Thursday, August 28, 2014

Cryptids and Kaiju

I have the pleasure of being surrounded by some very delightful vinyl toys depicting that most compelling of Japanese movie monsters -- Hedorah, or the Smog Monster. Not only is he pretty groovy in "Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster" but these toys take his grooviness and develop it into a psychedelic color palette of infinite possibilities.

Clear, black, white, silver, metallic, glow-in-the-dark, flocked, and multi-colored, you could fill your house just with versions of this drippy fiend and his glowing red eyes.

In fact, some of them look good enough to eat. This guy below sent me looking for a bomb pop, or some kind of lemon-cherry-blue raspberry Italian ice.


Since I don't have an array of paintable figures for my own experimentation, though, I do have the ability to have some two-dimensional representations, so I've been kicking those around lately. This one resembles the tainted rainbow hues of an oil spill.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/199181274/colorful-smog-monster-kaiju-fan-art?ref=shop_home_active_12

"Rainbow of Smog" 8 x 10 inch painting on canvas board

And this little guy just tries on some purple for a profile pic. I am quite sure I'll do more of these, as the colors continue to compel me, and it's a lot cheaper to paint my own Hedorahs than it is to buy up some limited run toys!
https://www.etsy.com/listing/199190395/smog-monster-kaiju-fan-art-original?ref=shop_home_active_13

"Smog Monster in Profile" 5 x 7 inch painting on canvas board
 
But wait, there's more! Another favorite film is "Attack of the Mushroom People," aka "Matango"...
 
 
I had wanted to see this for most of my life, it seems, because nothing sounds more amazing and psychedelic than a Japanese film from the 1960s about people who eat mushrooms, and become mushroom people. What could possibly be better? It's a bit more bleak and psychological than your typical "monsters are coming to kill us" movie, but it nonetheless enjoys considerable cult popularity, decades later. It also lends itself to vinylification (?) quite splendidly. Look how psychedelic...


 I find this a pretty compelling subject as well, so I hope to do some more two-dimensional Matango paintings as I have time...here is the first.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/197493731/green-mushroom-person-fantasy-sci-fi-art?ref=shop_home_active_9

"Beware of the Matango" 5 x 7 inch painting on canvas board

Being caught up in weird monsters and science fiction also means that I have cryptozoology on the brain. The popular image of the Mothman is particularly arresting, to me. You know the story, perhaps. Perhaps you don't. But either way, the big red eyes and wings make for a spooky thing. For some reason I thought he should have an ice cream cone, though. Maybe it's just because it's summer. Maybe I still have that Italian ice flavored Hedorah on the brain.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/198878939/mothman-with-ice-cream-cryptid-art?ref=shop_home_active_16

"In Seach Of...Ice Cream" 5 x 7 inch painting on canvas board 


Finally, for this installment, I really like UFOs, and since I've already painted them beaming up a unicorn, I thought I would dig deep for another creature that, who knows, perhaps aliens have some interest in. It would certainly explain a thing or two. Right?

https://www.etsy.com/listing/199592783/ufo-abduction-loch-ness-monster-print-5?ref=shop_home_active_4

"The Plot to Abduct Nessie" 5 x 7 inch painting on canvas board

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