypnotic effect to any who view it. From his rather unique perspective, he might be witnessing the highest form of alien beauty. This would certainly put Wilbur in a far more vulnerable state, it may even prevent him from even being aware of any impending threat. That said, here is how I imagined his last moment....

Next up, an interior illustration for the upcoming release from metal band CRUXITER whose new music will contain Lovecraftian themes. I don't want to give too much away, but it involves an alternate storyline in which Wilbur gives up on Miskatonic University and instead travels to Innsmouth (of the famed "Shadow over Innsmouth" story by Lovecraft) in search of an alternate copy of the Necronomicon...

The synchronicity of these two commissions was quite nice, as is imagining alternate interpretations and explanations.

cheers!

~Paul

Axis Mundi

2011-07-16T13:15:24Z

Hello!

It's not too common that I get to do personal work, so I jumped on this chance. It's inspired by a CD/booklet by artist Alex Grey, "the Visionary Artist". I've been illustrating since about '93, and so my focus has been mostly pleasing art directors and publishers' customers, which doesn't always leave room for my own explorations. Of course I try to cram in as much of my interests into any assignment, there's often a lot of compromise due to the assignments requirements. This is casein on illustration board, 11x16". The exercise is to envision your own person access point of exploring the subconscious and "super-conscious".

Cheers!

~Paul

Two 'nomicons in one blog!

2011-05-30T21:33:18Z

Greetings!

Slated for the summer is the release of the Aklonomicon:

"The AKLONOMICON is an anthology of Lovecraftian weird fiction prose, poetry, comics and art that will be published in summer 2011 by Ivan McCann’s AKLO PRESS.

The volume is co edited by Ivan McCann and Joe Pulver sr and will comprise material from some of the darkest lights in contemporary weird fiction."

I have illustrated two of the stories, both by writer and Cosmonomicon blogger, Ted Grau: Flutes and In the Cave She Sang. Both of his stories were ripe with good visuals for an artist, cases in point...

Horrific, aren't they?? Blame Ted, I say! If he could only restrain himself and keep to kittens and such, this would be a very different blog entry Both are roughly 8-1/2x11", casein on illustration board. I'll be sure to post links when the book is for sale.

cheers!

~Paul

Supernatural!

2011-05-24T19:05:00Z

Hello All!

For those of you who watched the season finale episodes of the CW network's 'Supernatural' show last Friday evening, you may have noticed some familiar elements lurking on the sets- and those elements would be a whole pile of my Lovecraftian art! It was a rather surreal feeling to think that my artwork had been turned into a digital signal and broadcast throughout the continent's airspace. You can watch the episode at the CW site here. If you'd like to catch the scene with my art, fast forward to 9:47. Some of it is quite easily recognizable, some took some searching- like a bizarre Easter egg hunt or "Where's Whateley".

So, let's have a look at that set!

The set creates the apartment of a Lovecraft enthusiast who boasts the largest collection of his letters. His place is thoroughly decorated with all sorts of Mythos imagery, including posters from the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society and fellow mythos artist Earl Geier. In the above photo you'll see the most recognizable painting of mine in the scene, it's the HUGE Lovecraft portrait. To the left and below are a number of Earl's pieces. Next slide, please ....

Above you'll see a specially painted Cthulhu statue next to the laptop. Next, please...

Above on the left is my R'lyeh painting (limited prints still available!!) beep...

Above is my Azathoth painting, this guy has great taste!!

To the right of the Miskatonic University pennant is my 'Yithian Commune' illustration. Next up....

And, around the corner from R'lyeh is Cthulhu itself! There's one other image in the set (of a statue of Cthulhu), I'll see if I can get a photo of that as well.

Many many thanks to the kind people at Supernatural 5 films, some of the most friendly and easy to work with people.

cheers!

~Paul

the Great Race of Yith and more...

2011-04-28T18:31:00Z

Hello!

Might as well jump right into it... here is a new privately commissioned painting of the Great Race of Yith performing a mysterious experiment:

The challenge of this piece was to convey something of an alien nature while there was still some sort of readable logic to it. This was a really fun piece to do and I enjoyed interacting with the client, who is a scientist himself.

Next up... something long overdue: a complete website re-vamp! I'm still tinkering with a few minor details but it is otherwise ready to peruse and enjoy. Plenty of new artwork, a new bio and other stuff. Come take a look: nightserpent.com

Last, but not least, a new experience for me- a live online interview! Here's the episode: The Art of the Red River hosted by artists Mike Dubisch and Carolyn Watson Dubisch I'm usually not interviewed by other artists, especially ones with so many similarities (Lovecraft and children's books), so this was unique for me in a number of ways. In fact, Mike and I have shared a number of exhibits and soon some publications as well. Thanks Mike and Carolyn for the fun experience!

Chocolate still in development!

~Paul

New cover art and getting serious about chocolate

2011-04-08T13:42:00Z

Hello!

Looks like my April Fool's joke had it's own surprise in mind for me....

A few weeks back I was painting a custom cthulhu statue for a client, and after priming it I had base-coated it a dark brown in order to give it an aged bronze look. Maybe it was the way the paint was drying, but it looked exactly like dark chocolate- my favorite! I mused about casting them in chocolate- and the prank was born. If you didn't see the blog entry, click here - be sure to click on the fake Paypal button for the reveal. The response to the joke (public and private) was larger and more positive than I had expected. So, now I am seriously working on Chocolate Cthulhus! A new sculpture is being created, and the nightserpent test kitchen will be opening soon. There goes my trim figure for beach season!!

In other news... a brand new casein painting for the cover of Chaosium's new edition of "Cthulhu By Gaslight"!- it's a role playing game supplement for those wishing to have their games set in Victorian era London.

It's 13x17", casein again. I'm still getting the hang of this new (well, ancient) medium, learning what it can do that acrylic cannot- and learning how to differently approach the painting because of the differences. For those of you unfamiliar with Lovecraft's Mythos, the flying creature is a Mi-Go - highly intelligent creatures known for their technology. It is carrying the infamous "Mi-Go brain case", the Mi-Go are happy to take you on a tour of the cosmos but the rest of your body is not invited.

Leave room for impending eldritch dessert!

~Paul

A whole bunch of stuff!

2011-04-01T14:35:00Z

Wow... it's been a while since my last entry!

MythosCon (a Lovecraft convention in Arizona last January) was amazing! I would highly recommend it to anyone with strong interests in Lovecraft. It was attended almost entirely by professionals (writers, artists, film makers, publishers, etc), some say it was more like a conference because of this. Big names were everywhere, and everyone was extremely approachable and friendly. I still plan to make a video of the art show.

I've been interviewed for the Lovecraftian 'zine Cyäegha in the spring '11 number 4.

I've also been interviewed for the Slovakian website "Necrosphere", the interview is available in English and Slovak Though I don't consider myself a huge fan of technology, being able to connect with people all over the world has become a very welcome and pleasant surprise.

Easter is just around the corner, and we all need to load up on anti-oxidants, especially the non-euclidean kind. So, I am taking pre-orders on dark chocolate Cthulhus. 8-1/4" high, 3/8" thick. It's the same design as the resin statues, just tastier and not as good for fighting cavities:

Last but not least, a new cover painting for "Dissecting Cthulhu" a collection of essays edited by S.T. Joshi and published by Miskatonic River Press

I wish to thank Donovan Loucks for providing me with a great source image, it was refreshing to have a new view of reference. Up till now there have been very few images artists have had to work with, and those were fairly over-exposed. This makes for a challenge because Lovecraft has unusual facial anatomy (the chin), it can be hard to guess what is accurate. Actually, there are other emerging photos, but the problem is they are so unlike the few vies we're used to that they hardly read like him and might not work well as a recognizable image for a cover.

Alright, until next time!

~Paul

Better than Christmas??

2010-10-29T14:30:00Z

Hello!

Just a quick blog this time to wish (those who celebrate) a happy Halloween! I'll exclude the cab driver who inferred I was a devil worshiper because I admiringly pointed out an enormous pumpkin in front of a supermarket. Can't please 'em all!

For those of you near Allentown PA, a new painting of mine is in the 'Living Dead' art show at Gallery 516 through November 20th. 516 Gallery

casein 8 x 12"

have a great weekend!

~Paul

Libraries are no longer safe...

2010-10-19T13:55:00Z

Greetings!

Here's my latest casein painting (10x13" on illustration board), I'm really enjoying this stuff! This is the cover art for an upcoming release by Miskatonic River Press called Tales of the Sleepless City. It is a collection of new adventures for the Call of Cthulhu role playing game, all taking place in New York City during the 1920's. There's not a lot of recognizable features from New York from that era, but it appears that the movie Ghostbusters has helped spread NY public library awareness.

Regular blog readers may remember the cover I did for Night Light by Chris Burgoyne (blog entry , if you missed it), it is finally up for sale and can be purchased via Createspace (preferred) or Amazon . I've seen a photo of the proof, and it really came out nicely. If any of you are considering self publishing, Createspace seems like a good way to go, it gets sold on Amazon and the staff sounded helpful during the whole process.

I'd like to thank all of the Lovecraftian artists who contacted me about the MythosCon art show , the interest level was more enthusiastic than I had hoped. There are still panels available, please contact me if you'd like to join us. I think it's going to be a great turn out!

Speaking of Lovecraftian art shows,Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra CA is having a Lovecraft show until November 8th:

At the Mountains of Madness: A Tribute to the Writings of Lovecraft

October 16, 2010 - November 8, 2010
Opening Reception / Oct 16, 7:00PM - 11:00PM

So much of existence is beyond the realm of common understanding andperhaps it is best that it remains so. The writings of H.P. Lovecraftexplore this realm of incomprehensible existence and most often theterror that accompanies. For oftentimes, the concepts that are mosthorrific to us are those things outside of our understanding.

Withmuch of his most notable work written during the last decade of hislife, H.P. Lovecraft's reputation has grown substantially after hisdeath and he is now considered one of the most influential horrorwriters of the 20th century.

Exhibiting Artists Include: Aeron Alfrey, Martin Astles, Wesley Burt, Cameron de Leon, Jeremy Enecio, Jon Foster, Justin Gerard, August Hall, Android Jones, Edward Kinsella, Casey Love, John Jude Palencar, Jeff Remmer, Jordu Schell, Andrew Scott, Brian Smith, William Stout, Justin Sweet, Michael Zulli

OK, that's all for now!

~Paul

Looking for Lovecraftian artists...

2010-10-04T21:30:00Z

Hello!

I've recently taken on the task to help organize and run the art show at the upcoming Lovecraft convention MythosCon Jan 6-9 in Phoenix Arizona. I'm looking for artists to participate in the art show, either attending in person or by mailing in artwork. It's going to have some excellent guests, including Robert Price and S.T. Joshi- a veritable who's who of the modern mythos. I came on board because it was starting to look like there wasn't going to be a show-or not much of one, and we simply can't allow this, can we? Not only is it a pleasure to have an excuse to pester some of my favorite artists (and get to meet new ones), I am hoping it will foster some networking among us and perhaps give us all a bit of helpful PR to a specialized fan-base.

Here's what I know so far… 4x4 foot art show flats are $35 each, as are half of an 8-foot table for 3D artwork. We'll have about 50 flats available. Those unable to attend will be able to send in the work within 30 days of the show. I will be there before the show to help set up and do what I can to make things smoothly, though there will be other people that are more versed in the actual logistics. I think my job at this point is to gather artists, help as a liaison and handle the clerical/organizational stuff. If you have any questions please ask! Though we're hoping for mostly Lovecraftian art, we are open to related pieces.

If this is something of interest, please let me know so I can keep you on the list for future information as I get it. Please send this along to any other 'Mythos' artists of Lovecraft forums, etc. you think may be interested. You can email me: paul at nightserpent dot com

Speaking of Lovecraftian artists.... I've just commissioned my very first piece from another artist! I've discovered that Earl Gieier (perhaps most well known for all the amazing creature portraits he did in the Call of Cthulhu core rulebook) offers custom artwork through Ebay for an excellent price. Here's his Ebay shop: http://myworld.ebay.com/baldegografix/ and his website: BaldEgoGrafix.com I've loved Earl's work since I became aware of it in the Call of Cthulhu books- what I can struggle with he can somehow nail down with a gestural line. I wasn't sure what to ask for, and I know how much my art flourishes when I'm told to just let loose, so with just a few vague suggestions I let him just do what came to mind...

Thanks, Earl!!

OK, that's it for now... I'll have some fresh casein paintings to share in the not-too-distant future.

~Paul

New print/poster!

2010-09-10T19:02:00Z

Greetings!

I'm very happy to announce that I now have a new print for sale... Up for sale is a limited & signed edition of 100 prints of the sunken and dreaming city of R'lyeh, as mentioned in H.P. Lovecraft's classic 'The Call Of Cthulhu". The print is 18x24" (11x17" image dimensions) on a nice glossy photopaper and comes shipped in a tube.

US $25 + $5 shipping worldwide.

We all scream for Casein!

2010-08-03T17:07:00Z

Greetings!

Some may recall my occasional grumblings about not getting my art to reproduce well, granted no reproduction ever meets to the in-person experience but as artists we can hope to come close. There are many factors which are simply out of my hands (the viewer or publisher's computer, OS, browser, monitor, printer, etc- simply too many steps and variables), but then some things can be controlled. Since about '92 I have been using acrylic almost exclusively, I am more familiar with it than any other paint but it has always been a challenge when it comes to scanning, photography and reproduction. In part this is because the values in my art (shades from light to dark) are mostly stacked in the darker end, and my paint tends to be quite shiny. Have you noticed that bodybuilders often tan and oil themselves to accentuate as much of their surface as possible? Well, when you have a dark shiny painting you're effectively doing the same thing in the scanner or camera's eye. I've hired professional photographers and scanning services, and they were a bust as well. Every bit of paint texture is highlighted with stark glare and the 'valleys' of the paint texture fall into shadow- things like the color and value get completely upstaged by the texture of the painting (which is not the focus of my work). So, what does one do, change their chosen style in order to be received more clearly? For me that was a daunting idea, and perhaps a bit disheartening to feel like I might have to start over and reinvent my painting style. Maybe there's some new paint that could take care of this problem....

.... or, howabout the oldest known paint in history? Nine thousand year old cave paintings have been found in Asia, and they are painted with Casein. The Byzantines, Romans and Renaissance painters used it as well- even Edvard Much's 'The Scream' was in casein. It's binder is derived from milk (casein comes from the Latin word for Cheese), and behaves like a mix of acrylic and oils. The best part is that it dries to an absolutely matte surface, and the scanner loves it!! After I finished my first painting I scanned it and was shocked at how beautifully it scanned. Normally I need to spend a good amount of time in photoshop attempting to recover and restore the file to something that vaguely resembles the original art, but the raw scan was practically a bulls-eye. I'm not sure if this is too much rambling for those less interested in painting, so let me just say that the idea of finally being able to have my art received as I intended... it feels like I've discovered fire.

On to pictures...

First up, my first casein painting. Night Light, 8x10" on masonite:

I had the pleasure of reading some of Night Light in advance, and it's quite entertaining indeed! I'll let Chris explain in his own words (he's the writer after all):

Chris here, Paul's lucky collaborator. I’ve decided to go ahead and add another entry to the already crowded Indonesian-demons-in-a-porno-store subgenre. However, it’s Paul’s amazing cover art that will make this relentlessly tasteless gorefest of a novel stand out from hundreds of other similar works.

   Synopsis? Sure. At a second-rate adult bookstore, the night shift collects its usual crowd of misfits, lonely-hearts and seekers, as well as a down-on-her-luck “star” in town for a signing. But the owner’s ambitious attempt to hawk harder-edged material from overseas has horribly backfired: an air-mailed package turns out to contain far worse than naughty footage. Instead, a trio of vengeful demons has hitched a ride (if you’re wondering how three demons pack into a FedEx box, er, you’ll just have to read it) and is hell-bent on feasting upon whatever luckless porn-store denizen opens the package. In the time-honored way of such things, the trapped survivors must battle the hideous clan of monsters, each other, and their own dark pasts. Will the puny humans determine what the heck the demons are after? Will the authorities show up, only to get their rears kicked in spectacularly graphic fashion? Most importantly, will the Gang Bang Girl DVDs be knocked hopelessly out of alphabetical order?

    All lame hilarity aside, I’m going for scares, originality, and above all an entertaining way to escape the fetid world around us for a couple of hours. The monsters are one-of-a-kind (hey, just check out Paul’s cover), or at least they’re not seen too often in American horror—Indonesian demons, led by the penanggalan, the disembodied, viscera-trailing head of an evil witch that loathes men and feeds on the unborn. She has brought with her her granddaughter, a beastly spirit that occupies the bodies of young women, and their pet, a foot-long telepathic cricket able to control the thoughts and actions of its victims. Eh? Eh?

    As you can see, the crazy awesome cover is done, and now only formatting remains. Paul and I hope to have an Amazon link up by the end of August that you good people can use to buy yourselves a copy if you so desire (and we certainly hope you do). Hey, if the book itself knocks you into a stupidity coma, you’ve still got Paul’s artwork in hand, right?

    Gracias, all!

As you might imagine, my correspondence with Chris has been quite entertaining throughout the project. Here's the current layout design, though there will undoubtedly be some adjustments:

I'll be sure to give a heads-up when the book is available for sale.

My second casein painting is for Eric Webb, who has written a Role Playing Game 'monograph' for Chaosium, Inc. . He's a writer, too, so I'll pass him the microphone:

Operation Ulysses will be a military science fiction campaign for the Basic RolePlaying system available through Chaosium Inc. Operation Ulysses takes place within the Gammadon fields, scene of an apocalyptic space war fought millennia ago by two extinct species. The shattered remains of their colossal starcraft still drift aimlessly and their ancient atomic mines even now patrol the space lanes, seeking to destroy any ship traversing the system. Midway through its journey across the Gammadon fields, near the planet of Ion 9, the ISIS corp. star freighter Ulysses was inexplicably wrenched out of hyperspace by an unknown form of energy. Shortly after its initial distress call, all communication between ISIS Corp. and the Ulysses was lost. Contacted by ISIS Corp., you and your team have been hired to travel to the Gammadon fields to unlock the mysteries behind the disappearance of the Ulysses.

Chaosium Monographs are longer works by one or more authors on a single idea or concept. On these products, the writer fulfills the function of editor and artist. Chaosium does little in the way of editorial. They have adopted this idea to provide a way for writers to present their role playing background, game, or setting to a select audience of Chaosium role players.

Here's the cover art, Casein 10x13" on illustration board:

I'll be sure to give a heads-up when it is available for purchase.

If you can't tell, I am loving the new paint and I cannot wait to see where it leads me, I'm going to be able to do things I never have been able to with acrylic. I think switching gears was good for my creativity, it's forcing me to think differently when painting- and that's always good for blowing out the cobwebs!

Next episode... a new print for sale!

cheers!

~Paul

poster art for the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival

2010-07-27T17:16:00Z

Hello!

I just had the great opportunity to create the artwork for the 2010 H.P. Lovecraft film festival! Previous artists have included Berni Wrightson (Swamp Thing) and Mike Mignola (Hellboy), so it doesn't take a great stretch of the imagination to see how this would be quite a flattering honor. The event has run in Portland since 1995, but starting this year it will also run in Los Angeles. Word has it the festival may spread elsewhere if there are willing venues and organizers. With fingers crossed, my recent short Eldritch Light & Shadow may be accepted into this year's festivals!

The requirements for the poster were to convey something of Lovecraft and film (viewing, making, etc)- the Lovecraft part was easy enough though I wanted it to be a bit more colorful to catch eyes because it's an advertisement. I settled on a small film crew, probably some "extreme documentarians", risking it all to win some footage of a Lovecraftian entity. I painted the creature first, I chose Shub-Niggurath because I hadn't painted her before and it also has a lot of the classic trappings of Lovecraft's creatures. As with some of my Yog-Sothoth paintings, I went for a more epic landscape approach.

I was uncertain about the execution of the crew, who I decided would be using some sort of precarious crane to get a good vantage point, so I painted it without the crew:

(11x17" acrylic) Then I painted the crew on a separate piece of illustration board, scanned it and dropped it over the painting in photoshop. This allows me to use the painting in both ways, and with photoshop I can experiment with the size angle and placement:

I feel it contains a bit more humor than much of my work, but I like how it satisfied many of the connected sentiments of the Mythos (the otherworldly, the wondrous, the grotesque, the infinite and the people who dare to meddle with it). It also provides a nice sense of scale, which adds to the impact of the creature/god.

I'm told the posters are at the printers, and if things are run as they have in the past they ought to be for sale (at the festival and/or online at some point), and the L.A. version will look a lot like this:

Below is some information about the festivals:
_______________________________________________________________________
Los Angeles fest = Saturday, September 11, 2pm-late at the art deco Warner Grand Theater in San Pedro.
Tickets are $20 until August 11, $25 after
Featuring six of the first and best films from the past 14 years of Portland festivals in two blocks. Also includes a performance by Astra dance (an Edgar Allan Poe-inspired dance theater troupe) and the after party at the Victorian era styled Whale & Ale pub.

main site: http://www.hplfilmfestival.com/ October 1-2-3, 2010 at the Hollywood Theatre, Portland Oregon

Tickets, schedule, guest list, etc., for the Los Angeles HPLFF: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/117721
_______________________________________________________________________

Next up... painting with cheese... I mean it this time!!

~Paul

The answers are all here...

2010-07-17T17:37:00Z

... well, the answers to a recent interview, that is! Long-time Lovecraft enthusiast and supporter-of-the-tentacular-arts extraordinaire Matt Cowger has interviewed me for Revolution Science Fiction (or RevolutionSF to most).

Here it is: http://www.revolutionsf.com/article.php?id=4939

I enjoyed being asked questions that I am not commonly asked, it means I have to think about the question and come to some conclusion- meaning I've probably learned something in the process as well. We may all have curiosities about ourselves, but I find we don't always fully push through the process and come out with new knowledge- an open ended question we leave unaddressed. Having someone interview you is a lot like having a deadline for an illustration, it helps you focus on a target and be sure to complete it.

Some moons ago I joined an artist-oriented forum/community called deviantART At the time I didn't really understand what it was for, so my account remained stagnant for some years. Last month at the show at Observatory, Dan Harding encouraged me to give it a shot again. I did, and I am glad! I've found it an excellent way to interact with other artists and people who appreciate it. If you're an artist at any level and are looking for exposure, interaction and feedback, I highly recommend it. I would say the the interface isn't terribly intuitive (at least for me) so I am still getting my bearings. Here's my deviantART profile: http://nightserpent.deviantart.com/

Next episode: new art made from cheese!

stay tuned,

~Paul

News from the show!

2010-06-15T14:36:00Z

Hello!

I've just returned from New York, and had an excellent time at the show. The gallery was quite easy to get to, one can take the N or R train from Manhattan and it drops you off about three blocks from the gallery. Appropriately enough, this neighborhood borders Red Hook, where Lovecraft briefly lived. The gallery is a converted factory space, and it also includes an exhibit on the history of the area.

The show itself was cram packed with Lovecraftian goodness. I'd guess about 30-40 two-dimensional pieces and perhaps ten sculptural. Shortly after arriving, the place filled up right away- the irony of a good opening makes it hard to view any of the artwork!

This is me (left) with Dylan Thuras the show's curator:

Next to me is Dan Harding , a truly gifted painter of nasty creatures:

Here's Dan's excellent oil painting of Cthulhu:

I met Kurt Komoda , brother of artist Paul Komoda:

Kurt had two amazing sketchbooks on display. "Sketchbook' is a bit of a misnomer, because many pages were painted in color. There was nothing sketchy about it, and there was always a good crowd pouring through the pages. I am holding one of my paintings that couldn't fit in the show. My shirt is by Dave Carson , by the way, who had a print on exhibit.

Below is Matt Buck, fresh out of Ringling art school he shared a beautiful portrait of Lovecraft himself wearing a tentacle tie:

If I can get a larger image of his painting, I'll include it- it's very nicely done!

It was very nice to meet other like-minded artists, it's something I feel like I am lacking in my own local community. It's great to talk shop with those who tread a similar path. However, there weren't just artists there, also in the mix was Tom Lynch and Oscar Rios from Miskatonic River Press (publishers of licensed Call of Cthulhu game material):

The night went by way too fast and I was wiped out by the end, but I can't complain one bit. I made some new friends, saw some inspiring art and hopefully have some new opportunities around the corner. I couldn't have asked for a better night.

It's a little grainy, but here's a Youtube video to give you an idea of the gallery space and exhibition:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3KK6kXv0hk

Though the show is scheduled to go to July 23, it may extend though August. Thanks to Dylan Thuras for this amazing opportunity!

~Paul

R'lyeh Arises! + show update

2010-05-27T21:04:00Z

Greetings!

I am finally ready to unveil the Haiti auction painting. The chosen subject was R'lyeh - the sunken city where Cthulhu lies dreaming. The winning bidder wanted to wait to see the art in person for the first time rather than in-progress photos, so as not to spoil the surprise I have refrained from publicly posting until now. It's 11x17" acrylic on illustration board:

I really enjoyed this piece, I felt it pushed me to explore parts of my approach to painting that I hadn't dealt with. I think I might generally use the term "logical" when it comes to my way of rendering objects, whether it is accurate or not I develop a system of rules to adhere to. However, when dealing with a subject matter which just simply doesn't make sense to the human brain, rules just aren't always going to make sense. It was quite liberating to just let go and enjoy. I am currently working on releasing this as a poster or print.

For those interested in the Lovecraft art show in Brooklyn (June 11), there's an official press release at the gallery site: http://observatoryroom.org/2010/05/26/exhibition-opening-a-love-craft/ It appears that the group has doubled to a truly impressive lineup! I'll share any more details as I receive them.

cheers!

~Paul

Two new album covers, Lovecraft art show date changed

2010-05-08T16:11:00Z

Hello!

The Lovecraft art show at Observatory has been pushed back to June 11. I think this may end up being a more successful date, as it is now a Friday rather than a Tuesday immediately following Memorial Day weekend.

I've recently had the pleasure of creating some artwork for heavy metal album covers. Not only am I a fan of the genre, I find it very rewarding and enjoyable to work for/with musicians. In part I suppose it could be that I've been wanting to do this for a long long time, but it's also a nice thing to create for creative people. They tend to be quite sympathetic and encouraging me to just let loose and do my own thing. I suppose they can relate, and more often than not it results in a far better outcome.

First up is the album 'Pain Amplifier' by the band Mythos from Finland. This is a re-release, and it will be on vinyl. I'm thrilled that vinyl is making a return, it's much more conducive to the art:

The concept came from a discussion with the record label. I had mentioned that the title gave me the image of an alien machine which takes one's inner turmoil and projects it into the mind of someone else. Mis-communication turned 'alien machine' into 'alien'- the machine is a living thing... much more interesting! The colors may be muted in the printed product to better suit the expectations of the intended audience.

Next up, a local act... Morgirion from New England. Though I thoroughly enjoy working for the international acts, it's great to have some interaction with near-by musicians. The design originated from a medieval woodcut, and then I just kind of ran with it and gave it my own spin:

~Paul

Lovecraftian art show and a movie...

2010-04-26T20:54:00Z

Hello!

I've got some great news to share... I will be participating in a H.P. Lovecraft themed art show in Brooklyn, NY on June 11th. The venue is Observatory, it looks like a fascinating space with a regular supply of unusual exhibits and presentations. I'm quite excited, to say the least, this will be my first real showing of my Lovecraft art in the states. If that wasn't enough, I will again be joined by a very talented and humbling group of Mythos artists. Currently slated to participate: Bob Eggleton, Centipede Press, Mike Dubisch, Stephen Hickman, Dan Harding, Joel Harlow, and Aeron Alfrey of Monster Brains! Perhaps some of you could come out to see the show, which will run for six weeks.

I have collaborated with musician Stephen Painter of Dark Sunny Land has joined me for a video project. We took a track named Dying Factory from his recent CD, Kon Taan Kor, and selected pieces of my art that went well with the atmospheric qualities of the sound. Take a look for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMo52znisRs

cheers!

~Paul

win your own custom Lovecraftian painting- Haiti relief auction

2010-02-13T18:57:00Z

Hi All!

I've been wanting to do something to help out with the Haiti relief efforts, I think my art is perhaps my best tool for the job. I am auctioning a Lovecraft painting, and 100% of the winning bid goes to charity. What's the subject of the painting? That's your choice. Read all about it here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190372901797

cheers!

~Paul

Deep one prototype and new custom Cthulhi

2010-01-21T21:17:00Z

Greetings!

I have a couple of new custom Cthulhu statues to share. One is a darker bronze scheme with glowing green eyes, the other is a blue marble coming to life:

Each piece has been an interesting challenge, I think it's because the sculpture has much to do with texture more than all else. Finding the right balance between defining the form and surface pattern is where the puzzle generally happens. Though the mold and master are broken, I still have a number left for more custom orders, please contact me if you'd like one for yourself. I may also make a few unpainted copies available for those familiar with garage-style resin castings (some clean up involved).

Next up, I took the sketches of the deep one miniature design and worked it into a "3-up", which is a 300% sized sculptural sketch. Though I felt the sketches helped explain a lot of the shapes, it lacked a sense of completeness that only a 3 dimensional model can convey. The putties used to sculpt most miniatures are especially tricky to use (very sticky and with limited working time), so the more I know how the miniature will be shaped the more direct and intentional I can get with the putty. When I finished the basic figure (out of Super Sculpey, a bake-able polymer clay), I became tempted to paint it up for fun... and then gave it a decorative base as well. The base is 5 x 6", the creature is about 3-1/2".

As always, I enjoy the feedback. Until next time,

~Paul

Evolution of the Deep Ones continues

2010-01-07T16:29:00Z

Hello!

I'd like to thank everyone who has sent me comments about the Deep One designs, not only here but via email and other forums as well. My head began to swim a bit with all the comments, and I was challenged to come up with something that would meet expectations. The problem is, a lot of the great suggestions would take me in opposing directions (more fishy, more froggy, bigger, smaller, etc). Yet, as the conversations continued, I discovered that people in general are quite accepting to a slightly different take. Evidently, many people are more than willing to use miniatures from different manufacturers, and the variety doesn't bother them at all. I found this to be quite liberating, so I took the suggestions that resonated the strongest within me, and I ran... er... shambled with it.

The feet in particular remind me of a snapping turtle's feet, which I think would make sense. Ancient, aquatic, clawed, durable, formidable.

If this project expands beyond the one design, I certainly would like to explore variations on anatomy. Reading the texts, it's not hard to imagine quite a variety in size and shape. They take a long time to mutate from people, so factors like diet, habits and location over the decades and centuries could possibly reap diverse results. If your suggestions aren't seen in this current design, it may very well manifest on others. If I have the option to expand to older specimens, including priest-types, there will be quite a lot of interesting concepts to play with.

Delving further into the project, I was able to involve Deep Ones in an illustration for Sixtystone Press. I'd like to think that the design is better for me having done the painting (as a form of study), and the painting is better for my having so much planning under my belt due to the miniature project. The chapter is about psychic ability, it explains how certain species (such as Deep Ones) as well as the insane can communicate telepathically. This sparked my imagination, and I envisioned a break in at the Sanitarium...

It's acrylic, roughly 8-1/2x10", and I can't wait for the next one!

until next time....

~Paul

the Deep Ones

2009-11-23T16:06:00Z

Hello!

I am planning to sculpt some 'Deep Ones', which are essentially fish-men from the pulp horror stories of H.P. Lovecraft. Wikipedia Entry

If any of you are familiar with these, I'd greatly appreciate some input, please! Here's a concept sketch of their anatomy, though I'd like to create a number of poses. I think the scale will be 25mm heroic, meaning features will be slightly exaggerated for ease of painting and view-ability on the table top (just like Citadel minis). If all goes well, these will be cast and available for sale!

Any suggestions? Does it match your mind's eye?

thanks for looking,

~Paul

p.s. The wizard painting is coming along nicely, I may be finished by the end of the week!

Cthulhu Wizard in progress, part IV: things get strange(r)

2009-11-16T16:49:00Z

I've been feeling a bit under the weather these last couple days, so it seemed appropriate to start to work on some of the more alien aspects of the painting. Who knows, maybe I can channel my fevered visions through my brush and onto the artwork? You be the judge....

The blue/green tints are far too strong in this photo, they're not quite as pervasive in the original. Though there's plenty more to be done up top, you can get a better sense of the results of the wizard's spell.

~Paul

Cthulhu Wizard in progress, part III: the secret of Magic Green™

2009-11-13T18:05:00Z

A quick update, the latest work-in-progress photo of the 'Cthulhu Wizard' painting:

Things are developing nicely, I've fleshed out enough of the values (light and dark) to get a sense of things. Momentum usually speeds up now that there's some sense of order, and more and more fall into place.

Astute blog readers may notice that I am using 'magic green™' once again. I had an epiphany the other night... my fascination for that color might stem back to a glow-in-the-dark toy from a box of Captain Crunch cereal! You see, my mom didn't buy the fun sugary breakfast cereal that most other kids ate (I appreciate it now, but it wasn't quite as special to me then). Healthy cereal never had any fun toys, I guess health was supposed to be some sort of gift... again, lost on me at the time. A childhood friend gave me an extra toy he got from Captain (is it Cap'n??) Crunch, a light green blob of plastic in the shape of the sugary sea-farer himself. It was my first glow-in-the-dark anything, and it might as well have been magic.

~Paul

Cthulhu Wizard in progress, part II

2009-11-06T14:37:00Z

Just a quick update of the painting's development:

This is just a photo, not a proper scan, but it ought to give you an idea of the progress. I am still roughing out a lot of the basic shapes and filling them with colors/tones that help me see where the image is going as a whole.

Thanks for viewing!

~Paul

The Wizard in progress and the world's smallest Viking.

2009-11-04T22:10:00Z

Update time!

I've been working on the wizard painting (the sketch is in the previous entry), I thought people might like to see it in an early stage:

It's 12x16", acrylic. Here you can see that I have sketched in the general shapes and have started blocking in color. Since the figure is generally the most important part of an illustration, I have started putting more detail into the face (and later the hands as well) to get them where I want them. Then, when painting the areas around it, I can adjust them to compliment the figure as much as I can. I took this photo at the end of my work day yesterday, it's come quite a ways since then. Updates soon!

Some of you may be aware of my interest in sculpting, converting and painting miniatures. I've been asked to paint future new releases from Wargames Factory , which will be featured in their catalogs, advertisement, website, etc.. They produce multi-part 28mm scale plastic miniatures, mostly historical in nature (except the zombies!), but they will soon be expanding to science fiction as well. One of the most unusual and appealing aspects is that the models are made out of recycled plastic, and they will recycle the extra plastic waste leftovers (often called sprues or frames). I recently painted up one of their new Viking models, a favorite subject of mine!

IN case you're wondering, I painted it under a large light-up magnifying glass. I researched the colors (from vegetable dyes) that vikings used to dye their garments to make the appearance as historical as possible.

Until next time....

~Paul

Aklo- Cthulhu Magic

2009-10-07T19:40:00Z

Aklo: The ancient and inherently powerful pre-human language of mythos magic. This is the subject of Sixtystone Press' upcoming release for the Call of Cthulhu RPG, and they've asked me to create the illustrations for it. I've already read some of the manuscript, and I think it'd appeal to those both interested in the game and Lovecraft's Mythos in general.

Here's just a quick teaser of things to come...

For those curious, the sketch was created in photoshop with a Wacom tablet but the finished piece will be painted traditionally (and in color, because it's the cover). I'm quite excited about this project, as the manuscript is rife with inspiring visuals.

Stay tuned....

~Paul

Custom Cthulhi and back into the deep

2009-07-28T17:37:00Z

Greetings!

Well, I am down to just one Bronze and one 'Slime' Cthulhu statue, but an interesting thing happened while the number of statues dwindled.... custom orders! People have been contacting me on their own to do special one-off paint jobs.

This one hails all the way from Russia, it's a very dark purple with an antique silver base, the eyes have been painted to look as if they emit light (my favorite part):

The next custom commission I received was from a good friend who is also an artist as well as a stone mason. He was working on a custom marble floor and thought the colors would lend themselves well to the base of a Cthulhu statue. He gave me a number of nice and unusual small sample tiles for inspiration, and requested a copper Cthulhu on top. I'd never painted faux marble before (or much antique copper), and I love trying my hand at imitation finishes. Here it is:

If you recall the previous blog entry, I shared a cover illustration for some Lovecraftian sheet music. I recently completed an interior illustration which will serve as the table of contents. The eight pieces of music span much of Lovecraft's universe, but the first track 'Realm of the Hydra' inspired this piece:

"The Hydrae" 9-1/2 x 12" acrylic. It started off as being simply a decorative border, but sometimes my enthusiasm takes over.

I'd love to hear what people think! Thanks for reading,

~Paul

the Charnel God

2009-06-30T19:46:00Z

Hello All!

A new first for me, illustrations for sheet music! James Gruetzmacher has created several piano scores based on Lovecraft's work, and my artwork will be featured on the cover and table of contents. I particularly love illustrating for music, but this opportunity was one I had never contemplated. The cover is inspired by Clark Ashton Smith's the Charnel God

9-1/2 x 12" acrylic on illustration board.

Smith wrote within Lovecraft's 'Cthulhu Mythos', so I have depicted the ghouls to bear similar features. In the story, the ghouls are the true identity behind the mysterious priests that cart off the city's dead to the depth's of a temple... for what reason, I don't want to spoil.

The visual concept behind the piece was to accentuate how mysterious and inky-black the underground temple is. After the viewer's eyes move away from the blindingly bright light and adjust to the darkness, the forms of the ghouls emerge. Much like a classic Lovecraftian tale, the story slowly unfolds over time.

Along a similar vein, I recently saw a special 'Pirate Special' on the Discovery Channel's 'Mythbusters' show. In it, they addressed the rumor that pirates didn't necessarily wear patches because of eye wounds, but sometimes to keep one eye continually adjusted to darkness. That way, if they needed to quickly go from a bright area to a dark one (from upper deck to lower, or inside to out at night), they wouldn't need time to wait to see clearly. During skirmishes, this could be particularly advantageous. From the show's tests, the concept was deemed quite plausible. A friend told me that he worked as a ghoul in a Halloween haunted house, and he said it took him about 30 minutes for his eyes to fully acclimate. Quite a coincidence, eh? There's nothing like talking to an actual ghoul to get my facts straight!

Cheers!

~Paul

Cthulhulith uncovered!

2009-05-27T13:23:00Z

Hey Gang!

Plenty of new stuff to share, so let's get to it....

Fellow Mythos artist, Zombiequadrille ( and Ebay ) commissioned me to create a painting for him. Not only do I enjoy these kinds of jobs, but creating for another artist adds an extra level of enjoyment for me, especially considering how loosely the reins were held. His only request is that it had a Cthulhu statue in it (possibly because both of us have sculpted them) and cultists, beyond that it was entirely up to me. I normally don't get this degree of freedom with illustration jobs, so I took full advantage of the situation. Typically an art director is going to want to see some sketches beforehand, so that can put a bit of a damper on my ability to be spontaneous during the actual painting phase. Though I know why they'd want this, it eliminates the surpise factor (for me and them), but this way I can cater to my artistic impulses... often producing better results.

Cthulhulith 12x16" acrylic :

Speaking of Cthulhu (when am I not??), the preorders for the latest Cthulhu resin statues have already been shipped off to their respective owners. I've been getting some wonderful feedback from the recipients, which has been very fueling... thanks, guys! I took some better shots of the finished product:

There are currently only three of this series left for sale, one is about to end on Ebay, if you're interested: +Ebay Page+

Because of the recent show I had for my children's book art, I have discovered a reliable source for larger prints and posters. Though I may consider some of my older images, I'd like to create some more new work as well. I have some ideas brewing, but I would really love to hear what everyone would like to see in a print. Maybe it's of a Mythos creature or other entity, maybe a scene from a favorite story or a "what if" scenario. I'm open and interested, so tell me what you'd enjoy seeing.

While you're pondering that, perhaps you'd enjoy some nice refreshing Mi-Go and bread??

For those less familiar with Lovecraft's creations, the Mi-Go are these odd insectoid creatures which are more related to fungus than anything else. I'm guessing it'd be something like a portobello mushroom with a nice crunchy shell.

Thanks for reading!

~Paul

Up from the depths....

2009-02-24T20:12:00Z

Hello!

I am very excited to announce that I am finally ready to take pre-orders for the new batch of Cthulhu statues. The Red Cthulhu statue got a lot of great feedback, and I very much like the way that sort of coloration and treatment brings out all the detail. So, a little more in line with Lovecraft's story, I've gone with green. Here's my faithful stunt Cthulhu demonstrating the new scheme (it took over a week of multiple repaints to settle on one I liked):

a few detail photos:

When I typically paint miniatures and models, the idea is to make the paint job as matte/flat as possible, but I simply could not resist using a good deal of gloss to accentuate the wet look, it was too appropriate to pass up! If you look closely at the base, I have even used some tinted clear resin. As with the first batch, roman numerals depicting the statue number (it's a series of 30) will be painted on one of the base skulls.

Here's the next batch, waiting for clean up and painting:

The last batch was 2/3 sold in pre-order before the first statue was even shipped out, so keep that in mind if you're considering one. To keep me sane and to get them out earlier, I will be painting them in batches of ten. This will allow me to ship out pieces earlier (they'll be shipped first come first serve). This paint scheme is considerably more involved, so I'm thinking smaller batches will help me see the light at the end of the tunnel. As with the first batch, the statues will come with a custom cut pentagonal felt pad on the base and some sort of certificate/mini art print (design TBA). Oh, for those new to this statue, it's painted resin, roughly 8-1/4" high. If you wander back to the beginning of this blog ('07), you can watch the design, sculpting, mold making and casting process.

Though I am learning to never say never, I do not expect to release another batch of these sculptures. I'm eager to apply what I have learned here on new designs and move forward.

SORRY- THIS EDITION OF THE CTHULHU STATUES IS SOLD OUT!!
____________________________________________________________________________

Some of you may recall that I asked people who own the Cthulhu statues to send me photos of them in interesting locations, be it where it will be displayed, or elsewhere. I've gotten some neat shots:

Skipton Castle in the UK:

With Venger Satanis of the Cult of Cthulhu:

Th extensive collection of Joe Broers, Mythos sculptor extraordinaire:

Jonas Frickmann's collection, note some similar characters as in the above photo:

__________________________________________________________________________________________

OK, that's it for now! One last bit... many thanks to everyone who came out to see me at the reading/signing last weekend, it was great to see some familiar faces there to show support.

~Paul

Wolfgang has arrived!

2009-02-09T22:28:00Z

Hello!

I'm happy to announce that my first illustrated and written children's book, Watch Out For Wolfgang has finally hit the shelves. Five years ago I started drafting out the story,it's hard to believe it's here. "Spring of '09" sounded like a time so far in the future that it might never come. Good thing I was wrong!

This coming Saturday (Feb 14th), I will be at Porter Square Books in Cambridge Mass from 10AM-12PM to sign copies and read Wolfgang. I don't think I've ever read my writing in public outside of English class, so this will be a new experience for me. I'll be joined by several other children's book creators, so if you'll be in the area please come by! More details here.

Watch Out for Wolfgang on Amazon.com

Just last Friday I hung 9 original children's book illustrations for viewing and sale at Harvard Street Dental just outside Central Square in Cambridge, Mass. Currently hanging are pieces from my first three books: Mothers Are Like That; Dinosaur Parents, Dinosaur Young and The Polar Bears Are Hungry. If you're in the area, please come take a look... no dental exams necessary! Many thanks to Dr. Foley for giving me this opportunity to share my art with the public, he's been very supportive.

Looking to the future, I will be having a full show for art from Wolfgang and other books on April 5th at Featherstone Center for the Arts on Martha's Vineyard. There's something especially nice and poetic about having my first children's book art show where I spent much of my own childhood. I'm very excited about this!

Speaking of shows, the Lovecraftian paintings I had in the Switzerland show have returned with a nice surprise... they were also shown in France! If you can read French (or have a good translator), take a look: Festival "les Utopiales" in Nantes, France It appears to be a Science Fiction convention.

Now that the originals are back, I am considering releasing a fine art print of one or more of the images. If anyone has interest or a vote, I'd lovce to know what people would like to see. I think Azathoth is a good candidate.

Last, but far from least, I have begun a new batch of Cthulhu statues. The red version received a lot of nice feedback, so I am going to do the green equivalent, more of a realistic depiction as described in the story. I have a good feeling about this one!

Untill the next update....

~Paul

I'm seeing red!

2008-11-19T16:46:00Z

Hello!

It's been wonderful to receive all the nice email about the Cthulhu statues arriving at their destinations. I greatly underestimated how rewarding this project was, thanks to everyone for the comments, input and support.

Speaking of Cthulhu (when am I not??), I'd like to share this special one-off Cthulhu statue. Some of you might recall the giant red Cthulhu painting commission from this summer? Well, this is the companion piece:

Nifty, eh? You can see more here: http://www.nightserpent.com/lovecraft7.html I'm glad I was asked to do this, as I feel it worked out well.. which might influence the next color scheme for the statue.

What, not enough red? How about this:

This is an album cover for the heavy metal band Denial out of Mexico. I've got to say, these were some of the nicest and most supportive people I have worked with, and that level of enthusiasm greatly affected my work. After listening to (and being influenced by) their music, they let me just cut loose and paint whatever I felt. A very memorable experience, indeed! To top it off, it will also be released on Vinyl, which is a first for me.

Going with the red theme, my children's book Watch out For Wolfgang is now up for preorder on Amazon. I'm not certain when it will be released, I am guessing early-mid winter, but I will post any news I get. If you use Amazon, consider buying it through this blog or on my site:

Looking into the future, I am building momentum to self publish a book of my Lovecraft artwork. I am aware of numerous online print on demand services, though I am uncertain which is best for printing my artwork (as most are likely geared towards text-heavy books).

The challenge seems to be that my art tends to be very dark and subtle, value-wise, so cheap paper and poor printing would pretty much render the project useless. I started dealing with one company called Lulu, but there's little information about the paper (other than weight) and the quality of the reproduction. I can't even convince them to send me a single sheet of paper with a printed image to assure me that the effort of laying out the book will be worth it. I'm envisioning a book of muddy black rectangles, which would be a waste of time and resources. That's enough to discourage me from using them.

It might be around 32pp with a color cover, full bleed pages, square or perfect bound paperback, size around 8-1/2 x 11". Some offer selling services, though I won't require it.Can anyone recommend a decent service? Thanks in advance for any leads.

until next time....

~Paul

Cthulhi Take Flight...

2008-10-28T21:32:00Z

It only took a year (well, more actually), but the Cthulhu statues are finished, and the pre-ordered copies are on their way. In one way, it's a nig relief to have it off my shoulders, but my workbench looks rather odd without anything on it and I bet it will take some readjustment without such an omni-present project.

You may notice that the final finish is more bronzey than the dark prototype. After much debate and experimentation, I felt that this look brought out more detail and added more visual interest.

If you look closely at the base detail photos, you will get a glimpse of the felt pads on the pentagonal bottom. A nice spacey purple.

Below you can see the numbering system I used, inspired by ancient Roman graffiti (helps add age and history to the design). There are 30, er "XXX", in total for the Bronze series.

Thanks to everyone that made this possible!

If that weren't enough, I have just been interviewed by Venger Satanis of the Cult of Cthulhu. I enjoyed his interesting questions which span from my beginnings in art to illustration to Lovecraft himself:

http://www.eldritch-infernal.com/carrick.html

until next time!

~Paul

the Stars are right...

2008-08-18T18:57:00Z

PLEASE NOTE: PRE-ORDERS ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE FOR THIS BATCH. FUTURE BATCHES WILL BE ANNOUNCED HERE (hey, so why not subscribe?)

It's been a long time coming, here are some recon shots of a prototype paint scheme:

The statue stands a "cyclopean" 8-1/2 inches tall, hand painted (by myself) resin with felt pad under the base. Faux oxidized bronze finish. I currently have about 30 of these ready for painting, and now that I have figured out the paint scheme I am confident enough to take pre-orders. To reward those who have been following this blog, I am giving the readers a first crack at acquiring statues. After about a week I will broaden the word out to larger circles, assuming any remain. The statues will all be hand numbered, and if these sell well enough to warrant another batch, I will paint more with a different finish. I'm not only thinking of the collector in mind, but also my sanity! Carefully painting 30+ of these guys will make me eager to try out a different scheme.

I will make a new blog post once the first batch are sold, though if you purchase statue(s) before I get to make the announcement, I will honor your order and make sure you get a Bronze version. This will ultimately define the limited number of the first series, which I will announce in future blogs.

The packages will contain some sort of certificate, which is currently in progress.

I have chosen Paypal for payment purposes, it seems the most internationally accepted and convenient form. If this is not convenient for any of you, please email me ( paul at nightserpent dot com)and we can work out some other form of payment.

Many many thanks to everyone who watched and commented along the last.... jeez, nearly a year! Everyone's input and support was vital!

Stay tuned for the next project!

~Paul

Let the spawning commence!

2008-06-20T19:19:00Z

Hello All!

Last time we left off, I had a semi-successful test cast, though it wasn't quite what I hoped it'd be. Making the mold was a great learning experience, so I then felt a bit better armed to make a second go at it. My fingers were tightly crossed that the additional investment would pay off. To save on cost, I washed the old mold sections and diced it up:

It needs to be washed clean to remove any release agents that would prevent adhesion with the new silicone. I removed all the sections that never fully cured due to improper mixing. These cubes can be tossed into the new silicone mix before it cures.

The sculpture is fairly delicate, likely because of the multiple bakes and repeated use of alcohol to smoothen out the details (alcohol has the tendency to dry things, which can make them brittle). So, when I removed the master sculpt from the mold, the tenacious grip of the silicone removed some of the sculpture along with it. Bummer! The only way I could see repairing it was with a putty that didn't require any more baking. So, I used some kneadatite (or 'greenstuff')a two part epoxy putty often used by miniature sculptors. I was uncertain how seamless a job I could do, and expected to only know once the new mold was finished.

The new mold:

I was pretty happy with how the mold turned out, and I felt good about giving it a second shot. One hitch, however, the original sculpt was irreparably damaged from the grip of the mold:

Ugh! Nine months of design and sculpting, if the new mold didn't work I'd have to start all over again. The green areas, by the way, is where I had repaired it with the green stuff. The blue is leftover bits of clay from the mold building process. With fingers crossed, I attempted a test run with the new mold:

YESSSS!!! Aside from a few pinholes from small air bubbles under the base (fairly typical), I am quite happy with the results. Better than I expected, by far! You can see a fair amount of flash, but it is paper thin and easily removed with an x-acto blade. I then eyed the remainder of my resin supply.....

Muah-ha-haaaa.... soon my children, ye shall spread amongst the world and do my bidding, which happens to be looking nifty and entertaining. *cough* Sorry about that, but I am pretty psyched, I had huge doubts that this day would come. It's huge relief on numerous levels.

So, what's next? Ordering ten gallons of resin, for starters. Then, cleaning all the flash off the castings, developing a couple paint schemes and crunching the numbers to figure out pricing.

In other news, I have experienced yet another very flattering thing. A couple weeks back I got an email from someone that wanted to use one of my paintings as a tattoo. Both he and his artist wanted to get my blessing, which I appreciated. Here's the state of the tattoo after five hours of work:

Yes, it's the very same image that we saw in airbrush format just a couple weeks back, isn't that an odd coincidence? He's endured another five hours and expects one more session to complete the image. It's turning out to be another faithfully executed reproduction in another completely different medium. It's only just now hitting me what's happening, as obvious as it may seem. The idea that someone appreciates my art enough to permanently affix it to their flesh...how can I not be flattered? Wow!

~Paul

A creepy light at the end of the tunnel...

2008-06-05T18:57:00Z

Hello Again!

After creating the first section of the mold, I pretty much "rinsed and repeated" three more times, careful to not let the new silicone stick to previous sections. I'd rotate the existing section(s) and the sculpture, then cordon off the new section with clay. Here we see all four sections:

Near the end, I ran out of my silicone supply. Fortunately the art supply show down the street carries the same products, but I had to settle for a different variety that has a longer cure time. Otherwise, it behaves the same way, just a different color. At this point I was starting to feel uncertain about my efforts, especially the mold lines (whether they'd be too obscuring of the sculpture's texture) and whether I'd be able to alleviate the likely air pockets in the resin.

As Dr. Teeth would tell us, "There's nothin' to it but to do it!", I went ahead and did a partial resin pour test to see how the resin would behave. I only poured a partial to save on resin waste, but also because it was the upper part of the sculpture that I was most concerned about....

I can't express how surprised I was to not see a single air bubble, that really lifted my spirits! I had been preparing myself for a much different outcome, yet now it looks like I might not even need any vents! This is even better news because the vents would partially obscure some texture. However, I'm going to re-do the mold. The mold lines themselves are rather crude, and I learned quite a bit in the first process to have a better idea how to do a better job the second time around. Though it will be more costly than I'd like to admit, I think it'll be worth it in the long run. Less clean-up, and a better quality casting in general. I just ordered two more gallons of the goop, and look forward to another shot at it. As I said earlier, silicone loves to stick to silicone, so old molds can be recycled. I'll simply dice up the old sections and drop them in the silicone before it cures. I may need only half the amount of fresh stuff this time around, and that will cut down my costs.

In other news, I just experienced a very flattering thing. We've all heard of songs being covered by other artists, but rarely paintings. I got an email last week from Chad York of Vancouver, he's a musician and artist as well (myspace.com/4necroholocaust). Chad is a big fan of my 'Cthulhu Statue' painting, so much so that he made one for himself... but in airbrush and a heck of a lot bigger (it appears to be similar in size to newest "Red Cthulhu" painting on canvas). Seeing that he painted it from a tiny 72 dpi jpeg, he's truly skilled!

That's an honor I never expected.

~Paul