Just in time for Hallowe'en, Monsterwax is opening up orders for their
"Legendary Lovecraft" trading card set, a cool project I'm proud to be a part of. Ricardo Garijo, Jr., carrying his late father's torch, brushed out a batch of beautifully rendered cards for the base set, capturing the spooky mood and otherworldly colors described in Lovecraft's tales. Though I'm typically not a fan of computer generated artwork, Garijo, Jr.'s is tasteful, painterly and organic. My foil inserts, in contrast, were tortuously scratched out with micron pens in a style emulating that of Virgil Finlay or Basil Wolverton. So you see the set offers something for everyone.
If Lovecraftian tales intrigue you but seemed too dense upon first attempted readings, the artwork and summaries on these cards will gently draw you in to the Mythos. Lovecraft's writing -- particularly the Cthulhu character and
The Necronomicon -- has influenced heavy metal bands and cult classics like
The Evil Dead, but it's no less highbrow than Poe's (in my grumbling opinion). One thing that impresses me most about his stories (though it made them pretty tricky to condense into card-sized snippets) is the intricacy of them -- every little detail means something. So when you're writing story summaries, don't leave out that seemingly throwaway bit about the rock the narrator kicks out of the way on a forest path, nor the direction in which the path is going or the direction in which he kicks the rock, or the material the rock is made from and the number of facets it has, because all of it will be INTEGRAL to the story's denouement every time. I wonder if he drew maps or created model cities to ensure the perfect continuity of his universe.
In addition to the six printed insert cards I did for the set, I'm creating some of the original art sketch cards, one of which is included in each box. Other top sketch card artists are working on the set, too, so there's no guarantee you'll get one of mine, but I thought collectors would appreciate a checklist of my "Legendary Lovecraft" sketches. I'll be adding to this list as I create more, so it's not complete yet:
LOVECRAFT PORTRAIT SKETCH CARDS
IN GRAPHITE
1. Young Lovecraft with glasses and pink background
2. Lovecraft with tentacle shadows and blue background
3. Lovecraft and Yithians with grey background
4. Smirking Lovecraft with carved monoliths and yellowish background
5. Serious Lovecraft holding black cat with pink background
6. 3/4 view of serious Lovecraft with glasses, bowtie and faint blue background
7. Lovecraft w/rats on his shoulders and red-orange tint
8. Lovecraft 3/4 view with cream/grey background
9. Sketchy Lovecraft with orange/grey background
10. Lovecraft with tentacle heart "frame" and yellow/grey background
IN PEN AND INK
1. Lovecraft and fanged, winged ex-wife with pink background
2. Pensive-looking Lovecraft
3. Lovecraft reading Necronomicon
"AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS" SKETCHES
IN MARKER
1. Elder "fossil" discovered in cave
2. Men running from shoggoth
3. Penguins running from shoggoth
IN GRAPHITE
1. Elder monster close-up with yellow background
"THE CALL OF CTHULHU" SKETCHES
IN GRAPHITE
1. Cthulhu bas-relief (gray-green background)
2. Cthulhu and a couple tiny sailors
IN PEN AND INK
1. Cthulhu in the sea with wings spread
"THE CATS OF ULTHAR" SKETCHES
IN MARKER
1. Three feisty-looking cats
"THE COLOUR OUT OF SPACE" SKETCHES
IN MARKER
1. Colour rising from well with trees in background and pig corpse
"THE DREAM-QUEST OF UNKNOWN KADATH" SKETCHES
IN GRAPHITE
1. Moon beasts (pink background)
IN MARKER
1. Shantak bird
2. Night gaunts
"THE DREAMS IN THE WITCH HOUSE" SKETCHES
IN GRAPHITE
1. Brown Jenkins with classic yellow background
IN PEN AND INK
1. Witch with strangling hands
"THE DUNWICH HORROR" SKETCHES
IN GRAPHITE
1. Henry Armitage's wife w/blue background
2. The "Horror"
IN MARKER
1. Pregnant Lavinia Whateley
2. Whippoorwills singing
3. Wilbur shooting dog (Mars Attacks! homage)
4. Wilbur holding Necronomicon
"THE FESTIVAL" SKETCHES
IN MARKER
1. Wax mask falling off to reveal what should have been a face
"HALLOWE'EN IN A SUBURB" SKETCHES
IN GRAPHITE
IN MARKER
1. Flying vampires
"HERBERT WEST: REANIMATOR" SKETCHES
IN MARKER
1. Herbert West injecting a rabbit/monkey creation
"THE HORROR AT RED HOOK" SKETCHES
IN MARKER
1. Mrs. Sudyam sacrificed ("Lilith" written in background)
"THE LURKING FEAR" SKETCHES
IN GRAPHITE
1. Martenses rising from the hills (red background)
"THE OUTSIDER" SKETCHES
IN MARKER
1. Outsider looking in mirror
IN GRAPHITE
1. Outsider looking in mirror
"PICKMAN'S MODEL" SKETCHES
IN MARKER
1. Pickman's model gnawing on unfortunate human
"THE PICTURE IN THE HOUSE" SKETCHES
IN MARKER
1. Butcher shop illustration
"THE RATS IN THE WALLS" SKETCHES
IN MARKER
1. Black cat scratching at pillar, aerial view
2. Swarming rats
3. Black cat scratching at pillar, side view
"SHADOW OUT OF TIME" SKETCHES"
IN GRAPHITE
1. Yithians holding books with blue background
IN PEN AND INK
1. Lone Yithian reading book with neon yellow background
"SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH" SKETCHES
IN GRAPHITE
1. Bus driver Joe Sargent
2. Innsmouth creatures in lake
IN MARKER
1. Innsmouth creatures rising from lake
2. Lone fisherman with stormy sky
"THE TEMPLE" SKETCHES
IN MARKER
1. Old-timey scuba diver
"THE THING ON THE DOORSTEP" SKETCHES
IN MARKER
1. Asenath Waite
IN GRAPHITE
1. Shub Niggurath with pink background
"THE WHISPERER IN DARKNESS" SKETCHES
IN MARKER
1.Old Akeley sitting in balloon chair
IN PEN AND INK
1. Dog with tentacle in mouth
2. Dogs barking
IN GRAPHITE
1. Tsathoggua with orange background
