Andrew Ritchie's Azathoth

I've been a fan of BOOM! Studios for a while. In their earlier days they published a masterpiece of Lovecraftian horror called Fall of Cthulhu, the delightful anthology series Cthulhu Tales, and the worth-a-read Necronomicon. They have gravitated away from Mythos stuff, but they're still quality publishers (Hexed comes to mind immediately).

Andrew Ritchie was a staple contributor to BOOM!'s Mythos titles. Necronomicon was drawn by Andrew Ritchie. Fall of Cthulhu's first volume, The Fugue, featured Andrew Ritchie's work. Cthulhu Tales had some stories illustrated by Andrew Ritchie.

Ritchie is known for his eerie, corpse-like characters and monsters mixed with old-school comic book colors. "The Beach" from Cthulhu Tales is a good example. Michael Alan Nelson, who wrote Fall of Cthulhu, creates a typically horrifying story, but Andrew Ritchie's art will freak the hell out of you. Seriously. It will stay with you for a while.

Anywho, I'm a fan of his work, so I naturally contacted him to do a pic of Azathoth's throne. He already drew Azathoth in Necronomicon:

After a while, he agreed, and sent me the result today.

One word: wow.

Elder City Sketches II.

As stated formerly, the City of the Elder Things Gilman visits in his dreams is very important, since it makes him realize that his "dreams" are real. I specifically requested our faithful designer, KingOvRats, to make the designs similar to the late H.R. Giger. Here were the first designs:

The balustrade (top),  a dwelling (left), and an industrial mine (right).

Just now he posted some more designs. I like them even more!

A castle with an observatory/watchtower (top), a random building (middle), and a temple (bottom).

I originally wanted to make these in Photoshop, but now I think a full model (with Photoshop additions) is in order...

Twin Blasphemies: The Art of ebe-1 | Elder Thing Statuette - Design Level

Hello guys! A double post today.

The Art of ebe-1

ebe-1 on DeviantART is a somebody who's currently too busy but is still considering our project. In the meantime, I'd like to show you some of his Lovecraft work, so you get an idea of how his art looks. "The Dreams in the Witch House" piece is placed at the bottom of the list for dramatic effect.

The Shadow Out of Time.

"From Beyond".

"The Festival".

And now...

..."The Dreams in the Witch House".

Elder Thing Statuette - Design Level

We've sent the Elder Thing statue designs over to a sculptor who our grandmother knows. I feel like we should show you the designs.

Sorry for the blurry quality of this image.

This tiny little Elder Thing thumbnail sketch is taken from the first set of designs KingOvRats did for the Elder City.

Which I hope makes up for the blurry quality of the thumbnail. You can see the Elder Thing statues on the upper sketch of the balustrade.

Before I show you this next one I'd better explain. KingOvRats obviously had to provide us with a larger sketch for sculpturing, so he simply suggested one of his (pre-Witch House) best and most enduring Lovecraft sketches...

...the Elder Thing itself.

This horrifying abomination is completely based on HPL's description. Here: just read some descriptions of an Elder Thing from At the Mountains of Madness and check it with the drawing.

"Objects are eight feet long all over. Six-foot five-ridged barrel torso 3.5 feet central diameter, 1 foot end diameters. Dark grey, flexible, and infinitely tough. Seven-foot membraneous wings of same colour, found folded, spread out of furrows between ridges. Wing framework tubular or glandular, of lighter grey, with orifices at wing tips. Spread wings have serrated edge. Around equator, one at central apex of each of the five vertical, stave-like ridges, are five systems of light grey flexible arms or tentacles found tightly folded to torso but expansible to maximum length of over 3 feet. Like arms of primitive crinoid. Single stalks 3 inches diameter branch after 6 inches into five sub-stalks, each of which branches after 8 inches into five small, tapering tentacles or tendrils, giving each stalk a total of 25 tentacles.

"At top of torso blunt bulbous neck of lighter grey with gill-like suggestions holds yellowish five-pointed starfish-shaped apparent head covered with three-inch wiry cilia of various prismatic colours. Head thick and puffy, about 2 feet point to point, with three-inch flexible yellowish tubes projecting from each point. Slit in exact centre of top probably breathing aperture. At end of each tube is spherical expansion where yellowish membrane rolls back on handling to reveal glassy, red-irised globe, evidently an eye. Five slightly longer reddish tubes start from inner angles of starfish-shaped head and end in sac-like swellings of same colour which upon pressure open to bell-shaped orifices 2 inches maximum diameter and lined with sharp white tooth-like projections. Probable mouths. All these tubes, cilia, and points of starfish-head found folded tightly down; tubes and points clinging to bulbous neck and torso. Flexibility surprising despite vast toughness."

"At bottom of torso rough but dissimilarly functioning counterparts of head arrangements exist. Bulbous light-grey pseudo-neck, without gill suggestions, holds greenish five-pointed starfish-arrangement. Tough, muscular arms 4 feet long and tapering from 7 inches diameter at base to about 2.5 at point. To each point is attached small end of a greenish five-veined membraneous triangle 8 inches long and 6 wide at farther end. This is the paddle, fin, or pseudo-foot which has made prints in rocks from a thousand million to fifty or sixty million years old. From inner angles of starfish-arrangement project two-foot reddish tubes tapering from 3 inches diameter at base to 1 at tip. Orifices at tips. All these parts infinitely tough and leathery, but extremely flexible. Four-foot arms with paddles undoubtedly used for locomotion of some sort, marine or otherwise. When moved, display suggestions of exaggerated muscularity. As found, all these projections tightly folded over pseudo-neck and end of torso, corresponding to projections at other end."

But as inspired as this drawing is, it is NOT naturally suited to sculpture form.

So what we we to do? Luckily, I had found this stunner based on the story by Mesozord on DeviantART...

The Elder Thing sculpture in the center "panel" is very similar to KingOvRats' design and would give the sculptor a clearer idea of what we wanted. So with the kind permission of both artists we sent this bunch to the artist.

Mockman Website Coverage

Jason B. Thompson, who created a fantastic image for us, has now posted about the project on the Mockman website! You can see it here.

A new anthology that Jason is contributing to. Cover art by Jared Morgan.

Jason B. Thompson Artwork

I just got the Jason Bradley Thompson artwork as a digital file. And it looks amazing!

You'll notice the Living Hindu Idol (#2), a new incarnation of the bubbles (#2), the central horrors from #1, and a new amorphous starfish piper.

These (along with the sketches) are so good we may need to use them as Throne of Azathoth designs.

Jason'll be posting it on the Mockman website, so keep your eyes peeled!

Jason B. Thompson Sketches III.

A third and final (for now) day of Jason Bradley Thompson creature drawings. I've had to pick and choose, and we're probably going to go with ones from the other two posts as opposed to this one. Not that this is bad, but the other ones are more what we're going for.

Jason B. Thompson Sketches II.

Here's another page of sketches that I received with the former post. The last'll be posted on Tuesday.

This one depicts a Living Hindu Idol (the jellyfish with human heads), an arabesque (it might read "centipede" after it), a plant-like demon, and a bubble-congeries (with embryonic monsters!).

Jason B. Thompson Sketches I.

Today I received three-pages-worth of roughish monster sketches from Jason Bradley Thomspon that'll be worked some way or other into the 9"x12 commission. I think they're amazing, but, as they are quite rough, I'll only show one.

Now Jason's one of my favorite artists on-board the violet light train. His Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath adaptation is really a remarkably faithful and interesting adaptation. No one can really draw those fantastical landscapes and weird creatures quite like him. Leong Wan Kok (Ben Avery on the adaptation side) and I.N.J. Culbard (whom I contacted, but was too busy), amongst others, have both made their own wonderfully imaginative versions of this rich-but-rambling tale, and our own KingOvRats had depicted fine Dreamlands monsters, but - as I said - NO ONE does Dreamlands like Jason.

Jason's Dreamlands Poster

He's also done SIX OTHER Dreamlands comics ("The White Ship", "Celephaïs", "The Strange High House in the Mist", "The Doom That Came to Sarnath", and "The Cats of Ulthar") and "The Beast in the Cave", all of which you can read on his website with a bunch of other non-Lovecraft goodies.

I thought he'd be perfect for the film. So, after chatting a bit, a $75 fully shaded drawing was in place, depicting the Twilight Abysses. And today, as I said, I received three pages. I'll only show one, and end off by saying that some of this is going to have to be incorporated into the film.

Elder City Sketches I.

The Elder Thing city (which evidently lies in a triple star system somewhere between Hydra and Argo Navis) that Walter Gilman travels to is a crucial turning point in the story. When Gilman wakes up, having broken off a miniature statue of one of the Old Ones on a distant planet in his dreams, he finds the statuette in his bed. This is when he starts acknowledging that the frightful inter-dimensional vistas of his nightmares are not just nightmares.

Art director (that's what I'm calling him now) KingOvRats has just released the first sketches for the city.

Need I say more?

Depicted? A tower's balustrade (note the miniatures), a home, and a inousjpy/mine (by the way, I cannot read what that says, so don't laugh at me for writing...that. Note: just found out it reads "industry".).

Not much to add, other than that this is FREAKING INSPIRED.

One last note - we've been pretty slow on production, but it's happening, trust us. I have put a lot of effort into this beast and I'm not going to stop. We will tackle this story and make it good. Believe it.

The Interdimensional Octopoid

Here is the original KingOvRats design.

And here is the F-KING FINISHED PUPPET!!!!!!!!

That thing is STUNNING. There are no words. Just...nothing to say. I'm so freaking happy! It looks GREAT floating in it's alternate space! And the blue-color...so vivid. On that blue color, Richard (who will be covering the creature in a blog post, perhaps later in the week) wrote: "...You can't really tell on this photo, but it's spattered with a greenish gray mottling of tiny dots. It doesn't really matter what colour it is now. We can alter that in AE editing if we want to tone things down. It really jumped off my green screen background, which is a good thing."

Some multi-perspectives:

And some shots of the creature in progress:

The first shot I saw of the W.I.P. clay sculpture.

The final head sculpt before the plaster mold was cast.

Richard working on the Octopoid this morning.

Richard Svensson's workroom. Note the Interdimensional Octopoid on the table towards the bottom-right corner.

First Abyssal Set

Richard Svensson, the Lone Animator, has started to work on a puppet. I'm not fully sure which one it is, but its only half-sculpted. We might have some photos tomorrow.

That said, I asked him about backgrounds/sets on Tuesday. I had sent him the sketches for the inanimate structures of the Abyss, of course drawn by KingOvRats.

Richard kindly agreed to do it himself for us. In the end, he shot for the more organic structures. KingOvRats had told me he imagined the Abyss as a more bacterial structure, as seen below.

Now, I hadn't told Mr. Svensson that - but in the end, he came up with exactly that - Lovecraftian bacteria. In summation, the Lone Animator sent me a 2D mockup of what the Hyperspace Abysses might look like.

And it is amazing.

We thank Richard Svensson from the bottom of our heart. He created the perfect image.

Living Hindu Idol Evolution - a New Stage

Gregg Stockdale, amazing Witch House concept artist, has done something that adds a new stage to the

LIVING HINDU IDOL EVOLUTION

Stage One

Rough Design

The first rough design.

Stage Two

Original Design

The original, finished design: the first Michal sent to me.

Original Design Movements

The tentacles move in and out like tongues in a rolling movement. In a embryo-like position, it sits until disturbs when all limbs fan out and ROAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stage Three

Distorted Incarnation

The second incarnation. KingOvRats believes its MUCH better in terms of form (i.e., the melting shape and the tentacles) and detail (the eyes, the head, etc.). I would personally prefer a combination of both from a directing standpoint...

Update Movement

Instead of fluently rolling the tentacles, Michal would like a more convulsive movement, similar to this.

Stage Four

Gregg Stockdale Combo

The stunning concept artist Gregg Stockdale is at it again! Since he could not make a Photoshopped image, he did the next best thing. He "cherry picked the best bits" from the two drawings - the tentacles and mouth of the first incarnation, and the underarms, body, and mouth of the second. Michal still has some doubts, but I think its looking good.

What do you think?

The Temple of the Crawling Chaos

In the story The Dreams in the Witch House, Walter Gilman meets the Black Man Nyarlathotep and signs the Book of Azathoth in the sealed loft above the attic. Well, we've decided to jazz things up a bit and set it at a great temple in deep space...the Temple of the Crawling Chaos.

And, without further adieu, I present Michal 'Majqello' Knapik's designs for it.

THE BLOOD GARGOYLE AND THE BLOOD SPHINXES

Above a great altar in the Temple where Nyarlathotep reigns, there is a gargoyle depicting the Haunter of the Dark. It is littered with the skulls of sacrificial offerings and vomits blood into a pool of sacrifice.

Lining the pathway up to the altar are sphinx-like gargoyles that depict Hunting Horrors (see "CREATURES"). Their three-lobed eyes, like the gargoyle above, are aflame and serve as torches. These daemons also puke blood into a stream that flows into pools of sacrifice and occasionally move. These represent how blood flows from every corner of space and time to appease the gnawing hunger of Nyarlathotep.

"Hunting Horror Blood Gargoyle Sphinx (could be title of a death metal song)"

CREATURES

The Hunting Horror off which the sphinx-gargoyles are based. It is supposedly related to the Haunter of the Dark.

Amorphous flute players accompany the Crawling Chaos at his altar: the Moon Beasts.

White, slippery and hideous are these creatures. Instead of faces they have short pink tentacles like those of a sea anemone, which writhe constantly while maddening notes erupt from their flutes.

More of an ornamental symbol throughout the temple, this is inspired by the traditional Wadjet Cobra: thusly, the Nyarlathotep Wadjet Cobra.

FORMS OF NYARLATHOTEP

The hooved Black Man, an incarnation of Satan (from The Dreams in the Witch House).

The Black Pharaoh Nephren-Ka, with tentacled imagery in his dress (from Nyarlathotep - a prose poem and a poem; The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath; and The Haunter of the Dark).

The Mad Faceless God (from The Rats in the Walls): an Azathoth-like shape that howls at Earth's center. Note the rats and the Moon Beast flute players.

The Haunter of the Dark (from The Haunter of the Dark). It is vaguely shaped as it cannot exist in light. The Three-Lobed Burning Eye can be seen on its "head".

Note: there will be another form of Nyarlathotep animated: the Howler in the Dark/Red Tentacle/God of the Bloody Tongue. KingOvRats has not drawn this.

THE ANKHS

Nyarlathotep is the Taker of Life and the Master of Death. The two Ankhs represent these. On the left is the inverted Ankh of Death, made of bones and corpses. On the right is the upright Ankh of Life, made of writhing tentacles.

THE EYES

The Eye of Nyarlathotep is a decoration around the Temple. It is designed like the Eye of Horus.

The Three-Lobed Burning Eye is that of the Haunter of the Dark. It burns on the altar, flaming, and evil. It is inspired by the "All-Seeing Eye" - a definitive symbol of the Illuminati.

THE POOLS OF SACRIFICE AND THE IDOLS OF BONE

 The rivers of blood that the Hunting Horror gargoyles/sphinxes puke flow into pools of sacrifice. In the pools are isles - platforms - made of bones and corpses. On the isles there is a bone idol of Nyarlathotep.

"Bone statue of Nyarlathotep in pool of BLOOD"

Well! That's the Temple of the Crawling Chaos for you! While Lovecraft didn't create this (and I'm not quite sure if he had this in mind when creating Nyarlathotep), I like it and I hope he would've liked it too.

I'll close off with a quote from the script: wherein Gilman reads a passage about Nyarlathotep in the Necronomicon. While it is of my own writing and is inspired by a certain passage from The Dunwich Horror which the true Lovecraft fan will know, the lore of the blood flowing towards Nyarlathotep from all corners of the universe and the Ankhs were completely based on Michal's ideas. Goodnight, everybody.

Nyarlathotep reigns beside Azathoth at the Throne of Chaos, and at the great Temple of the Crawling Chaos deep in space. His Sigils be the greatest of all, for he alone knoweth the secrets and powers of Life and Death. There are two Ankhs, one upright, the other, inverted, that represent the powers of the Crawling Chaos. The upright Ankh represents Life: constructed of tentacles, writhing and alive: the endless vital energies of Nyarlathotep symbolized, the heads of the Hydra ever growing. The inverted Ankh is one of Death, built of the bones of thousands and the screams of millions. The entire universe is in his grip. Blood from every corner of space and time floweth to him for his sake…the deaths of every single creature poured into a pool of sacrifice. He is the apocalypse, and when the time has come for the universe, he shall stand in that revolting graveyard and he shall laugh. He is Hell embodied into one being. Iä! Shub-Niggurath! The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young! Thou shalt fear the Crawling Chaos, for he watches through the angles of reality. He is the Taker of Life and the Master of Death.