doodlin..

Card for my niece..

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and Super Solstice folks...

Random sketchbook stuff..

From a sketch done around other work today.

Not out till next spring from Farrar, Straus, Giroux but I received a readers advance copy of Working Mummies by Joan Horton and illustrated by be me in the mail last week. Available for pre order on Amazon.

I"m starting a 10 page Happy Undertaker Mysterie today that should wrap on Halloween. This is the only one I'm going to post here so to see the rest in the coming weeks go here

Gravenhurst sketch..

From a recent trip to Pennsylvania. The first two are from Brandywine battlefield with the first being from a view on the Washington's headquarters.
I'll be in Pumpkin Country this weekend so no posts till I get back.

For what promises to be a beautiful fall weekend up here I can't think of anything better then dipping into two of my favourite Halloweenish books by Ray Bradbury. The Halloween Tree if not my favourite book for this time of year is certainly up there and you can't beat the Mugnaini illustrations in both early editions of this book.

HPL Sketch

Massive and definitive two volume biography of H. P. Lovecraft, arguably the most important writer of weird fiction of the 20th century. Lovecraft, like Poe (whose feverish internal landscapes I read and was affected by first) , had the ability to get under your skin, tho Lovecraft's was a cosmic bleakness. He had the added bonus of creating some memorable monsters thus ensuring him a life of pop culture celebrity to a degree. Makes me think of the way Munch's the Scream has been put on just about anything at some point, you can get a inflatable Cthulhu.
Personally, I think Lovecraft's writing resonates stronger and ages better every time I re- read his stories with passages of haunting beauty.
The only complaint I have about Joshi's engaging and thorough biography is I wish there were more pictures, the bare minimum is included. The blue used as the jacket colour is pretty awful too, should have just stuck with classic black.

Dr. Phibes...

Victor Ambrus' super fun monster party mash kids book. Recommended!

Its October so here's my first Halloweenish post. Just received this from the fine folks at Centipede Press. A collection of french writer Maurice Level's stories TALES OF THE GRAND GUIGNAL. Level's 'conte cruel' stories were often used in the infamous Grand Guignal theatre in Paris.
This collects all of Level's weird stories that were translated, two novels and the short story collection
TALES OF MYSTERY AND HORROR and is beautifully produced like all Centipede books.

Here are the set of eight postcards, 5 dollars plus shipping,
and the prints currently available, Prints are 30 dollars (app 13
by 19 depending on image) plus shipping except episode 1 which is 20 dollars plus shipping. Beautiful reproductions on archival paper.

I'll be a guest at Fan Expo
this year with some Happy Undertaker prints so stop by and say hello./a>

Working Mummies by Joan Horton is the next book I've illustrated thats coming out next year. I'm very excited about this book and thought I would give this tiny sneak peek. Go Mummies!

My copy of China's Fantasy Art Magazine arrived recently with a interview and spread of me. Beautifully produced magazine and an honour to be in it.

Random shots from Gravenhurst and my mom's birthday party.

I'm in the final stages of completing the illustrations for my next children's book that I'm very excited about and look forward to posting stuff from it the future. I'll be starting another book soon which is going to be fun and challenging as well but here is alternative rough for a Sylvester page.

Couple of pics while I was waiting for my flat to get fixed.