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.

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!

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.

Gregg Stockdale Takes a Swing at Mark Foster, Part Two (and an edited Sigil)

Gregg Stockdale, the devoted Witch House artist, has done a version of the Mark Foster poster art with a starfield. He's not fond of it, and I can't say I am either, but here it is.

The background is just too busy.

Also, he sent me a new version of the Sigil based on a suggestion by our very own KingOvRats: the outer ring is now empty, the word Nyarlathotep being white/black. This kind of makes more sense as a) these symbols are meant to be drawn and b) it kind of cleans things up in a graphic design sense.

It looks similar to some other occult symbols, such as the Seal of Astaroth in Satanism.

There will be updates tomorrow with new KingOvRats designs...for an added scene...what shall be what the film is remembered for...THE TEMPLE OF THE CRAWLING CHAOS!

Gregg Stockdale Takes a Swing at Mark Foster, Part One

Gregg Stockdale really is one of my favorite people here - he's very...devoted to The Dreams in the Witch House, and is willing to do a lot just for the sake of helping us out.

Well, we've been having some discussions on the Mark Foster composition, and Gregg did some requested redesigning. Let me show you the process.

The original Mark Foster art, without any text (sent to me by the artist).

The poster with the original font. This typography received VERY negative reception in the Mark Foster Mission.

The newer artwork: darkened by the artist and sent to me.

The darkened artwork with the new font, added by Gregg Stockdale.

Now, I, personally, think that this looks a HECK of a lot better.

There is something appealing to me about the brighter background, but overall, I think the darker tone works better for our purposes and represents the story better.

Next up I asked Gregg to experiment a little and try to put the Sigil of Nyarlathotep into the poster.

The Sigil of Nyarlathotep against a solid green background (it will be used in the film).

Gregg and I agreed that these versions don't really work. Version One (on the left) blocks out the house, Version Two (on the right) makes it so transparent that you can't see it at all.

These were just a few fun experiments. The final design is coming soon.

The Photography in the Witch House - Effects, Part Five: The Tendrils

With a few tweaks, the Tendrils design from Gregg Stockdale is finished.

Wow.

The Photography in the Witch House - Effects, Part Four: The Beginning of the Tendrils

Our main concept artist has revealed a rough draft of what he's been working on since we started. Yes, Witch House's own Gregg Stockdale has revealed the first draft of...THE TENDRILS!

For those of you who don't know, the idea of this is to make foggy tendrils emerge from the Window, which represents the higher dimensions. Its a fabulous idea and Gregg has been working on it for quite some time. This is only a rough draft, but I think it looks amazing and eerie.

Now I don't know where he got those shadow tentacles from (other than Gerald Scarfe or a drawing by an inmate of Summer Breeze Mental Hospital) but good God that's cool. I mean, its enough that he takes fabulous violet photos, creates the hideous faces of Keziah and Brown Jenkin, makes a Grimoire page, and designs the Sigil of Nyarlathotep to represent the film, but this? WOW!

And this is only a rough draft! Tell me, is there one of you who wouldn't like to see this in its finished format? I DON'T THINK SO!

Thanks, Gregg for being a devoted member of the Witch House team.

The Sigil of Nyarlathotep

Gregg Stockdale has designed a new symbol that will represent Witch House. I call it the Sigil of Nyarlathotep. You can see it here imposed over the Violet Window and the Logo.

The Photography in the Witch House - The Grimoire Page, Part One

Gregg has a new concept in the making...one featuring a page from a grimoire, kept in Keziah Mason's loft.

It contains "Instructiones for Conjuring a Rat Thynge".

Gregg is getting knee surgery tomorrow. BEST OF LUCK, GREGG!

Mark Foster's Poster Art

Mark Foster has provided his piece for the Dreams in the Witch House poster art, and I must admit I'm really quite blown away.

Iä Nyarlathotep! Sened Mark Foster! Oosur poster art! Iä! Iä! Iä!

I actually received this back on June 12th but it was just so sudden I could not provide the money immediately. But it really is QUITE an astonishing piece in my opinion. The look, the design, and the detail that Keziah's face is just like Brown Jenkin ("the accursed little face which he at last realised bore such a shocking, mocking resemblance to old Keziah’s") all make this poster one of the most stunning pieces of art ever produced. I couldn't be happier.

Mark Foster wrote of it on H.P. Lovecraft Art and added some personal thoughts on the story (as always, grammatically edited by yours truly) -

A commission I did for a student film inspired by the Lovecraft story. I had fun working on this one, especially the design of the poster. In reality Dreams in the Witch House is really the only story by Lovecraft that freaking creeped me out to no end; it's this blackly-dismal story of a helpless student who is perpetually harassed by horrendous supernatural forces well beyond his control, and who wish for him to join in their unspeakable horrors. 

I would personally declare that this is Lovecraft's blackest story, with other dark stories, like Cthulhu or Colour actually having a sort of descriptive or conceptual beauty or wonder to them; whereas this story is to me his most horrifically dreary in its systematical destruction of Gilman's sanity, though there is a bit of wonder in the concept of Gilman being physically pulled to a specific point in space—that scene left me genuinely awestruck. 

Thanks, Mark!

New Addition to the Creative Team!

Hmm, we've got a script, we've got music, we've got props, we've got poster art, we've got Nyarlathotep...what do we need now?

A DESIGNER!

Artist "KingOvRats" (DeviantART name) is joining as a designer for our film! I greatly admire all of his artwork, particularly his Lovecraft illustrations. Here are a few a LOT.

Wilbur's twin in The Dunwich Horror

Yig, Father of Serpents

  

Court of Azathoth

 

Azathoth, Blind Idiot God and Nuclear Chaos

Hound of Tindalos

Yog-Sothoth in The Lurker at the Threshold

  

  

Cthulhu/Spawn of Cthulhu

Wilbur Whateley in The Dunwich Horror

Mi-Go/Fungi from Yuggoth

     

Nyarlathotep as (from left to right): the Haunter of the Dark (story of the same name), the Mad Faceless God (The Rats in the Walls), the Black Man (The Dreams in the Witch House), the Black Pharaoh (Nyarlathotep and The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath), 

Hunting Horror (slave of Nyarlathotep)

Moon Beast from The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath

Nightgaunt

Shub-Niggurath

Flying, semi-dimensional, half-polypous race member ("Flying Polyp" or "Elder Thing")

Elder Thing

 

Shoggoths

Cat from Saturn in The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath

Tsathoggua

The Color in The Color Out of Space

He's gonna provide some sketches for the abyss and possibly the Elder Thing/Old One city.

He's also given us the liberty to use his Brown Jenkin sketch for our puppet. Sorry Brendan, but you cannot beat this.

Look at that! It's so smoothly connected!