Nightserpent.com blog- Fantasy art of Paul Carrick

win your own custom Lovecraftian painting- Haiti relief auction

Paul Carrick — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 18:57:00 GMT

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

Paul Carrick — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:17:00 GMT

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

Paul Carrick — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:29:00 GMT

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

Paul Carrick — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:06:00 GMT

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)

Paul Carrick — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:49:00 GMT

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™

Paul Carrick — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:05:00 GMT

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

Paul Carrick — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:37:00 GMT

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.

Paul Carrick — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:10:00 GMT

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

Paul Carrick — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:40:00 GMT

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

Paul Carrick — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:37:00 GMT

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

Paul Carrick — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:46:00 GMT

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!

Paul Carrick — Wed, 27 May 2009 13:23:00 GMT

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....

Paul Carrick — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:12:00 GMT

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!

Paul Carrick — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 22:28:00 GMT

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!

Paul Carrick — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:46:00 GMT

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...

Paul Carrick — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 21:32:00 GMT

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...

Paul Carrick — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:57:00 GMT

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!

Paul Carrick — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:19:00 GMT

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...

Paul Carrick — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 18:57:00 GMT

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

It returns! (image intensive)

Paul Carrick — Fri, 23 May 2008 16:05:00 GMT

Hello All!

A little bird told me that it's been some time since my last update. Though I had often contemplated an update, I didn't know if people would prefer an update that said "not much to report" or not. Most of my activity has been of the "behind the scenes" sort, which could be anywhere from planning new work and new projects, or just boring clerical chores.

Though it's not Lovecraftian in nature, I did paint this CD cover art for the band Squanky Kong:

It looks like I may be designing another Lovecraftian Tattoo! This one will be pretty big, I am looking forward to it.

I'm sure some of you may be wondering what is up with the Cthulhu statue. A while back I started to map out the various sections of the mold and started be discouraged. What I imagined might be a five part mold was starting to look like eight or more, which makes things exponentially more complex (five is already quite unusual, two is probably the most common). Is this beyond my means to cast? Could anyone cast it? Trying and failing would be a sad end to this journey, so I think part of me wanted to stall... I don't want to disappoint anyone! But, enough stalling, I need to at least give it a try. And, it might be interesting for people to get a sense of the process.

First up, I am submerging the statue in clay and just exposing the area that will be the first section of the mold. The red lines on the statue are where I was originally intending to map out the sections before I cut down the number to simplify things. It might help to imagine that the sections are kind of like orange slices in the way that they connect around one central axis:

A side view that shows how I am centering the statue in what will be a box. The form is propped up with bits of foamcore and more clay. It needs to be fairly sturdy:

I place a box around the whole thing and seal off the edges to create a complete seal. I then took a sharpie marker and made several divots around the perimeter, often called 'keys'. These will later help align the sections when it's assembled for casting:

I mixed up some silicone rubber (it's parts are mixed 1:1, which makes life easier). I have painted the silicone directly onto the sculpture, this helps get better coverage and eliminates air bubbles:

Then, I poured a bunch more silicone over the whole thing:

After is has cured (a couple of hours), I pulled off the side walls of the containment box:

I then separated the cured rubber from the clay and master.

Here's a detail shot of the mold, you can see the skin texture in negative. It appears to have reproduced quite well! I need to be careful with the resin pour, though, as I can imagine air bubbles hiding in all those nooks:

Last, we see the master put back into the first silicone section. Next step will be to section off another slice:

I'm still quite skeptic to be honest, I see a number of ways in which this won't work, but I am trying to override this with optimism. Tentacles crossed!

In other news, the giant Cthulhu painting is all done. The "client" (for lack of a better and friendlier term), Bill, has been quite patient with me... to the point of being very encouraging to let me enjoy the process as much as I can. It's now waiting to be photographed, the nature of the shiny paint on the canvas texture is creating a lot of glare, which is why I am receiving help from a friend that's far more knowledgeable and experienced with a camera. Why do I want such a quality photo? My hope is to release it as a small poster.

Here's the last in-progress photos, though it's come a long way since then:

See you next aeon,

~Paul

Life Size Cthulhu (well, almost)

Paul Carrick — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 23:56:00 GMT

... and we're back!

In other mythos news, I have received a really fun commission. It's a painting of Cthulhu, but with some interesting differences from my previous renditions. For starters, it's in color, I have only approached Cthulhu in color once before. This time, though, the "client" (client is a bit of a cold term, I find, he's a really nice guy)would like Cthulhu to be bright red! As I am getting accustomed to using a bit more artistic license to Lovecraft's creations, this seemed like an interesting departure. Seeing that octopi turn reddish when they are upset, it made even more sense. Rather than the more serene rendering I am known for, this one uses a more dynamic pose. Here is the sketch:

In front of Cthulhu you might make out the hintings of a fishing vessel, which helps give a sense of scale. The original idea was to paint this 16 x 20", though upon seeing the sketch my friend wanted it to be bigger... a lot bigger! I broke out my abacus, and we landed on 36 x 42"... and on canvas. Seeing that most of my illustrations are designed to fit on my tiny scanner, this is an exciting departure to say the least. I hadn't hand stretched a canvas since art school, and I for got how satisfying it can be to get it right and drum-tight. Not only that, but being able to use my whole arm to make big sweeps with big brushed is an entirely different experience. A guy could get used to this!

Here are a few in-progress snapshots:

To remove the intimidating element of a pristine-white gessoed canvas, I toned it with a deep purple color, which I thought would work well for some shadows in the red skin. Then, I started blocking in the shapes with some greens. Though it was done with paint, this was more like drawing at this stage:

Here I have thrown in some more color to get a sense of what it will start to look like:

Pushing and pulling of shadows and highlights. Texture added to Big C, and the sky details get attention:

Aaaand, more work on the sky:

Sufficed to say, I am thrilled to have this opportunity and am thoroughly enjoying the new challenge and variety.

Though I am not the first to talk about it, I simply can't not comment about the recent passing of E Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons. D&D was a big part of my youth (and adulthood as well), it gave me a great outlet for my imagination and helped me finely hone it, proving to be quite valuable in my artistic pursuits. The slightly archaic nature of the first edition books boosted my vocabulary at a young age, and the map skills always came in hand (I was thinking of this often during the Europe trip). Beyond the scope of the game, I started to realize how the game has given me other great connections in life. Many of my long lasting friends were first introduced into my life because of the common interest. I probably would not have been exposed to H.P. Lovecraft, as I learned of him through the Call of Cthulhu RPG. I might not have even gone to art school in Providence, nor would I be working in the same field (at least in the same way, should RPGs still managed to emerge in another form). One highlight of my career so far was the opportunity to illustrate an article written by Gary himself. Without him, I wouldn't know any of you, and I wouldn't have this blog! My life would have been very very different without Mr. Gygax's contribution, and I know countless others can say the same. For that I am extremely grateful!

~Paul

One last look before the plunge...

Paul Carrick — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 23:47:00 GMT

Hello All,

As requested, I am showing one last full look at the sculpture before I take a deep breath and start the mold making. Much of the white color you'll see on the sculpey below is the Milliput gap fulling and general tweaking, and I did the final eye detail in the grey 'procreate' putty so it is already looking a little odd. A next step will be plotting the lines where each section of the mold splits, which ought to make the sculpture even stranger looking.

a detail shot:

As discussed previously, the translucent nature of Sculpey makes it harder for the eye to read the surface, so I have also make monochromatic version of these images and fiddled with the levels yet again, below:

I have a gallon or so of silicone mold making rubber, and seeing how poor Cthulhu has waited aeons for this, I probably shouldn't keep him hanging any longer.

This was meant to be a two-subject blog entry, but the volume of photos might be problematic for the slower modems, so I will simply start a new topic. See you in a few minutes....

~Paul

::Intermission::

Paul Carrick — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 19:30:00 GMT

I've been getting a few nudges about how ol' squidhead is progressing. Busy work, mostly, but nothing too glamorous.

I added a little 'signature' along side the bottom of the base, which was a fun challenge. The lettering reminds me a little of the tags on the bottom of gaming miniatures, a la "ORK WITH SPEAR", and it gave me an appreciation for those that can do the tiny lettering. I tried a newish product called (get ready to laugh) 'Procreate'. Instead of yellow and blue components, it uses white and black to create a neutral grey. It claims to be better than greenstuff by being less sticky and holding detail better, but I don't think this was enough for me to confirm the claim. The grey is easier to read and It's a lot more expensive, I can say that!

I did the sculpting under a large light-up magnifying glass with dental tools. With that magnification, I started to see a number of tiny fissures on the model. I would guess this is most in part to the multiple bakings. So, over the last few days I have been filling the tiny crack with milliput (a two part putty that is easy to sand, carve, and is water soluble before it hardens). I chose milliput because it is easier to get rid of the excess putty that is hard to remove with a tool. I first wipe at it with a wet brush to soften it, then I brush at it with a toothbrush. This seems to feather it out nicely. Whether these fine cracks would even reproduce in the molds, I don't know, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Next up is to fill in the eyelids with the suggestion of an actual ball, then I wanted to adhere a thick sheet of plasticard to the bottom side of the base to give it a nice smooth surface.

In other news, I finished a private commission of a nightgaunt. Many thanks to Barb for her super-angelic levels of patience:

It's 8x10", acrylic on masonite. Next up is another private Mythos commission, this time of Cthulhu, but with some interesting artistic license. I'll be sure to keep everyone posted.

cheers!

~Paul

Am I Evil??

Paul Carrick — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 22:20:00 GMT

A quick update/ check-in...

Perhaps I saw too much of a Laughing Buddha in his eyes, but my focus has been to make the eyes look more malevolent yet not so much to remove the intelligence.

I also added the 'ears' and hints of nostrils. Nothing's baked-in yet.

Thoughts??

~Paul

It has a face!

Paul Carrick — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 22:35:00 GMT

Hello Everyone,

Well, We've eaten out vegetables (all those tentacles) and now it's time for the dessert... the face! As Sculpey has a strange semi-translucence to it, I am trying a black and white photo for better readability. As I understand it, some professionals mix in some grey sculpey to make it more opaque and easier to read when sculpting. I might try that myself next time.

I'm still playing around with the shapes, so I would very much love input from all of you. Even the folks who don't speak up often. I am looking at you, you know who you are.

In other quasi related news.... my art will be hitting the silver... er, well, some sort of screen! What I mean is, my art will be featured in the upcoming documentary Lovecraft: Fear Of the Unknown. It features interviews with Neil Gaiman, John Carpenter, Ramsey Campbell, Guillermo del Toro and a whole bunch more. I am quite honored, to say the least, and it's cool to have my work branch out to yet another medium.

cheers!

~Paul

a Fist Full of Tentacles!

Paul Carrick — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:10:00 GMT

Hey Kids!

I keep forgetting to mention that I have been commissioned to design a Lovecraft themed tattoo, and by one of our regular blog participants (Hello, Matt!). Though this is actually not the first time my art has been translated to this medium, it's the first time I have been there from the design phase and considered the end product while designing it.

For those not familiar, this is the Yellow Sign, associated with none other than Hastur the Unspeakable. Say that three times quickly, I dare you. As soon as I get a photo of the finished product, I'll be sure to share it. It's a very flattering commission to be asked to do!

On to Cthulhu....

I contemplated James' comment about the size of the claws for a while and came to the decision to web the fingers as well as slightly beef up the fingers and enlarge the claws themselves. I think it satisfies both ideas (keeping interesting lines as well as looking more powerful), I hope you agree!

I have also added detail to numerous tentacles. Have a look:

That's it for for now, I look forward to reading what people think.

~Paul

New progress on the "Old One", and something for the young ones...

Paul Carrick — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 03:27:00 GMT

Hello Everyone, time for another update...

For starters, I have a bit of good news. As some of you may know, I occasionally illustrate children's books (which is often a rather amusing detail for those only familiar with my darker work). Somewhere around 2004 I got the idea to write one as well, that way I could have more control over what I was illustrating. It's a long process, let me tell you. The manuscript was
picked up by a publisher, and the artwork was just finished this fall. It's slated for a fall '08 release, which means it might hit shelves some time early/mid summer. Tentatively entitled Watch Out For Wolfgang! Here's a sample page:

It may look like a painting, but it is actually a flat layered sculpture. A hobby of mine is to convert and scratchbuild models for table top miniature wargames (see some here), at some point I found myself being more interested in the 3-d work than the 2d. I realized that if I didn't incorporate this interest into my "real work", I'd be living out on the street because I'd never get any work done. So, using the same materials and techniques (styrene plastic sheets, super glue and acrylic paint), I developed a bas relief style of illustration. This is actually the second book I've illustrated in this medium, Wired, a book about electricity was released last fall. But, Wolfgang is fiction, which allows for much more drama and artistic license. Those familiar with Warhammer 40,000 will discover numerous visual inspiration in this upcoming book.

OK, enough kid's book stuff, I know you're all here for the tentacular horror. I just made that word up.

The sculpture is chugging along. I have completed the second hand, rearranged some tentacles and so forth, focusing mostly on the left arm area. This was a big hurdle, as hands are probably one of the tougher areas next to faces.

a detail shot of the most recent work:

When in doubt, if it's a fleshy area and smooth, I haven't finished that area yet. Next up is a lot of the straggling tentacles, and then finally the head. After that, I may tweak some shapes to help it in the casting process, as long as it doesn't compromise the forms too much.

Though I knew my computer's monitor was a bit on the old side, I hadn't realized how faded it was. I recently heard that they are good (as far as for those who need color and levels to be properly calibrated) for four years. Looking at the back of mine, I learned that mine was nearly ten years old! That would explain why I have been having such a hard time reading various favorite sites. Last week I sold a painting, so I decided I should reinvest that money into a new monitor. Wow, what an amazing difference, the resolution and vividness is a hundredfold better! However, when viewing some recent files of my art, adjusted to look best on my ancient monitor, I have come to discover how awful the scans look on good monitors. If you look on my site, you can see as my monitor ages the more recent scans look odder and odder. So, I am going to have to "re master" a lot of images. I have my work cut out for me.

Between this and getting used to a new camera, I have a lot of learning, experimenting and adjusting to do. How do the new images of the Cthulhu statue look to everyone? How do they compare to previous WIP images? Input would be most useful.

~Paul

News Flash.... displaying artwork this weekend!

Paul Carrick — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 18:43:00 GMT

Hello All!

The Cthulhu statue is still in progress, but I needed to interrupt your daily scheduled surfing to let you know that I will be displaying some of my art (a mixture of the Lovecraftian and some of the more "adult" work not featured on my nightserpent.com web gallery) at the nightclub Machine on Saturday night. Though the art will be for sale, my primary focus is simply to give the artwork more exposure and meet more like-minded people. For those of you in the Boston area, please come by, check out my art and say hello!

~Paul

Here's the scoop on the venue:

Jan. 5th
“End of the world party”
DJ Punketta Doilie
DJ Arcanus
Industrial, EBM, IDM, Electro, Goth, Synthpop, 80’s, New Wave, Darkwave

Bostons newest dark and deviant night.

Shelter the 1st Saturday of every month. An industrial / goth night. Located @ 1254 Boylston St. Boston Ma 02215. 21+ $7 10 pm-10:30pm / 10:30 till close $10.

Dress code: Minimum all black

www.myspace.com/shelterboston

Back to the Third Dimension....

Paul Carrick — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 15:37:00 GMT

Hello!

I've been wanting to make an update for some time, I have almost completed a major project (a children's book that has taken over three years so far, more on that in a future update), so I am able to focus more attention on the Cthulhu sculpture. Between photos that I felt weren't doing justice (I find it challenging to capture the skin texture well on camera) and indecision about which stages were less misleading to the readers in regard to my direction, I experienced a bit of a stalemate for update timing. But, I didn't want the next update to be a jump all the way to the finish, as that defeats one of this blog's purposes: to share the steps of the creation.

I've been thoroughly enjoying this project, the Super Sculpey is quite a forgiving medium and I am learning quite a bit about how to handle it. Getting the skin texture where I like it is the biggest challenge, which is one of the reasons I am leaving the face until last (so I have as much experience under my belt as possible before I get to the most important part). Part of the fun is to decide how the skin behaves in different areas, whether it is stretched over bone, muscle or fat, and then where and how it will wrinkle or fold. My hope is that the variation will break up any monotony.

Enough blabbing... without further ado:

It might be a little hard to tell which parts are done and which aren't, but I am essentially working from the recesses out. It feels more practical to work in this direction, especially with all the overlapping layers. I unknowingly made things a bit more challenging for myself by weaving a number of the elements, as some parts can be both above and below another.

I've probably done four bakings since the last update, you can see that the tip of the head is getting nice and toasty, No problem, as I will resurface that before the last baking. I've focused on the arms & hands, "inner" tentacles and wings so far. I have also added a few improvisations, like bits of blubbery skin peeking out of the gaps of limbs and tentacles, putting him a little more back in line with the text's description.

I repeatedly invert the sculpture and try to imagine where any air might get trapped when I get to pouring the resin. It's a challenge to balance what looks best and what casts best. Though I am trying to eliminate some problems, I suspect it might take some trial and error in the mold making process. My guess is that it will take more than two sections to allow several vents to increase flow.

I'd love to hear what everyone thinks. Back to the Sculpey....

~Paul

Returned and recuperating! (image intensive)

Paul Carrick — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 14:55:00 GMT

Hello All!

I'll try to keep this under epic length, but I have a lot to share. Phew, what a trip! Fast and frantic, but quite enjoyable indeed. We landed in Frankfurt, Germany and then rented a car (bless whoever made the GPS, what a useful tool) and headed south to Heidelberg to have lunch with a friend. It's a cool medieval town complete with cobblestone streets and a castle looming overhead. Late that night we arrived in Yverdon Les Bains, the town where the hotel and museum was.

Yverdon Les Bains, Pestalozzi Place (it seemed sort of like a market square surrounded by shops and cafes):

The Maison d'Ailleurs (the House of Elsewhere), the museum front:

The museum is deceivingly large, with four floors for exhibition. They are now in the midst of construction, building a bridge to the second floor of that cafe to the left, enabling them to have multiple exhibits at the same time.

We decided to shoot out to the H.R. Giger museum in Gruyere, about an hour or so towards the center of Switzerland. It's a beautiful drive with lots of pastoral scenes, tiled ancient houses... everything picture perfect.

The hills started getting larger and larger, until it looked more like one might expect to see in Switzerland. We found ourself outside Gruyere, a medieval walled town on top of a hill. It's a real time warp! One has to park at the base and take a small path up the hill, passing small pastures with sheep and chicken grazing.

Inside the walls is a cozy village, complete with a castle, ringing bells, cobblestone streets and all the fondue you can eat (warning: not a good idea!!):

This is all a bit of a setup, because only a few blocks down you'll stumble upon the H.R. Giger bar and museum, which is quite the contrast. I later learned that Giger has always dreamed of owning a castle, so it's easy to see why he'd chose this area. He also wants a train, we can only hope that wish is granted as well.

First, we went for refreshments at the Giger bar, entirely decorated in his classic Alien-esque biomechanical style. Vaulted vertebrae ceilings, skeletal thrones, even custom floor tiles.

Bev models a throne:

Aside from the bar and a few sculptures outside the museum, photos were not allowed. Sufficed to say, it was very thorough and contained a lot of his classic paintings and sculptures, including sketches and full suits from the Aliens movies. What surprised me the most was that a number of his paintings were massive mural-like sizes. I guess from seeing them in books for a couple decades, I've come used to them being small in size.

Time to return back to Yverdon and get ready for opening night. The museum, as large was it was with around 400 or so pieces on exhibit, was packed! The concept was to broaden the vision to artists and artistic approaches not normally associated with the classic Lovecraftian imagery. I would describe a majority to be more of a 'cartoon' nature, even using a bit of humor in the artwork. So, only a handful were representing that traditional angle, I was honored to help represent the old guard. Not only were there paintings, but eerie music, spoken word and several films and documentaries on loop in viewing areas. One of my favorite parts was a couple of glass display tables with a complete collection of the artifacts that would have been present in the Call of Cthulhu short story. Everything from newspaper articles to ship logs, it was extremely thorough and authentic looking. I was told later that there was one true piece in the collection, a postcard from Lovecraft himself!

Patrick Gyger, the museum director, led us though the maze of art and people to the four paintings. I was doubly honored to see that my artwork was exhibited adjacent to Giger's works, himself. Honored and intimidated is more like it! It was interesting to see my art after a couple months, and work always looks better with a mat and frame. I thought they looked quite nice, though I feel like I've grown since I've done them... I guess that's to be expected if I am to keep developing.

Here I am am, sizing up my rival.

And, me explaining that I am not Mr. Giger:

I found it very interesting to see how other artists approached the same entries from the Commonplace book. One artist also chose "Azathoth", and drew a cartoon of a soccer player with an "Azathoth" jersey. I also got to meet some interesting people there, including the director of the Giger museum. After the show, a nice dinner was provided for all involved. It was a good opportunity to get to know people better and share our experiences.

More images of the exhibit itself can be seen at these two flickr galleries:

www.flickr.com/photos/17019577@N08/

href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/17313207@N06/" target="_blank"> www.flickr.com/photos/17313207@N06/

The next morning we said out goodbyes and set off for France. Here I am with Patrick Gyger, the Maison d'Ailleurs director. If Patrick hadn't somehow found my site and invited me, I wouldn't have had this wonderful experience:

The image on the right was the official graphic for the show, I find it quite striking, but it is best not to stare at it directly for too long.

We then drove west through steep mountains across the border into France and then Paris, itself. To make up for missing Halloween, we visited the Catacombs and Notre Dame cathedral. A fair exchange, I thought. I found the catacombs to be rather surreal, and I couldn't fully comprehend the vastness of the remains. We're talking millions of skulls and bones along miles of tunnels. It makes any Warhammer illustrations look like a Garfield cartoon.

The tunnels, which were once mines under the city, later became a mass tomb to deal with the overflow of bodies due to the plague. The long bones and skulls form walls about 4-5 feet high, and all the smaller bones are placed behind the retaining walls. The skulls are often arranged in various patterns or designs.

Notre Dame was impressively huge and ornate. I felt a bit sorry for those that were there to worship, as the hordes of tourists must be intensely distracting and diluting. I was told that they close off some parts for services, which made me feel a bit better. We were too late to go upstairs and see the gargoyles up close, but, on an optimistic note, because that day was nonstop rain we got to see the rain spouts doing what they were meant to do.

We saw saw several reliquaries, jewel encrusted pieces containing remnants of saints and other servants of the church. This looked like an engraved arm bone:

Though I didn't buy any souvenirs, we were rear-ended by a Parisian taxi cab. Just a bit of local flavor to take with us. The cabs, scooters and bikes outdid any crazy homicidal Boston or New York driving that I have ever seen. With that, we headed north to castle country. Pierrefonds, to be exact, the most perfect example of a castle, in my opinion. In order to storm it, you'd have to travel a ramp that encircles the entire structure, which involves about five big gates and portcullus, as well as a treacherously deep moat. All the while along is an exhausting number of arrow slits. It's far from giving anyone a sporting chance! I even saw a few cannonballs lodged into the outer walls, looking rather ineffective.

If I had been able to read French, I would have known to not pet the gargoyles:

The drawbridge and final gate into the courtyard.

From there, we headed though Belgium and on to the Netherlands for our final nights in Europe. Though it involved a lot of driving, we had a wonderful time. It was exactly what I was looking for, I wanted some stimulation by being immersed in different cultures and locations. I enjoyed the challenge of trying to communicate with people and navigate unfamiliar highways and streets (except for perhaps the wee hours of the night when I just wanted to sleep).

I'd easily say that the trip was a success in all ways, and I couldn't help but think of you guys and how much your help and support meant. Next up, aside from getting over jet-lag, we're back to the Cthulhu statue. I hope you'll join me.

sincerely,

~Paul

Another show, and surface detail started

Paul Carrick — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:40:00 GMT

When it rains, it pours! From no show to one.. and now two in the same month! I will be displaying five paintings at the Mystical Art and Talent Show on October 13 at the Cambridge Swedenborg Chapel in Cambridge (Harvard Square area), Mass. Four of the five paintings will be from my Lovecraft collection (not the pieces for the Swiss show, but my Call of Cthulhu illustrations). Though my art isn't often considered spiritual in the classical sense, there will be an interesting connection because of Lovecraft's 'Dreamlands'. I suspect that my art will serve as an interesting contrast to the rest of the work displayed, as it will likely have a darker tone in general. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend. I am a bit bummed about this, I was very much looking forward to seeing how people interpreted the paintings, especially in that context. I know a few of you are in the Mass area, perhaps some of you can check it out.

I have started working on the surface detail of the Cthulhu portion of the sculpture, and it's a lot of fun. The trick, I find, is to work the surface to suggest bone and muscle under the rubbery flesh as well as give a sense of how squishy the octopoid skin is. I first start by carving off (via x-acto and dremel) approx 1/8" of the surface clay, and cover it with a similarly thick sheet of new clay. Then, I started working in the folds and forms (muscle and bone). Part of the challenge has been to pick which areas to work on, first. I tend to want to work the deepest recesses first and work outwards, though a lot of these limbs and tentacles overlap one another, so it's not as cut and dry a choice as I'd like.

Then, once the shape is to my liking, I started dragging various tools over the surface to suggest the creases and wrinkles, which also aid as a way to help describe the form and movement. Then, for variety, I used some lighter tools to hint at even finer creases.

A side effect of this technique is little ridges and tiny fuzzy bits, these can be eliminated (prior to baking) by lightly brushing on some turpenoid (a less toxic turpentine), it sort of melts the clay. It's really tricky, I might add, I am still struggling with the technique, but it can really work out well when it does.

Here are some photos in order of the process. I have applied the turpenoid on the second grouping, second shot, and you'll likely note the difference.

You'll note that some of the little balls still remain, I have been picking these off after the bake. Though multiple bakings can start to cause cracks and other damage, I prefer to 'lock' in detail with bakings so I don't absent mindedly ruin it later while working on another section. Cracks can be glued and filled later.

~Paul

A Possible Fix?

Paul Carrick — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 13:55:00 GMT

It seems if it weren't for the Iron Cross issue, most people would prefer the simple points. I kept thinking of ways to modify the corners, but why not just add more points to the sides? Todd/Bellygrub had suggested modifying the points themselves, but I wondered if that might make it too busy in the corners. Yet, I think it encouraged me in the direction of adding rather than subtracting (the circular cut-outs) to remedy the problem.

So, in this image we have the current state, a photo-shopped restoration to the original basic four points, and a photo-shopped possible fix.... adding 4 simple points to the sides.

Better? Worse? Neither?

~Paul

Base detail and a question

Paul Carrick — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 17:44:00 GMT

I have a quick update and a question about a detail...

Here's the front side of the base, showing the broken elder sign:

turning clockwise, there are jawless skulls on the other sides of the base:

another rotation:

The final skull is just the teeth, as a tentacle covers the bulk of the skull. I am now adding angular points into the crook of the trim. I can't decide whether to leave it as a simple point, or whether to us the more stylized version with the circular cutaways. There's something nice about the simple points, though it occurred to me that it might look too much like an Iron Cross... does anyone think that would be an issue? It's a charged icon for some, and I don't want to cross (no pun intended) signals. The second style is a nice shape, too.

Here we see one of each along the bottom border:

What do you think??

~Paul

Whittling Away At Evil...

Paul Carrick — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 20:23:00 GMT

I've been building up the armature in clay to a point where I feel I am ready to start working on the outer later and it's details. I kept adding mass and shifting and then locked it in with a partial bake. Once dry, I'd carve parts away until it looked right. Much like the back and forth process I do with 2D painting, adding and subtracting in finer and finer tunings until I was pleased.

Enough blabbing, here's the last two phases...

Below, I am still building up the main mass and focusing on the shape as a whole:

Below is my most recent bake, I am fine tuning the shapes and starting to improvise a little. Things might look good in a sketch, but there are always some tweaks to be made once it is fully realized in three dimensions. Plus, allowing for some spontaneity add to the enjoyment for me, otherwise it can be a bit of a redundant chore.

For those curious, I have taken a snapshot of the tools I've been using with the Super Sculpey:

I hope everyone can recognize the top item, I use the toothbrush to remove dust and chips of dried Sculpey, as a dusty surface makes it hard to get additional layers to adhere.

The next two are common loops for removing soft clay, they come in various rounded and angular shapes.

Below the loops are typical clay sculpting tools, the lower one has a rubber tip, which is good for softer impressions.

Last, a classic X-Acto blade, which I use to carve the hardened clay.

In other news, the Museum has sent me a more updated list of participants (listed below). As expected with any large group projects, some have dropped out. Probably because of other obligations (work, family, etc), or perhaps they couldn't meet the deadline. I know I cut it pretty close, myself!

"Albertine // Albin // Aeron Alfrey // Sylvain Amacher // Fred Bastide // Jose Antonio Bautista // Bénédicte // Noah Berlatsky // Stephan Bersier // Bertschy // Christian Bili // Enrique Bonet // Eric Braün // Benjamin Bron // Gabriel Br. // Giacomo Carmagnola // Paul Carrick // Caza // Daniel Ceni // Jean-Michel Cholette // Gilles Christinat // Cosey // John Coulthart // Marc Da Cunha Lopes // Brendan Danielsson // Guy Davis // Antoine Déprez // René Donais // Randy DuBurke // Antoine Duplan // Kevin Evans // Léonard Felix // Deak Ferrand // Grégoire Fontana // Mathias Forbach // Fufu Frauenwahl // Fritz & Ángel Olivera // Hugues Lapaire // Stephan Gaudin // Gess // H. R. Giger // Thomas Gilbert // Goomi // Gnot Guedin // Antoine Guex // Alban Guillemois // Gwabryel // Karen Ichters // Anna-Maria Jung // Julien Kaeser // Jean-Philippe Kalonji // Thomas Koenig // Körner Union // Krum // Muriel Liénard // Guillaume Long // Denis Martin // Guillaume Mayor // Laurent Mettraux // Berivan Meyer // Yves Milet-Desfougères // Monsieur Mishimoto // Mix & Remix // Fabian Moreillon // Sebastián Mulero // Jason Murphy // Julien Noirel // Johan Nowasad // Noyau // David Paleo // Fernando Pascual // Nancy Peña // Yann Perrelet // Stéphane Pichot // Nicolas Pitz // Plonk et Replonk // Alexandre Pointet // Mark Prent // Björn Quiring // Richard Raaphorst // Nadia Raviscioni // Jeff Remmer // Émile Roduit // François Rouiller // Jérémie Royer // David Saavedra // Patrick Saradar // Rick Sardinha // Irène Schoch // Andrés Soria // Laurence Suhner // Erwann Surcouf // Olivier Texier // Jason Thompson // Tom Tirabosco // Tito // Régis Tosetti // Walder // Anne Wilsdorf //

Catalogue (128 pages, 90 illustrations) with original fiction by
Terry Bisson // David Collin // Paul Di Filippo // Eugène // Valerio Evangelisti //
Jacques Finné // Jeffrey Ford // Philippe Forêt // Pierre-Yves Lador // H. H. Løyche // James Morrow // Christopher Priest // Lucius Shepard // Norman Spinrad // Ian Watson

The exhibit will also present The Call of Cthulhu, a film by the H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society, Le cas Lovecraft, a documentary by Patrick Mario Bernard and Pierre Trividic, a radio listening station organized by Sonar/Espace 2, and a series of interactive fictions imagined by Jon Ingold (Dead Cities), Peter Nepstad (Ecdysis), David Whyld (The Cellar), Eric Forgeot, Hugo Labrande, JB, Samuel Verschelde and Jean-Luc Pontico (Lieux Communs), as well as Ruben Nieto, Juan Saldalgo, Santiago Eximeno, Javier Carrascosa and Pablo Martínez Merino (El Museo de las Consciencias)."

Until next time...

~Paul

The paintings are gone, and now for the sculpture...

Paul Carrick — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 15:53:00 GMT

With the four pieces ready to go, I packed them up and sent them off. After putting so much effort and time into them, I was a little surprised at how unceremonious the shipping process was. Not that I expected fanfare, but the clerk didn't even look over my form... I wasn't left with a whole lot of confidence in it's safe delivery. I guess I am a little paranoid, but I had a cover painting snapped in half by UPS before. As you can imagine, I made a fairly durable box for these paintings.

Here's one more look, one last scan of each before the shipping:

I am happy to report that the artwork arrived quickly and safely. They seemed very pleased with what I had sent them. *PHEW!!!*

My promo savvy friends have encouraged me to write a press release. Evidently, there are places where these can be submitted where others can pick them up and use for related publications (magazines, papers, websites, and so forth). It's free content for them, and great advertising for me. If you're curious, you can see it here. If you have any ideas or suggestions for where I should submit it, I'd very much appreciate it.

Along a similar vein, the museum asked me to write a small bio, I suppose for the exhibit, catalog and site. They wanted short, as they felt people were more likely to read them:

Paul Carrick was born and raised on the small island of Martha's Vineyard, located off the coast of Massachusetts in the United States. His parents, Donald and Carol Carrick, were an artist/author team for many children's books, some of which included Paul as a character, based on his actual childhood adventures. Paul eagerly took to art at an early age, and would entertain himself for hours by creating terrible monsters on the page, and not much has changed. Another favorite pastime was role playing games, and a favorite was Call of Cthulhu, based on Lovecraft's universe. After High School, Paul attended the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, earning a BFA with a major in illustration. While in Providence, Paul became more familiar with Lovecraft's writings, and it had an added level of interest to know that many of the tales took place only blocks from where he read them. Since art school, Paul has created hundreds of illustrations for games, music and fantasy publications as well as some children's books of his own.

After a slight break, I realized it was time to return to the Cthulhu statue. Here's a few shots of the progress so far:

I created a rough armature out of armature wire (a fairly soft thick wire, I assume it has aluminum in it) and aluminum foil to comprise the main bulk. After this, I cover the armature with a thin layer of 'Super Sculpey' (a fairly common polymer clay that bakes to harden). The third step is building up more of the actual form. I expect to be in this phase for a few more steps.... carving away and adding bulk until I get it where I want. I haven't been baking it all the way, because multiple full bakings can result in burning the clay. I just want to slightly harden it to keep it in place. When it is where I like it, I will thin it down a bit and then cover it with it's final 'skin', this is where all the details will happen. Then, the final bake.

OK, I guess that's all for now!

~Paul

Lavinia... finished?

Paul Carrick — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 23:39:00 GMT

Every time I come close to completion of a painting or sculpture, I think of the famous Leonardo da Vinci quote:

"Art is never finished, only abandoned."

I suppose this could be taken as a gloomy kind of sentiment, though I find it rather comforting. There's always a risk of putting too much work into a piece, over-working it and ending up with something stiff and contrived. It's better to move on and explore new ideas and techniques. The trick is deciding when to let go. I think for Lavinia, I am quite close, if not completely ready. One of the positive sides of deadlines, is that your hand is eventually forced to let go, ready or not. Open-ended projects can be dangerous, as you might be tempted to never stop working on a single piece.

Though I am highly critical of my work, and rarely satisfied, I am happy with a number of things about the piece. I like the softness (hard to achieve in acrylic, I find), the bubbly textures, and the sense of silvery light. I also like the degree of uncertainty about the relationship between the two. I'd love to know what you think!

Speaking of deadlines, all four pieces have to be in the museum's hands by September first... and that's coming quite soon! I hope to revisit each piece and give them some final adjustments and tweaks. I'll then take them to be professionally scanned, both as a backup in case of some mishap (shipping, etc), but I won't see these paintings for at least six months- I might need a hi-res copy for some reason or another. Then it's time to ship.

Until next time...

~Paul

update (software oddness)

Paul Carrick — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:23:00 GMT

In my last update, Lavinia, I wrote it out in a couple sittings, saving the draft in between. Evidently, if I publish from a saved draft, it will not go out as a notification to all the subscribers. I can't make sense of this, but there you have it. So, this is my way of notifying the subscribers.... update time!

~Paul

Lavinia...

Paul Carrick — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 22:38:00 GMT

For my last piece, I chose this entry from Lovecraft's commonplace book:

"An sint unquam daemones incubi et succubae, et an ex tali congressu proles nasci queat?"
I guess I was attracted to the semi-obscurity of Latin, and a challenge to make the best of whatever the meaning ended up being. Using an online translator, it crudely breaks down to:

"Have there ever been demons, incubi and succubae, and from such a union can offspring be born?"

or

"Can it be that demons, incubi and succubi were to be at some time, in such encounters so as to be able to give birth to offspring."

Still a bit vague, then I remembered that two of my friends studied Latin, and this is one of their replies:

"My translation works out to something like, "Have there existed spirits (or demons), incubi and succubae (crazy medieval sex demons), and can progeny be born of such congress?" Basically, "are there demons, and if we have sex with them, what kind of crazy-ass babies will that make?" It was a wild time, that sixteenth century."

The Latin phrase itself ended up in Lovecraft's short story, the Horror at Red Hook. ( wiki page) The actual line wasn't a very integral part of the story, so I didn't feel bound to illustrating a specific scene. I pondered about how I would portray the concept, and after a while I settled on an image of the demon/human as an embryo. After a couple days of painting, it just wasn't doing much for me. Maybe it felt too much like an editorial piece, I don't know, but my heart just wasn't in it. But, then what? I was suffering a bit from painter's block, and I was feeling pressure from both time and the idea that this was my last piece... my last chance to make an impact at the show. As the last two pieces were only loosely 'Lovecraftian'. I had the urge to have the painting more tied in with his well-know works. Then, it hit me, there is another story of his that has a human breeding with something quite inhuman.... the Dunwich Horror. In this story, the Outer God Yog Sothoth (a link to a previous painting of mine) impregnates the albino backwater witch, Lavinia Whateley. Perfect, I had always loved that story, and had hoped to return to it in some way.

And, so after a couple day's of work, I give you an in-progress shot of Lavinia at the point of conception:

As much of my 'Mythos' art is greyscale, I thought it might be nice to have that represented in my contribution to the show. Classically speaking, an incubus/succubus is a demon or spirit that assumes a seductive form and uses that diversion to drain sexual energy from their human victims while they sleep.

As a related side, some years ago I was introduced to Robert Bruce (not to be confused with Robert the Bruce), the foremost authority in astral projection. We had talked about collaborating, I would illustrate what he saw in his astral travels. As a visual aid for the publishers, he described one of the entities... an incubus/succubus. Mr. Bruce told me that they are the same thing, and they assume the appropriate form during that seduction. However, their true form is more like this:

Unfortunately, illustrations were simply not in the budget for that project, but we have chatted about other ones in the future. Hopefully an opportunity will present itself. What made that project so interesting is that it reminded me of the very early wildlife illustrations before cameras, where the creatures were described firsthand from the explorers.

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

~Paul

Son of 20,001 Leagues Under the Sea...

Paul Carrick — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 01:19:00 GMT

I think this piece is at the stage to put it down for a while and get going with the final piece. If I have time, which I hope I do, I will go through with a final pass of tweaks. Considering the limitations, I think this scan is fairly accurate, at least on my 'antique' monitor. I've been experimenting with the various unexplained settings, and seem to be improving.

Excitement is building for the trip and show, I've neither been to Europe (save for a day in London), nor have I seen my art hang on walls outside a class or trade show. I've been learning more about the other participants. Aside from H.R. Giger and John Howe, there are other artists I am familiar with. Caza, a well known European graphic novel artist, in the same vein as Moebius and Druillet. James Gurney, creator of the best selling Dinotopia children's books. Dave McKean, comic artist (Sandman). Also, interestingly enough, a number of film makers, I am interested to see exactly how they will contribute. Most notably, Guillermo Del Toro, director of films like Pan's Labyrinth, Blade 2 and many more. It's going to be one humbling night, that's for sure! Between the new surroundings, culture, great art and great company, I expect total sensory overload.

~Paul

20,001 Leagues Under the Sea part two... or is that 20,002 leagues?

Paul Carrick — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 22:54:00 GMT

Another work in progress shot to show how how it's evolving....

I'm having a good time getting lost in various textures and forms, giving just enough information to hint at what we are seeing, yet allowing plenty of room for the imagination to do it's thing. Please let me know what you think!

~Paul

20,001 Leagues Under the Sea

Paul Carrick — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:34:00 GMT

As the nucleus painting began to take form, I felt it was best to move on to the next to make sure all of the paintings get a fair level of attention. Then, when they are all at a similar level, I can go back in and make final adjustments.

Next up, from the Commonplace Book:

"#27 Life and Death Death—its desolation and horror—bleak spaces—sea-bottom—dead cities. But Life—the greater horror! Vast unheard-of reptiles and levia-thans—hideous beasts of prehistoric jungle—rank slimy vegetation—evil in-stincts of primal man—Life is more horrible than death. "

For those of you not familiar with Lovecraft, he was quite Xenophobic. One of his biggest fears, to my knowledge, was fish. So, the ideas of the Great Cthulhu and the fish-like Deep Ones is a little more easily understood as sources of horror. Likewise, a chaotic seascape of writhing and alien species seems like a rather disturbing concept for him as well. So, this is what I have set out to do...

Still in a relatively dark phase of the process, I hope you can somewhat make out the direction I have taken. Various exotic sealife, writhing eels, jellyfish, crustaceans, strange fungal growths and a looming raylike creature looming overhead. Here and there are vague remnants of crumbling brickwork, suggesting it was perhaps once inhabited by men.

~Paul

'Nucleus' coming along...

Paul Carrick — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 01:56:00 GMT

I think this one is getting pretty close to the end, just some more tweaking here and there. I tried to make the face less obvious, add some mist/smoke, roots coming through the ceiling hole to convey the idea that this is underground, and tightened up overall.

I look forward to your thoughts!

Color-wise this is probably the most accurate scan of this painting so far.

I'm trying to not think about the time I have left to paint all four pieces, but the concept does cross my mind from time to time. They have to be in Switzerland by Sept 1, so I have to allow for shipping time and scanning on my end (I want to have good scans for my own records. Not only will I likely not see the originals back for about a year, but it's good insurance for any unfortunate mishaps).

~Paul

Where'd my brain go?

Paul Carrick — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 18:07:00 GMT

A 'nucleus' update...

As I suggested earlier, the brain just wasn't doing it for me. Lobotomy time! Maybe it was too human looking while at the same time not giving the viewer enough to connect with emotionally. So, I have gone with something vaguely eye-like (and perhaps even face-like), while blurring the lines between flesh and stone. I kept reminding myself that this thing is not a defined earthly being, nor is it defined as something that even operates on similar laws (physics, etc). With that in mind, I feel more free to just paint what feels right, and not be bound by any rules or guidelines other than Lovecraft's single sentence. This combination of freedom, everyone's support and comments and the anticipation of the museum experience has been making this an extremely enjoyable experience!
~Paul