MonstroUS

It is the most exciting penultimate day! The day before MonstroUS is released. And I am having a little surreal moment - is it nearly here already?

But rather than talk about the stories and the writing today, let's chat about the art. Over 60 pieces of oil paintings and pen and ink drawings went into this book. Each story has a different style inspiration; a unique visual perspective. The studio had pieces propped, taped, clipped and leaned everywhere for more than a year. I was surrounded by the art!  Here are a few of my favorites.

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Her Feet Began To Float Up Off The Floor
from the story "Burdensome"
oil on paper
​12.5 x 18.5 inches

For the painted pieces in this story, I was inspired by the art of Robert McGinnis - the book covers, the movie posters, the magazine pages. His ultra feminine females, saturated colors and the way his art evokes a certain time from the past in our culture.

This piece began with a well saturated undercoat of green. A rough sketch of the figure and the sofa, and then many layers to create the contrast and highlights. Resisting the urge to overly refine the details - a large piece made very small in the book, which perfectly gives the effect of being ten feet away from the art (the ideal distance at which to view a painting.)

The Latest Smith
​from the story "Smith"
pen and ink on Yupo
​7 x 10 inches (plus a wide border for framing)

​In this story, I focused primarily on a very high contrast graphic novel style of pen and ink drawings on Yupo. The broad strokes, gestures and stark black and white of these images gave me so much satisfaction that I have continued to use this style for some of my pen and ink work.

​The odd angles, wonky borders, scribbles and suggestions of this style really make me grin.

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This Is My Daughter
from the story" Golem"
acrylic and ink on wood panel
​11 x 14 x .25 inches

The full color pieces in the two Golem stories were created with acrylic paint pens on sealed wood panels. It created a mood that felt right for Inuit-inspired fairytales, incorporating the natural element of the wood grain.

Paint pens are a real delight to use. They can be blended while the paint is wet, painted over when they are dry, smudged with fingers or rags. The variety of nibs allow large or small line work and a level of control that is more difficult to achieve with brushes and oil paint.
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Thank you to everyone who has preordered MonstroUS! If you haven't already ordered, you have one more day to reserve a copy AND be entered to win one of two original pieces of art from the book! Woohoo!

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​Watch and listen to today's post on YouTube!

​Bonus malarkey!
Meet the Golem...