Monster Mania Artist Commentary - Angry Fish

Many of my Monster Mania drawings begin as doodles on post-it notes. This drawing of an angry fish is one such drawing. I don’t keep a sketchbook, but I often draw quick sketches on post-it notes or scraps of paper whenever inspiration strikes. This divine inspiration usually happens when I’m trying to go to sleep. The image of a monster will pop into my head, and I have to leap out of bed to capture the creature on paper. I don’t draw sketches to get better at drawing. I draw sketches to remember ideas for drawings. I’ve found that drawing doodles and writing notes help reinforce my memory. 








Popular posts from this blog

Monster Mania Artist Commentary - Coloring Technique

Image
I have a strict set of rules that I follow when creating a Monster Mania drawing but those restrictions still leave plenty of room to experiment and evolve. The most notable change has been my approach to coloring the drawings.  The early drawings were colored in a more painterly style, and I used a variety of watercolor and chalk brushes to color the drawings. I would start by laying a foundation of splatters and drips and textures, creating an abstract painting that served as both a background and an underpainting for the drawing. I would then proceed to color the line art using flat colors. Then I would use chalk brushes to paint the shading and highlights. I would often play with opacity levels and layer effects to allow bits and pieces of the abstract underpainting to show. The end result was messy and haphazard like a real painting.  In 2018, Clip Studio Paint became available on the iPad, and I started doing the majority of my inking and coloring on my iPad. The iPad ch...
Read more

Monster Mania Artist Commentary - Angry Poo

Image
I'm a serious artist that draws silly things. I draw vomit and snot and warts and pimples and poo. I’m amused by the idea of spending untold hours painstakingly drawing anthropomorphic turd creatures and other ridiculous things. I could drip paint like Jackson Pollock or cut paper like Kara Walker or paint portraits like Alice Neel, but instead of doing any of those things, I choose to draw an angry turd monster fighting a horde of vicious corn kernels. I draw silly things because it is fun to draw silly things. Creating art should be a joyous experience. 
Read more

Monster Mania Artist Commentary - My Tumor Face

Image
Several of the drawings in the Monster Mania series fall into the category of body horror and a few of the drawings are self portraits. This one happens to be both.  The pandemic super charged my hypochondriac tendencies and I started imagining all of the fun and interesting ways my body could betray me. I started drawing self portraits depicting tumors and pimples and other gross things growing on my body. I’m also obsessed with the idea of conjoined twins and tumors with creepy little faces. I blame David Cronenberg and John Carpenter.  This drawing was really fun to draw. I always aim for creepy and gross and a little bit cartoonish. I think the more successful drawings are the ones that hit that trifecta. 
Read more