Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

 Hello Again, everybody!  I have apparently been doing this for two years now, and I figured I would commemorate my anniversary with some Inktober Inking, Some Ghostbusters, and my own spin on a classic monster.  Above is my first in a series of images commemorating the ghostbusters, with theis first one showing off Egon. A better scan is coming.

And here we have a first look at a lead character from a new comic project of mine.  Here is my vampire.

Love to monsters.
Happy Halloween!

I'm Only Creepy on Paper

I'm Only Creepy on Paper

OooooOOOOoooohhhh!

 Today, I've made a special piece in honor of Halloween.  Here is a drawing honoring the classic Universal Monsters alongside their "recent" re-interpretations.

Rough grays

Just Lines.
Can you guess where they all come from?

Creators: Ray Harryhausen

Creators

A growing list of influential artists, writers, poets, filmmakers, and creatives.

Ray Harryhausen

This week, I've come back to the blogging game, and I couldn't think of doing a creators post about anyone other than Ray Harryhausen (1920-2013), the father of special effects and stop motion animation.  The man is responsible for the state of digital effects we have today due to his own innovation and implementation of stop motion effects.  Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and so many others wouldn't have been inspired to create bigger without the movies the Harryhausen added his magic to.

But enough talk, lets get to showing off why Ray will never be forgotten.

Mighty Joe Young (1949)

Now lets be clear, he didn't invent the process of stop motion animation.  Willis H. O'Brien invented the process for the film The Lost World (1925) and made famous in King Kong (1933).  Harryhausen was inspired by what he saw, and decided to get into animating.  What Ray did with stop-motion that set him apart was his ability to integrate complex creatures and actions into equally complex live-action sequences.  Mighty Joe Young was just the beginning.

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms  (1953)

 

This one has one of my favorite Harryhausen creatures.  Who doesn't love a giant rampaging lizard.

It Came From Beneath the Sea (1955)

You don't really need a plot for this one.  Giant octopus attacks San Francisco: GO.  Here we see Harryhausen's love of tentacled monsters first come out.  We'll see more of this later.

The Animal World (1956)

 Now here is a gem.  This sequence is full of old science and illogical anatomy, but Ray makes you believe those movements.  its in the details, the moving while remaining still that trick you into thinking its alive.

This brief clip was a test for one of his dream jobs, animating effects for a War of the Worlds rendition.  Sadly it never happened, but its still neat to see an animators fan art.  So lets move on from giant raidioactive monsters and get fantastic.

Earth Vs the Flying Saucers (1956)

No tentacles here, just spinning saucers.  Highly influential on Tim Burton, I must say.

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)

This is all kinds of Harryhausen awesome.  I love the movement of the cyclops the most.  Take a moment to realize that he had to think of these movements one frame at a time, at 30 frames per second. 

Mysterious Island  (1961)

Watch for the bee, its amazing.

Jason and the Argonauts (1963)

 Dynarama!

Now here is the most jaw dropping scene Ray ever did, in my opinion.  just enjoy it.

One Million Years BC(1966)

Dinosaurs and Raquel Welch: what more could anyone ask?

The Valley of Gwangi (1969)

 Gotta love Cowboys and dinosaurs. Watch that tail swish!

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974)

Six armed sword fighting goddess... Take that General Grievous!

Clash of the Titans (1981)

Here we have arguably the most famous of his works.  Here we see Harryhausen, going out in style, by pulling out every trick he learned in his career: undulating snakes, flapping birds, jittery insects, graceful men, and twitching tentacles.  Here is the last example of his patented Dynarama, being put to good use.  I think his mind always existed in myth and fantasy; in the distant past or far into the future.  He lived through his imagination so we could expand our own.

Lets send him off right.  We'll miss you Ray.

Creators: Guy Davis

Creators

A growing list of inspirational Artists, Writers, Filmmakers, and Poets.

Guy Davis

 Guy Davis is an American comic artist who's developed a knack for drawing lots of things I end up reading. His work tends to be in horror comics with lots of monsters, which is both a good thing for him as well as for us. 

 I actually had the good fortune to meet Mr. Davis in Columbus, OH at The S.P.A.C.E small press comic expo in 2010.  It was my first experience at any kind of comic convention or expo or anything.  Comics as a proffession had just entered my radar, and was fairly inexperienced in reading them profusely.  I saw his table and was instantly drawn in by the character and tactile nature of his lines. As soon as I walked over, he politely said hello and smiled.  I looked over the original work he had out and said, "Your work is beautiful."  I gave him a copy of this Mini-comic I did for the expo, and in return he gave me, "One of his," Issue 1 of BPRD: King of Fear. This first interaction with a comic professional has been mirrored many times in their politeness and courtesy.

Since that meeting I have spent alot of time and money buying up and reading his run on BPRD and checking out his own work, The Marquis, both of which I recommend.  Davis' style is wealthy in personality texture, stemming from his self taught background.  once you see a face, or a hand drawn by Guy Davis, you'll know his work anywhere you see it.

Look at the Cris-crossing crescent lines that he uses to give both flabby texture and shape to his bizarre creatures.  Reading his pictures is like watching a well lit monster movie where every scale and wart stands out.

from "BPRD: Garden of Souls

"Garden of Souls"

My favorite works by him are the BPRD series "Garden of Souls" and the followup "Killing Ground."  In my opinion, they are great examples of how his monstrous skill can be used to give heart and soul to ghosts, monsters, and fish-men.

Check him out!