Friday, July 27, 2012

Yesterday Monster Today Artwork






MADE IN TAIWAN - This is all I know about these crazy puffy monster stickers. They are not that luminous and neither was my search in providing any more information. No company name. Obviously these were knocked-off in hopes of cashing in on some monster trend. But aren't monsters always trendy? It's also oversees companies that are trying to figure out what we western kids are really into.  I acquired an almost full box of these many years ago. I imagine they are from the early 70's. They were loose in the box but it looks like they were hand cut from a larger sheet.

In my search I found a more recent printing and package of these from 1989, where they are all on one sheet. Also I found someone who has a collection of small plastic masks of which some of them are these figures, like  I-Oneman and Mechelus. Who are these creatures? Are these 'new' creatures thought up by the artist who also had to redraw the classic monsters for the sticker company in Taiwan that they were working for of which later the designs became classics unto their own. I love all the designs, except for the Wicked Witch, but I suppose it's good to have at least one female monster in the bunch. Men are all the real monsters. I would love to see some of these designs blown up and printed on t-shirts, especially the Mummy, Mechelus and the slightly transy Frankenstein. They are very naive drawings, but as the way that contemporary illustrators are working these days, these drawings are right in the times. Another question, What's with the flowery, fruity graphic on the side front of the box?
















All the above images are my own scans. Below are other images I found on the web.




Saturday, July 14, 2012

Rodan Attacks Godzilla Weekend



Godzilla - 2012 - acrylic on illustration board - 15 x 20 in.


Yes, all weekend right now is my Godzilla Weekend. Movies, Magazines and Painting all weekend long. At the moment there is a Godzilla convention called G-Fest held in Rosemont, Illinois, U.S.A., just outside of Chicago. I was hoping to get out there this year,... but no.

The convention (this is it's 19th year!) is organized by G-Fan magazine and it's publisher J.D. Lees.  He so kindly offered to take a couple of my paintings to the convention for display, so I hope many people are seeing them right now! Here they are now!

These are my first and second Godzilla paintings. This week I've already finished a third and this weekend I'l be finishing my fourth. They are all a bit different from one another, and I contribute this to my channelling efforts of all fans of Godzilla painting, especially right now happening on this weekend. There is a full page color reproduction of my Godzilla painting (above) published in G-Fan Magazine No.99.


Rodan Attack - 2012 - acrylic on illustration board - 15 x 20 in.




Here I am right now sporting my new Godzilla t-shirt that my son bought for me last week at Value Village. What a terrific find!....and just in time for my Godzilla Weekend 2012.


Friday, June 22, 2012

THIS MONSTER


 No.1

This Monster was a cut and paste, real flesh, real puss, xeroxed and fang-stapled fanzine out of and in of Winnipeg with a finger in the world infestation of everything wicked, sick, garish but with a twist of punk rock Kool-aid head smashing.

Pit and Pendulumed together by the living dead legend Marxavier Youle throughout the years of his demise from 1984 to 1986. It started in the cauldrons of a Janitors lair with the free and over excessive use of the copy machine. Hail the freedom to suppress...um... freedom of the press. A truly representative mind and pulse of the time. Many contributors with lots of art, rants, rags, ritings, poetry, lists, stories, comics, ads....and loads of fun!

 No.3

 No.6

 No.7

 No.8

 No.9

 No.10

Issues 1 - 10 were 8.5 x 11 inch sheets folded in half and stapled in one corner allowing for full page views. Issues 11 & 12 were 8.5 x 14 sheets folded and stapled in one corner.

 No.11

 No.12

Below, inside issue Number Seven, showing a sampling of the rancid speak spread of the creator.


Friday, April 27, 2012

One Night Smash


2011 - 11 x 17 in.

There are posters and pictures up all over my studio and a few of them happen to be of my favorite monster Godzilla whom I guess is advertising and overall pretty gong-ho about the bands playing on his tail. The Honhee Honhee poster is from last year and the Perms poster has been up in my studio for I don't know how many years now. 


Year? - 8.5 x 11



2010 - 4 x 9 in.



 2012 - 11 x 14 in.

In this Kings Hotel poster, even though is not Godzilla, I had to take a second look when I saw it today. It's still pretty cool.

Friday, March 30, 2012

We all wear Masks




I was visiting Guppy Design in Winnipeg when I saw the third of what was to be four screen printed monster faces. Wow, they were so cool, I had to inquire. Craig Medwyduk the principal at Guppy was doing a set of 4 faces from these tiny halloween masks. He scanned them and did the separations then printed them when he had extra time through the JUMBO SHOW POSTER division of Guppy just for kicks. It took awhile for the 4th one (skull) to get completed. At times he would be all ready to print, then a job would come along requiring the screens. I kept pestering him as I was pretty anxious to have a set....and here they are. They are not on the website yet but I'm sure you can give Craig a call and get some Today!

All Posters are printed on white heavy paper stock 19 x 25 inches in an edition of 25. You can get them individually or as a set.   

Imperfections make it perfect


The devil is in the details


Magic people, Voodoo people


Live to print, Print to live


Friday, March 2, 2012

Chicle De Bola


These are the funnest monster drawings ever! Aside from the Mummy guy, what's up with the normal names? I bought a bag of these to hand out for Halloween many years ago here in Winnipeg. The gum was from Brazil. How they got here, I don't know. I know nothing more, sorry. Enjoy.




Friday, February 17, 2012

Menko Cards

1 3/8  x  3 1/2 in.


When my daughter brought these cards back from Japan as a gift for me, I had no idea what they were except for being some kind of trading card. What were all these symbols on the backs of the cards? More that just trading cards. Even though these two are from different sets, they share similar symbols on the back. I imagined that these were there to play a similar game but in different ways.

I eventually found out they were Menko cards. They are usually made from heavy paper to heavy cardboard and be many shapes. The images are often from the pop culture of the times, whether it be from sports, anime or manga. They were popular from the 50's to the 70's. There was an even older form of cardboard trading cards called Karuta form a Japanese card game called Obake Karuta of early 19th century featuring monsters from Japanese Mythology.

I think the Menko cards were the precursor to the popular Pokemon card came. The Instructions I post below for playing the Menko game, I got from the net. Why don't you delve into it further as there are many other examples of Menko as well as Karuta cards to be be found. 




2 1/4  x  3 1/2 in.


Players do "Jan-ken" (rock, paper, scissors) to determine who goes first. All players, except the one whose turn it is, lay down one of their menko on the ground.


The first player tries to flip one of the menko over by throwing his own menko at it. If a menko on the ground is flipped over, the thrower keeps it and the loser is out of the game. If no menko flips, the next player gets a turn. Rules vary. In one variation, a circle about one meter in diameter is drawn on the ground. Menko knocked out of the circle are taken. In another variation, players take turns, and whoever flips over a menko first gets to keep all of them on the ground.


Some menko have extra details on them, such as images that represent Rock, Paper, or Scissors. "Gu-choki-pa” (AKA Rock, Paper, Scissors) marks on the back of the menko are played as the classic game of RPS. Players would take out one of their menko to compare with their opponent's simultaneously following a given signal. If they won, they win the opposing menko.


Another extra is "Fighting Numbers". Playing with "Fighting Numbers" is largely the same as Gu-Choki-Pa; trying to outnumber your opponent's menko on certain digits. For example, one player might have a Fighting Number of 58786 on his particular menko and the other might have 96587 on his. If they were dueling with the last digit, then the player with the 7 as his last digit would win and again get the other boy’s menko. There were many more ways to play with Fighting Numbers, but this is just one example.