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.