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.

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.

Happy Belated Halloween

Hello!

We figured that since we haven't posted in a while we just might throw something together for you to look at. I can tell you that Richard Svensson has started on the sculpt for one of the Hyperspace creatures, and so far it looks amazing. But you'll have to wait and see...

What is this, exactly? A while ago I put together a DeviantART journal of all Witch House-inspired artwork. I think its a fine selection. It took me a while...everytime I found something cool, I found another thing, and I eventually had to stop myself. Yes, there are KingOvRats, Jason McKittrick, and Lone Animator pieces in there, but still.

I also wish you a happy belated Halloween. In celebration, watch this Vinyl Geek Halloween special with Dreams in the Witch House - a Lovecraftian Rock Opera in the foreground. Alaine Kashian (the Witch), Douglas Blair Lucek (himself), and Mike Dalager (Brown Jenkin) appear in it. Its an interactive video where you navigate the Vinyl Geek through the Witch House, so you'll wanna try to watch it on YouTube, but I'll post it here anyhow.

Now, the list of concept artists in-waiting are:

• Jason B. Thompson
• Devon Devereaux
• ...and maybe Kory Merrit. He does the fabulous webcomic Lost Side of Suburbia which features some pretty Lovecraftian beasties (though he has only a passing knowledge of H.P.) but he is currently too busy to help us. He might do so in the future, though.

I am also pleased to announce that Gregg Stockdale will be drawing the scene where Gilman sees Keziah on the witch-cult island (y'know, the one on the Miskatonic River with the standing stones) in the fog.

Some of the actors will come for Christmas and we'll do some shooting. Goodbye for now!

Cool Stuff Coming...

Along with some major changes to the design of this website, something really cool is going to come from a member of the  (possibly tomorrow). It isn't a puppet, of course, but its pretty good and comes close. I can tell you it relates to the Living Hindu Idol.

The major changes to the site will take longer, but it'll be worth it.

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.

Some Updates

Hey guys! Back from Ireland! I'm putting the polish on some filmed sequences and they're looking good.

Some updates: Gregg and Michal have done some new pieces.

While working on the Elder City and the Temple of the Crawling Chaos (more about this soon), Michal decided to update the Living Hindu Idol. I've put together the Hindu Idol Evolution process.

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

Update

The latest incarnation. KingOvRats thinks 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 now would like a more convulsive movement, similar to this.

While my feelings about this update are mainly positive, they are mixed, and I will be using both.

Gregg Stockdale has finished the grimoire page.

Note some extra symbols (including the Sigil of Nyarlathotep at the bottom) and pseudo-Arabic reading "Nyarlathotep watches through the angles of reality".

Exciting times for The Dreams in the Witch House. Stay tuned!

 - BRIAN