Category Archives: 2006

Karloff Frankenstein

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Technically I suppose I should call this guy the Pierce Frankenstein since it’s Jack Pierce that designed and applied the make-up the makeup for this version of the creature. The same creature design was worn by Bela Lugosi, Glenn Strange, Lon Chaney Jr. and Fred Gwynne. A more appropriate moniker would be the Universal Frankenstein since it’s Universal Studios that holds the copyright (or, more likely, the trademark) on the makeup. Still, it’s Boris Karloff who wore the make-up first so it’s Karloff that I think of when I see this version of the creature no matter who is actually under the latex and greasepaint.

I’ve given the poor guy leather shoes. Those big platform boots that the creature wore in the movies helped to make him taller and more intimidating than the rest of the cast but seem like an odd choice of footwear in “real” life. Who has a pair of those things lying around the castle? Maybe if Frankenstein had made (and dressed) his creature in the 1970s …

Frankensteins

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These sketches were done prior to The Legion of Frankensteins. Drawing Frankenstein monsters is fun. Beauty or practicality doesn’t seem to be part of the Frankenstein skill set, at least not as far as surgery (or tailoring) is concerned. For the poor creatures it means they are shunned and rejected by humanity. For their portraiteers it means a constant challenge to find new ways of depicting mismatched parts.

Burrabbs and Such

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We’ll see George again, probably quite a few times. I finished another series of illustrations of the character in February.

For now, here are a couple of burrabb. And a k!lang warrior. That’s the guy with the beard. The k!lang run one of the space faring empires in the Sentient 39 universe. Or rather, they think they run it. Like most ruling classes they both run their world and are run by it.

Designing George, Part 12

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These are some pre-vectoring illustrations of George in his final design. Now that we’ve got George’s look worked out we’ve got a basic process for each new illustration. First the client tells me what George needs to be doing. In this case George needed to gesturing at important parts of the text. I then sketch out a few variations of a pose. Once the client decides which one is preferred I ink the sketch with a basic line. I then forward the illustration to the designer who converts it to a vector illustration for smoother reproduction.