AZATHOTH PROGRESS PART 4

The inking is half done! If you compare the pencils to the inks, you can see I cleaned up some things and added a few more details as I went.

AZATHOTH PROGRESS PART 3

Here are the first steps in inking my massive Azathoth drawing. There is a ton of detail in this one so it took a long time to complete this stage. Definitely longer than the drawing stage which can be loose and experimental. My inking is tight and controlled. 

You can see my technique in this video. 

AZATHOTH PROGRESS PART 2

So I know it seems like a bit of a jump to go from the thumbnail to the finished drawing but I really didn't do much planning with this one. I got al basic idea of shape and motion and then used stream of consciousness to draw. Like I've stated before this is the largest single monster I've ever drawn. It's on two pieces of 14"x 17" paper taped together. Not the most ideal art situation, I know, but as long as I can scan it and clean it up it works for me. 

I also tried to design my Azathoth to reveal different "faces" depending on how you turn that paper and look at it. So, if flipped horizontally, you may see faces that weren't as apparent when you first looked. I wanted to incorporate all sorts of monstrous elements as well; wings, fangs, fins, claws, scales etc. My thinking was that this creep is the thing at the center of the universe that's possibly dreaming us all, so it'd incorporate all sorts of bits and parts. I'll post some close ups once we get to more advanced stages.

Next up...I start inking!

AZATHOTH PROGRESS PART 1

Here's the very first baby-step towards my version of Azathoth. It's a super quick thumbnail I did in the margins of my sketchbook. It was inspired by a paint spatter on a sidewalk in South Philly. The finished drawing doesn't really look much like this but I really wanted to remember and capture that swirling spatter. 

News...

Hey everyone! I know it's been quiet here since the Hoard Of the Gibbelins went up for sale (only 3 copies remain!) but I haven't been idle. I've been working on the very last Lovecraftian monster I have left to draw....that's right AZATHOTH!!! 

"Outside the ordered universe is that amorphous blight of nethermost confusion which blasphemes and bubbles at the center of all infinity—the boundless daemon sultan Azathoth, whose name no lips dare speak aloud, and who gnaws hungrily in inconceivable, unlighted chambers beyond time and space amidst the muffled, maddening beating of vile drums and the thin monotonous whine of accursed flutes."

-H.P. Lovecraft, The Dream-Quest Of Unknown Kadath

If you're wondering why this one is taking so long, it's because it's the most complex and largest creature I've ever drawn for this blog. So, what I'll be doing is posting progress shots. From sketch to pencils, from inked to flat color, all the way to the final rendered piece. 

In other news, I'll have a new zine coming out in August. It'll be Stories From the Borderland II collecting the 6 essays and 7 monsters from my project with Scott Nicolay! 

I'll also have a very exciting item up for sale at the same time.....Seventh Church Ministries t-shirts!!

Stay tuned for more details on both and for progress shots on Azathoth! 

DOWN TO THE FINAL FIVE COPIES!!!

ON SALE NOW!!!

ONLY 5 COPIES REMAIN!!!

The Hoard Of the Gibbelins
First edition limited to 50. Release date: 5/25/2018
AVAILABLE FRIDAY MAY 25TH 11AM EST

Shipping incl.

USA $22.00 USD Canada $23.70 USD World $27.50 USD

BASTET

BASTET
"What was the land of these wanderers none could tell; but it was seen that they were given to strange prayers, and that they had painted on the sides of their wagons strange figures with human bodies and the heads of cats, hawks, rams, and lions. And the leader of the caravan wore a head-dress with two horns and a curious disc betwixt the horns."

H.P. Lovecraft, The Cats Of Ulthar

"Bastet was the goddess of the domestic cat, loving and faithful, in contrast to the lion-goddess Sekhmet, who stood for all the fury of which the cat family is capable."

Charles Freeman, The Legacy Of Ancient Egypt

"She was depicted as a woman with a cat's head, carrying a sistrum."
Veronica Ions, Egyptian Mythology

ISIS

ISIS

"Then we knew that we were done with Saracen Cairo, and that we must taste the deeper mysteries of primal Egypt—the black Khem of Re and Amen, Isis and Osiris."

H.P. Lovecraft & Harry Houdini, Under the Pyramids

"At other times he was seen protecting the deceased (Osiris or others identified with him)with long feathery wings. Most often Isis was represented as a woman with a throne on her head. At other times her headdress was a disk flanked by feathers and cow's horns. "

"Accompanied by seven protective serpents, she took refuge in the swamps of Buto and there gave birth to Horus."
Veronica Ions, Egyptian Mythology

"Snakes of all types are sacred to Isis and were used in Her rites, often being carried processions."
DeTracy Regula, The Mysteries Of Isis

SEKHMET

SEKHMET

"What was the land of these wanderers none could tell; but it was seen that they were given to strange prayers, and that they had painted on the sides of their wagons strange figures with human bodies and the heads of cats, hawks, rams, and lions. And the leader of the caravan wore a head-dress with two horns and a curious disc betwixt the horns."

H.P. Lovecraft, The Cats Of Ulthar

"Drinking from it she was eventually lulled to sleep, and the slaughter ceased. The fury lived on in the goddess Sekhmet, the lion goddess, who was always worshiped at the edge of the desert where lions came to find water."

Charles Freeman, The Legacy Of Ancient Egypt

Sekhmet was usually represented as a woman with the head of a lioness wearing the solar disk and the uraeus;"
Veronica Ions, Egyptian Mythology

DORFF

DORFF

"It twitched it’s fat body to indicate the carrying pouch growing on its back between its furry shoulders."

"Then it drew its eyelids up over its oystery eyes and nodded upward, the dorff 

gesture of negation.”

“Their grayish skin had turned a faint blue, and their eyes were more than usually oyster-like.”

“The elder’s pink mouth whiskers were trembling with emotional intensity.”

“At least, half their constitution is, well, you could call it electrical.”

Margaret St.Clair, Marriage Manual