Monsters and Aliens and Crayons-- OH MY!!!

I got a really cool package in the mail today. (I love it when a store throws in extras like stickers and postcards!)



In a thread in the kaiju section of the Octorber Toys Forum (best forum EVAR!) someone mentioned a store called Monster Worship, and, while browsing for toys there, I came across a wonderful coloring book by artist Terence E. Hanley called Monsters and Aliens of America. I managed to snag the last one in stock at the time, but they have restocked, it appears! They have another of his coloring books that I'm probably going to eventually grab called Mothman, Aliens, & Flying Saucers



It's illustrated in a very classic style that makes me think back to the old coloring books I had when I was a kid. Have you guys seen coloring books these days? Most of the ones I've seen lately are just photographs that have been digitally wonked around with until they look like line drawings-- it's pretty sad. There used to be quite a bit of artistry in the making of coloring books



The way the creatures in the book are presented reminds of old episodes of In Search Of, a show that pretty much was responsible for 99% of the nightmares I had when I was a kid.



20 pages of fun critters and brief stories about each one. This is definitely one of those coloring books that will never be touched by a crayon, pencil, or brush-- the line work is just too perfectly beautiful to me to sully with any color. Not too shabby for 5 bucks, huh?



I looked up Terence E. Hanley, and he has a website for those who are interested in hearing more about him. Unfortunately it seems to be in its infancy with very few links or pages. Hopefully that will change. On the good side, it provides contact info for the artist!

If you like his stuff, let him know! Artists need to know they are appreciated! Sometimes we feel all alone, scratching away at our drawing boards like madmen!

At work...

Some older things...

I'm feeling kinda yucky today, so I figured I'd share some old drawings and such.

First up: some old sketches from the sketchbook:








A drawing for an online calender:



Several pieces that were in art shows:




And a few I did just because I felt like doing them!

Ho Ho HOH CRAP! Christmas is almost here!!!

Well, I finished up my latest batch of commissions just in time to get ready for Christmas. I haven't done one bit of shopping, and I'm just getting my ornaments underway. I'm trying to tidy up the place because we have company coming.

IFC again. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer tonight. Why do I watch these things, again? This one at least had an ending. I saw it coming a mile away, but yeah. Better than the dude staring into a vent. Henry is actually a pretty good movie; disturbing and depressing but ultimately honest and well-done. The movie's pretty low-budget, but the director did a great job with what was available. The scene where Henry is cutting up a body had unbelievably realistic sound effects-- having helped my dad clean countless deer I'm quite familiar with the sounds that go along with the process. I was quite impressed.

The October Toys Forum members seemed quite receptive of my Kawaiiju designs, which is a really good thing. I hope this is going to be a fun project! I had a minor brainstorm as I drove to town to mail packages today... something extra to add to the fun of the Kawaiiju packaging!

Here's the sketch I posted on the forum of ideas I had for possible figurines:

Godzilla's big, "special" brother...

So I went to the mailbox today, and jammed into the box was a manilla envelope that was tied shut with a string.

A string. You heard me correctly: a string.

No adhesive on the flap.

Minimal padding inside the envelope.

Nothing but a badly beat-up envelope with something I have been waiting three weeks to get.

Let me backtrack a bit. Three weeks ago I found a seller on Ebay who was selling 8 inch (standard size) Godzilla figures. He had a lot of them, and they were CHEAP. That only means one thing: BOOTLEGS!!! I did some research and figured out that this was a rather common bootleg that has been popping up now and again from China. It is based on the Godzilla from Godzilla: Tokyo SOS, the movie where he has a rematch with Mechagodzilla and fights Mothra in the process. Great flick. Great Godzilla design. You can tell it's that specific one, because he has the scarred-up chest from his first battle with Mechagodzilla in Godzilla against Mechagodzilla. Anyway, I'm not really a stickler for things being authentic as long as they look pretty decent, and there's no way on earth I'm going to pass up a standard scale Godzilla toy for 13 bucks (with free shipping).

Flash forward to today. Manilla envelope. String. No padding.

I'm honestly lucky I got my figure.



On to the actual figure itself: It is.... FANTASTIC. The mold is the exact same as the Bandai mold, so it's a really good-looking figure. When I got it out of the package it was flat. Flat as a fritter. Evidently the package had been under some boxes during its trip here. I wasn't too worried, because I had heard horror stories about warped vinyl and how to fix it. I whipped out a hair dryer and within about 20 minutes I had a fully restored Godzilla. He was packed in three pieces: the main body and two tail sections. I had to heat those up as well to make them fit the body. The first thing I noticed after getting him was that he was really freakin heavy! He's made out of hard vinyl, which I was not expecting at all. It's rock-hard-- a lot more firm than anything I've ever had. I have an older authentic Godzilla from Japan, and he's pretty stiff, but this guy is like a hammer. It might be crappy vinyl, but I'm not overly concerned. That just makes him more dangerous!





He stands 8 inches tall and is 17.5 inches long from the tip of his nose to his tail. He's pretty darn impressive looking next to my 6 inch Godzilla figures.





He's articulated at the neck, the shoulders, the hips, and the tail. He has the standard side to side arm articulation that my friend Krakit likes to call, "Wiping the bar off." articulation! Hee hee!





The paint is just horrible. He's molded in a mint green colored vinyl and he has a VERY sloppy spray of Pepto-Bismal pink on his dorsal fins. His eyes are not as sloppy, but he has a bit of the Marty Feldman look going on. He has yellow teeth which are painted fairly well. His fingernails and toenails are sprayed bright white. He's so horribly cheap looking that I have to love him. I'll probably wind up painting him how I want him to look, but that's half the fun!



I love the figure, but I'm not very fond of how the packaging and shipping was handled.

I don't think I'll post the name of the seller on here, but if anyone wants to know who to avoid, ask me and I'll give it to you. The figure may be great, but it's a minor miracle I actually got it.

There are some more folks selling these bootlegs on Ebay in case anyone wanted to get one, as it's a very nice figure... with some work.

Omnom part 2 and a new friend

So here are some update pics... it's kinda hard to tell, but he's much, much more smooth, and the recess in the mouth is much deeper. He also has a little buttcrack. I sculpted a little tush on him, but it really looked ridiculous sticking out like... well... a swollen little butt. So I kinda compromised and gave him a crack... the guys on the October Toys Forum were right: he needed it!

Excuse the fuzzy pic of his butt... my camera was giving me a fit at the time:






Here's another guy I'm working on. I haven't settled on a name, but I have a few floating around:









And here are the doods with some other guys you all know and love for some size comparisons: