Dr. Jekyll's Anti-Frekyll Juice

Blake N. Behrens

Dr. Jekyll's Anti-Frekyll Juice

AI & PS

I was exposed to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at a very early age with the old black and white films. As a kid I loved the idea that people could change in to something else.

This vintage style illustration started with the kernel of an idea that the two people are in fact one person and divided by only a small amount of potion. As I went through and developed it... I had the idea of making it 'Anti-Frekyll Juice' which became the reason for the illustrations style.

If you dig it, you can always buy a print at http://society6.com/RadFive/Dr-Jekylls-Anti-Frekyll-Juice_Print

Zombie

Guest Artist

Brock Lay

Zombie

I picked "zombie" as my monster because they scare the hell out of me and excite me at the same time. When I was a kid I watched Romero's "Dawn of the Dead", and I remember feeling terrified and claustrophobic at the enclosing circle of the undead, and then at the same time, thinking how awesome it would be to live in a mall and kill zombies. These creatures have no other motive than to feed and move. They are the great white shark of the monster world. They come in hoards but it is still every zombie for himself. For my zombie, I wanted bright, almost neon colors for the skin. As if to exaggerate the decomposition. The detail of the skin was most important to pull of the undead look. It couldn't be smooth like a normal human being. I went with a wood-cut feature for the skin. It creates a strained, weathered look while creating great texture and depth. It adds a wrinkle and crease on every feature of the face and really exaggerates the features. What's most interesting about the undead is the jump factor they harness. When someone is bit or killed by a zombie, they're revenant time interval is different than someone else. You never know when that person will re-animate. Add this along with the slowly enclosing hoard and you have the recipe for that baddest killing machine in monster lore.

Giant Octopus!

Guest Artist

Vince Conn

http://www.vcreativeart.com

"Giant Octopus"

I didn't really know what monster I was drawing when I started, but I'd decided on something underwater. My composition lines ended up looking like tentacles, so I ran with it. I noticed that the dark side of the water's gradient would be a good place to add bright contrast for the focal point. The needed details were obvious, so I used an opaque hard brush. This also worked out well for the specular lighting needed to make the tentacle look slimy. Finally I detailed the closer tentacle with some 3dish looking soft brush strokes and a texture on overlay. I wanted to make sure the viewer felt a little grossed out. To give the viewer an uneasy feel perspective-wise, I emphasized the dutch angle by adding vague mountains in the background that pointed up and to the left and put the diver's boat in view. If the implied horizon and boat work properly, the viewer should feel off balance (i say if because my wife didn't notice the boat).

All done in Photoshop with my Intuos4!

The Bride of Frankenstein

by Blake N. Behrens

AI & PS

For my first post I am showing you my Bride of Frankenstein illustration.

Universal Studios took the commercial success of Frankenstein (1931) and proceeded to crank out spin off after sequel after humorous spoof etc... One of the most distinct flicks to come out after the original Frankenstein was The Bride of Frankenstein (1935). It was noted for being the most successful sequel of the various spin offs.

Dr. Frankenstein's wife is held captive by an even more evil scientist, Dr. Pretorious, until he helps build a companion for Dr. Frankenstein's monster. Once she is constructed and 'alive... aaaaallllliiiiiiiiiiiiivvvvvveeeee!!!' she immediately rejects the original monster, thus cementing his role as the saddest monster in the Universal... universe.

I wanted to create a simplified and sexy 80's style poster for this illustration somewhat homaging the sexy female with geometric art of Patrick Nagel (patricknagel.com). As I worked on this illustration it became more and more geometric. Also, my initial thumbnails had the Bride with the typical Frankenstein neck bolts (which she didn't have), bare arms (she had mummy arms), and all of her facial features. As I worked on the illustration and did more research, I realized I really liked the way it looked in black&white as well as color. I also realized that I could simplify it down even further than I did, and the only thing necessary to communicate 'Bride of Frankenstein' was her white shocked hair. In the end I dropped her eyes all together and created a hybrid black&white and color version.

I have prints for sale at http://society6.com/RadFive/The-Bride-of-Frankenstein-8r5_Print if you're interested.

Bowie As Tesla

by Blake N. Behrens

Cut and Spray

I love Nolan's "The Prestige." I'm very interested in the history of scientists and the dramas that went on in their lives outside. This post is several months late for our theme, but I wanted to portray Tesla, as played by David Bowie.

Playing off the iconic Ziggy Stardust lightning bolt, I used some signature Tesla Coil electricity. Hopefully its pretty self explanatory.

Science Year In Review: 1971

Aaron Cahill

Collage

8.25"x10.25

Fritz Fuglister turned from music and painting to oceanography, and became the first man to chart the mysterious currents of the Gulf Stream.

The Modern Prometheus

by Blake N. Behrens

Watercolor

Victor Frankenstein is a fictional character, the protagonist of the 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, written by Mary Shelley. He is the scientist who, after studying chemical processes and the decay of living beings, gains an insight into the creation of life and gives life to his own creature (often referred to as Frankenstein's monster).

While many subsequent film adaptations (notably the 1931 movie Frankenstein and the Hammer Films series starring Peter Cushing) have portrayed Frankenstein as unbalanced or insane (the prototypical "mad scientist"), the novel portrayed him as atragic figure.

In addition, the Victor Frankenstein of the novel is not a doctor, as he is typically portrayed in adaptations, but a college dropout. Nor is he a "Baron"; and no title is given to his father, either, although they are clearly a wealthy family.

_

I find that Dr. Frankenstein is a very interesting character because I knew very little about him. He had an assistant, Igor, and he created a monster. His physical description is so varied that I could have painted him a hundred different ways. In the end, I chose to conceal his face and play off of his work instead of his features for his portrait.

For the Dr. Frankenstein piece I wanted to create something in the campy pulp magazine art style. I ended up using water colors, which I hadn't used in quite some time, for a soft fleshy depiction of the good doctor and his monstrosity. I became very frustrated with the medium and spent more time on this project than I intended. I feel as though my painting skills have really become rusty in the last decade. Eventually I added some india ink to really define the edges and further that old pulp magazine style.

Luckily, when I showed the final piece to my lovely wife, she groaned and almost had to throw up. I guess that's a success?

Vincent Vega - Chemist

Guest Artist

Preston Herring

Graphite on Cold Press

8"x7"

Vincent Vega's scientific achievements as a chemist are best displayed in the true film Pulp Fiction.

In perhaps the most scientific of scenes, Vincent is explaining to his friend Lance about his superior knowledge of powdery substances by stating "Remember, I just got back from Amsterdam." Which Implies that EVEN WITHOUT a lab and his equipment he can decipher the chemical compound and purity level of heroin simply by shooting it up.

Classic science.

Siegbahn Makes A Last Minute Adjustment

Aaron Cahill

Collage

Karl Manne Georg Siegbahn (3 December 1886 - 26 September 1978)[1] was a Swedish physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1924 "for his discoveries and research in the field of X-ray spectroscopy".[2]

Siegbahn was born in Örebro, Sweden. He obtained his Ph.D. at the Lund University in 1911, his thesis was titled Magnetische Feldmessungen (magnetic field measurements). He was acting professor for Johannes Rydberg when his health was failing, and succeeded him as full professor in 1920.

Following his Ph.D., he started research on X-ray spectroscopy. This work continued when he moved to the University of Uppsala in 1923. He developed improved experimental apparatus which allowed him to make very accurate measurements of the X-ray wavelengths produced by atoms of different elements. He developed a convention for naming the different spectral lines that are characteristic to elements in X-ray spectroscopy, the Siegbahn notation. Siegbahn's precision measurements drove many developments in quantum theory and atomic physics.[3]

In 1937, Siegbahn was appointed Director of the Physics Department of the Nobel Institute of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Siegbahn married Karin Högbom 1914. They had two children: Bo Siegbahn (1915-2008), a diplomat and politician, and Kai Siegbahn (1918-2007), a physicist, who also received the Nobel Prize in Physics, in 1981, for his contribution to the development of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

He won the Hughes Medal 1934 and Rumford Medal 1940. In 1944 he patented the Siegbahn pump.

Radium Girl

Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained. -Marie Curie

Radium Girl

24"x 24"

Spray paint, stain on wood panel

Karl Kroenen

By Vince Conn

Digital, Wacom Tablet

"Here's Karl Kroenen from Hellboy, evil Nazi scientist and Hitler's top assassin."

A German scientist working for the Nazis, and a member of the Thule Society, Dr. Kroenen became one of the top scientists for Project Ragna Rok, and a close disciple of Grigori Rasputin, along with Ilsa Haupstein and Leopold Kurtz. He was present with Rasputin at the secret ritual in Scotland that brought Hellboy to the world.

When von Klempt's head was re-animated, he tried to convince Kroenen to abandon Rasputin's plan to awaken the Ogdru Jahad - and instead to use the Army to retrieve von Klempt's work in South America. Overhearing, Kurtz became furious and attacked von Klempt's head, screaming, "Rasputin is master!" In a panic, Kroenen seized a knife and killed Kurtz. When their plan failed, an enraged Rasputin struck Zinco blind. Wandering around, Zinco accidentally pressed a self-destruct button in the base, destroying it completely and taking Kroenen with it.

Copernicus' Contribution

Blake N. Behrens

AI & PS

18"x18"

Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance astronomer and the first person to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology, which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe.

I wanted to create a concentric portrait featuring the planets. In my initial ignorance I thought Galileo was the scientist who originally suggested the sun as the center of our universe. After some wiki-research I discovered out that Copernicus, the Polish/Prussian/German Astronomer and Catholic clerk, was the one who founded heliocentric cosmology and Galileo, the Italian Physicist, created the telescopes that helped prove the theory.

In the time of Copernicus, astronomers noticed that the stars moved in a fixed motion but there were five 'wandering' stars that seemed to move in their own paths. The word planet is greek for 'Wandering Star.' In my illustration, I only used the planets that could be seen in Copernicus' time. You may also notice that Saturn does not have rings. They could not see the rings that have become iconic for that particular planet.

I built this in Adobe Illustrator then pulled it in to Photoshop to add texture.

Aldous Huxley, The Observatory

The Observatory, by guest artist Aaron Cahill:

Aldous Huxley

By the end of his life Huxley was considered, in some academic circles, a leader of modern thought and an intellectual of the highest rank, and highly regarded as one of the most prominent explorers of visual communication and sight-related theories as well.

On his deathbed, unable to speak, Huxley made a written request to his wife for "LSD, 100 µg, intramuscular". According to her account of his death in This Timeless Moment, she obliged with an injection at 11:45 am and another a couple of hours later. He died, aged 69, at 5:20 pm on 22 November 1963, several hours after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Huxley's ashes were interred in the family grave at the Watts Cemetery, home of the Watts Mortuary Chapel in Compton, a village near Guildford, Surrey, England.

The Wizard of Menlo Park

Eric Lyons

Oil on Canvas

Thomas Alva Edison was both a scientist and an inventor. Born in 1847, Edison would see tremendous change take place in his lifetime. He was also to be responsible for making many of those changes occur. When Edison was born, society still thought of electricity as a novelty, a fad. By the time he died, entire cities were lit by electricity. Much of the credit for that progress goes to Edison. In his lifetime, Edison patented 1,093, earning him the nickname "The Wizard of Menlo Park." The most famous of his inventions was an incandescent light bulb. Besides the light bulb, Edison developed the phonograph and the "kinetoscope," a small box for viewing moving films. He also improved upon the original design of the stock ticker, the telegraph, and improved on Alexander Bell’s telephone. He believed in hard work, sometimes working twenty hours a day. Edison was quoted as saying, "Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration." In tribute to this important American, electric lights in the United States were dimmed for one minute on October 21, 1931, a few days after his death.

St. Lucia, Patron Saint of the Blind

by Blake N. Behrens

AI & PS

I was initally drawn to St. Lucia because it also happens to be the name of the island that my wife and I spent our honeymoon on. When reading about St. Lucia the person, I learned that she was a Christian saint venerated as a saint by several denominations as well as Lutheran's in Scandinavia. It's rare that you run across a Lutheran saint, so I figured she was it.

St. Lucia is also known as St. Lucy and her name is derived from the latin lux or 'light.' She is the Patron Saint of the Blind.

In order to achieve her martyrdom, Lucia refused to marry a pagan. She was then persecuted for her Christian beliefs and held prisoner, given over to be defiled in a brothel, tortured, became so filled with the holy spirit that the guards could not move her so they gauged out her eyes with a fork (which grew back), stabbed in the throat and yet continued to speak out against her persecutors. Needless to say, the story of St. Lucia is quite interesting.

St. Lucia is often depicted with a crown of candles, and often times holding a golden platter presenting eyes to the viewer.

Saint Bernard

by Eric Lyons

Acrylic

The St. Bernard is a breed of very large working dog from the Italian and Swiss Alps, originally bred for rescue. The breed has become famous through tales of alpine rescues, as well as for its large size.

The Transformation of St. Paul

by Blake N. Behrens

Pen&Ink

While I am Lutheran and know very little of Saints, St. Paul's is the name of my church... making the story of Saul's conversion very close to my heart.

Saul of Tarsus was a great persecutor of a relatively unknown Jewish sect called Christianity. Some background taken directly from the bible:

"Now as he journeyed he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed about him.

And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him,

"Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"

And he said, "Who are you, Lord?"

And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting;

but rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do."

Acts of the Apostles 9:3-6 "So Ananias went, entered the house where Saul was, and placed his hands on him. "Brother Saul," he said, "the Lord has sent me - Jesus himself, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here. He sent me so that you might see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." At once something like fish scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he was able to see again. He stood up and was baptized"Acts of the Apostles 9:17-18
In his story, he was struck blind but was given his sight back (and something like fish scales fell from his eyes! Wicked!) when he was accepted Jesus. Saul of Tarsus changed his name to Paul after his conversion and he ended up being the most outspoken force in the spread of Christianity. And most importantly he was the first to really take Christianity to the gentiles, essentially becoming the first missionary!
Inspiration came when I remembered a rad multi-face portrait style that I had seen Emek use in a gig poster over a decade ago. I framed the portrait in a classic triptych. After playing around with the composition I started with my time-consuming hatching. Everything was drawn by hand with my trusty Uniball Vision fine pen.

St. Jude

by Eric Lyons

Photograph

St. Jude, faithful and servant and friend of Jesus.

Patron of hopeful cases, pray for me for I am helpless and alone. I implore you of the particular privilege given to you to bring visible and speedy where there is hopelessness. I promise to be ever mindful of this great favor. To always honor you as my special and powerful patron. Amen.

St. Joseph, Process

Build basic grid pattern. Delete squares to create a pixel icon of St. Joseph.

Build out the pixels so they appear to have layer and depth.

Export my vector pixel imagery to Photoshop and begin plugging textures. The worn wood really worked well as St. Joseph's beard.

Additional textures to create the look of this icon being made from wood like an eikon.

Completed image utilizing 10 or so wood textures composited on top of my initial vector illustration.

Il Duce, Process

Start with a vector illustration.

Add Connor and Murph's hands holding guns to create the halo.

Use negative space to create a Church steeple.

Print out reverse image in a 10% gray. Begin cutting stencil. My favorite part about cutting stencils is making the image work even with the connecting pieces. With some of the more layered stencils I create I can hide them completely... but its impossible to do with a single layered flat piece.

This is a shot showing the final stencil. I ended up dropping the outside arm lines as I felt it was distracting and awkward. Plus, it made the piece look like a cartoon, which isn't what I was going for.

A detail shot of the hand letters.

Prepped background paper. I actually ended up using this 20 year old cold press that my next door neighbor gave me when I was in elementary school. It was pretty fun to finally use it.

Ended up spraying 9 pieces. I have a few friends who are more fanatic than me about the Boondock Saints, and I wanted to give them copies for St. Patty's day.

The final piece. I plan on spraying more of these in the next week or so.