PotO

Can't stop drawing the Phantom of the Opera. These were drawn last week during a hugely important meeting. I have stacks of them numbering in the hundreds. I might compile them in a book, use them to build a shelter or paper the walls of the cabin where I write manifestos. Prisma and Tombo pen Each 8 1/2 X 11

--Starchie

The Kid

Here's my part of an overdue barter exchange. It'll be nice to finally have it off the books. I wanted to do some kind of pulpy western cover but cute. Or as cute as I can manage. I like working in garish colors, maybe from growing up looking at Basil Gogos Famous Monsters covers. It's more of a challenge for me to go more neutral which I might try in my next piece.

Acrylic 8 X 11 1/2

--Starchie

BUY ME!

Posting this image again because the auctions have gone live this week.
Click here for this one. Check out all the pieces - there are some really great paintings up for auction and the proceeds go to a good cause.

ART BLOCKS FOR GHANA AUCTIONS

--Starchie

The Bloody Lip

Speaking of Monkey Island; here's a rough sketch from one of the backgrounds for LeChuck's Revenge, the Bloody Lip Bar in downtown Wood Tick. Due to my severe brain cel loss and lead poisoning I don't tend to remember the names of these locations or much about the creation of these backgrounds, except that they were to be done in markers, so this one is a value sketch to spot the light source and shadows in anticipation of doing the final color art.

I do remember adding the ropes and hardware in the right foreground, thinking it would be fun to have the character pass behind those elements to create depth. Also I would look for opportunities to add fun details like the spitoon with overshot loogies all over the doorframe. I also liked adding anachronistic elements like the 50's era jukebox which sadly appears not to have made it into the final background.

Pen and Marker 8X10

--Starchie

A Stone Monkey Head

I don't see this one online right now. It was painted for The Adventurer, LucasArts game fan newsletter. When we drew the screen art for Secret of Monkey Island we had only a handful of ghastly colors to pick from, hence the blue green Monkey Idol in the game. For that reason as well as the tiny characters it was always fun, when I had a chance, to draw Monkey Island concepts the way I thought they should look.

Pen and Ink and Gouache 6X9

--Starchie

Diligence

Here's an auction piece from a few months back for the Mother Hen Project. The auction was to benefit Chicks in Crisis, which supports unwed mothers and facilitates adoptions.

Acrylic 6X9

--Starchie

Monsterey

Here are a few lovable monster designs from a feature project. I like doing character concepts and most of the ones I've done professionally have been more of the stylized cartooney animated character type. Had fun doing these guys and employing the handy "smudge stick".

Pencil 8 1/2X11

--Starchie

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:

Monster

Years ago I spent a lot of time doing storyboards, beat boards, and a bit of design on an animated monster movie that was ultimately cancelled. These images are beat boards which tend to be more realized images showing a broader part of a sequence compared to storyboards which are the moment to moment actions and acting within a sequence.

Pencil and Smudge Stick - 4X8

--Starchie

Christmas Past

Done in 2005 as one of the internal cards for Pixar employees.

Acrylic 8X10

--Starchie

"Draw something nice..."

When you grow up drawing monsters, sometimes along the way your Mom might ask if you can draw flowers or something "nice."

I eventually got around to painting some "nice" things for Mom. Here is an image I did one year for the folk's Christmas card depicting their schnauzer, Max. I think I based the composition on a found Christmas hang tag or something. I believe their dog was still living at the time, though the image might suggest otherwise.

4X6 Gouache and ink

--Starchie

"The Crow's Nest"

This painting is my contribution to Art Blocks for Ghana, a charity of The Picture Book Project Foundation with the goal of building a children's home in Ghana. Artists in the Animation and Illustration communities have donated artwork created on wooden blocks to be auctioned for the cause which you can read more about here. Also check out their blog. There are many amazing pieces, more than a few of which I'll be bidding on myself.

Acrylic on Wood 10X10

--Starchie

Remember the Pencil?

These aren't quite storyboards, more like key frames from an expired development project I was involved in. I still have acres of this kind of stuff in my newly, somewhat organized flat files. I discovered the smudge stick from working with Garett Sheldrew who is a master of it, as well as any other medium he chooses.

Pencil and Smudge Stick 4/ 1/2X 10 each

--Starchie

Monkey Island Cover Sketch - Part 2

Here's the promised second comp with the strange Guybrush and Elaine stand-ins. I guess at the point this sketch was done I had less of a handle on who these characters were supposed to be. There couldn't have been very much time between this drawing and the actual pencil comp for the final cover so some meaningful chatter about how to depict these characters must have taken place along the way.

Pencil on Tracing Paper 8X10

--Starchie

The Creep

Wow, I've worked on a lot of canceled projects. But they reap a bounty of unseen material to post at this site. Here's another character from a movie pitch which I thought was pretty cool. I previously posted a couple of robots from the same project. At first glance you might think this guy a villain, and you'd be correct. I liked playing with the metal work like it was fashioned by crafts-monsters in a feeble attempt to dress themselves up.

Acrylic 8X10

--Starchie

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

Sam & Max Blog!

Check out the new Sam & Max blog now open for business. I'll continue to post obscure artwork here and will direct all Sam & Max-related art and links over to the other blog.

Scary Godmother

Here's a pin-up I did long ago for one of Jill Thompson's charming and popular Scary Godmother comics. Jill is great at populating her own rich worlds with amazingly colorful, funny characters and I had a lot of fun with this piece. And if she wants to send the pin-up back to me I'll add in Scary Godmother's little wings which I somehow managed to overlook and which Jill was way too polite to mention.

Pen and Ink 10X15

--Starchie

FUN!

I just needed something to post and found this image buried in my hard drive. I feel like I've posted it before. Maybe it's in one of the sketchbooks.

It was done for the animated series - I would pitch in on characters and locations whenever possible. Usually quick pencil sketches with some ball point pen and a bit of tone.

Posting this will force me to get on the ball about launching the Sam & Max blog. Let's call the launch date October 31st just to plant a stake in the ground.

Pen and Marker 8 1/2 X 11

--Starchie

The Sea Hag

Here's an image I cobbled together in honor of "Talk Like a Pirate Day." Since I didn't talk like a pirate and nothing requires me to write like a pirate I did this instead. It's painted on a piece of thick cardboard on top of a loose sketch. I didn't want to get bogged down in planning it out too much. Just wanted to make a picture.

Acrylic and Prismacolor 11X14

--Starchie