Dial-a-Pirate Tattoo Sheet!

Happened across this sheet of Dial-a-Pirate ink drawings. The final versions of these heads were painted for the Monkey Island copy protection wheel. With all the Monkey Island tattoos that have been posted recently, it occurred to me that, maybe folks should consider a few of these pirate heads to disguise an unsightly mole or perhaps even to liven up a blank, pasty butt cheek or two.

Pen and Ink 11X14

--Starchie

UPDATE: Here, in case you never saw one or forgot or are making a polite effort to care, is an image (borrowed from KOTAKU") of the actual Dial-a-Pirate copy protection wheel in action:

Peculiar Monkey Island Comp

Here's a strange find from deep in the strata. A pencil comp for the first Secret of Monkey Island package in which the main characters weirdly appear to be played by Doug McClure and Bette Midler.

I don't remember where we were in the production of the game but it seems that the Guybrush we all know was not quite pinned down yet. I have another one of these which I'll post soon unless I'm begged not to.

Pencil 8X10

--Starchie

Maniac Mansion

Here's a big oil painting of the Edison Family done long ago for a reissued edition of Lucasfilm Games' Maniac Mansion. The back of the box has a photo of an eerie haunted house-type hallway. Originally I was commissioned to do a tiny painting to be hung in a constructed scale model hallway,... until someone realized it would cost more to create a scale hallway than it would to make a full-sized one. At that point the commission was revised to ask for a full size portrait. I thought of it as a Disney Haunted Mansion style piece and painted it in a weekend in oils with a few fairly large brushes.

Oil on Canvas 2X3 feet

--Starchie

Monkey Memory for Sale

The painting sold and very soon I will post what I am using the funds to buy.

I've posted an auction for one of the three comps I did for Monkey Island 2 LeChuck's Revenge. This painting was done to express one of the ideas I would take to final. It was meant to convey the idea and less meant as a finished illustration. I thought a keen Monkey Island fan might find it worth having as a piece of the company's history.

But for me, there's actually something I want to buy on ebay and I always prefer to sell something to help pay for whatever the next uselss item will be. If it all works out I'll share the result here.

7X10 Gouache

--Starchie

The Dawn of Monkey Island

So I've been invited by Telltale Games to create an illustration for their Special Pre-Order edition of Tales of Monkey Island, a five episode series of adventure games coming this summer from Telltale. It's fun to get a chance to reconnect with Monkey Island since it was one of my first jobs at LucasArts, and I was fortunate to contribute artwork to various Monkey Island projects several times throughout the years.

I'm sketching the concept right now and I will plan to document the progress in stages. I'll have to wait until we are closer to the official unveiling of the cover to let you know what I'm up to but in the meantime I'll post some ancient concept art from the original games. Here's the sketch for my first Monkey Island cover done in 1990.
Pencil on Tracing Paper 8.5 X 11

--Starchie