Inktober Day 7, here’s a creepy little Linus pic. It’s going to be used in this week’s cover of CRIT! Issue 6
The Castle (cover art), by Monica Marier 2015
Oct7
Inktober Day 7
Oct6
INKTOBER Day 6
Inktober Day 6 is a special picture Mythgard Community, specifically the ones who play Lord of the Rings Online. It’s one of the game avatars of the Tolkien Professor, Corey Olsen, Wigend. He’s reciting one of his favorite catchphrases.
Wigend, by Monica Marier 2015
I’ll be using a higher-resolution version of this for some Mythgard-related items. So stay tuned for that!
Oct6
Carpe Scream Day 6
So, today I saw the 3rd installment of the Omen franchise, The Omen III, (The Final Conflict)
The Omen III The Final Conflict, 20th Century Fox
This movie was a rather dissappointing finale to the storyline. There’s just a whole lot of nothing happening in it and it’s chock full of thrilling poorly-lit action sequences.
Pictured: Actual action-packed action (probably).
Seriously, when you compare this to the almost cartoony deaths of Omen II, these deaths are almost like in Disney movies when we have the bad guy fall off a cliff into shadow.
When things do start to happen (at around the Half-hour mark) it gets good. Sam Neil has some great performances and things start moving, we’re introduced to the second Christ, and then…. a baby-killing sequence. Fun. Stuff. I get that it’s supposed to set the tone and be a parallel to the infant genocide of King Herod, but it’s a gruesome sequence and uncomfortably long.
It’s also the 3rd movie where we’ve seen absolutely no conflict of powers between God and Satan. Whenever Satan attacks something holy, it’s a one-sided struggle (and I use the word struggle lightly). It’s the 3rd movie, and we’ve still seen no real conflict, not even an internal one, which they hinted at in the second movie.
When Damien is a little boy, he’s weaker, vulnerable, and there’s a sense of danger and uncertainty. Now that Damein is a big strapping grown-up, it’s pretty boring.
Please, Lord, help to ease Monica’s pain and let her not have to watch this movie again, Thy will be done.
I was hoping for an ultimate showdown at the end, but end came as a quick “bam”, some cheesy lights, and the Mormon Tabernacle choir. UGGH. There was so much more they could have done with this if they’d led with characters and not with events.
Final note on the Franchise: Watch movies one and two, and then read Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.
Oct6
Inktober Day 5
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why you don’t ask your friends to “challenge you.” I put out a general shout-out on Facebook for drawings of my original characters in various states and my friend Danny Valentini asked if I could do a picture of his Donuts For Looking analogue, Barney Valentine…NAKED. And so this happened.
Italian Nude with Cherry Blossoms, by Monica Marier
Now, I’m only guessing at most of the details here, but being Italian myself I think I’m on the right track. He reminds me of “Bellini” from Kids in the Hall.
I leave you with these parting words, “Curse you, Danny. CURSE YOU.”
Oct5
Carpe Scream Day 5
Today, I watched one of my Halloween Favorites: Sleepy Hollow
Sleepy Hollow, 1999 Paramount Pictures
Let me just start out by saying, that this movie is pretty much what I wanted Sweeny Todd to be. It’s just so much over-the-top, gory, grimdark fun! It’s got its weak points like the zero-chemistry between Depp and Ricci, the terrible writing for Katrina’s character, and oodles of anachronisms (yes, I know, it’s just silly fun!). But the stark palette of black, white, and red is visually gripping. Elfman’s terrifying score gives me fever chills every time I listen to it. It also features a large talented cast of “Hey,I know that guy!” fame.
Pictured: Alfred, Principal Rooney, Chancellor Palpatine, Uncle Vernon, and Dumbledore
All and all, the wonderful cast and story, are all whimsically dark and entertaining. I harbor a secret wish that Burton returns to some of this witty, nutsy, style of movie soon. Hell, he can even stick Depp and Bonham-Carter in it. What the hell.
Fun Fact: Johnny Depp himself stated that Ichabod Crane was an easy character to get a hold of, once he imagined himself playing a 16-year-old girl.
Escort Miss Depp to the fainting couch.
DOUBLE FEATURE
These days, I ALWAYS follow up this movie with the Disney Short of the same story.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, 1949 Walt Disney Pictures
This one is much more faithful to the original story, in fact the narration is taken almost entirely from it. And it’s narrated by the king of the velvet voice, Bing Crosby. Disney perfectly captivated this wonderfully humorous story of two ruthless gold-diggers out to nab the richest, hottest peach in town.
She’s got huuuuuuuuge tracts of land!
My favorite part is the Halloween Dance and the musical number Bing performs. This cartoon used to scare the hell out of me as a kid, but damn if I didn’t love every bit of it.
This is definitely one of my favorite stories and an American Treasure.
Oct5
Inktober Day 4
Here’s Day 4 of Inktober! I decided to go a little whimsical and do one of Gandalf. I wanted this to be more light-hearted and cartoony. More on that plan later. Hope you enjoy.
Gandalf the Grey, by Monica Marier, 2015. Media Sakura Brush Tip Pen
Oct5
Carpe Scream Day 4
Today’s Carpe Scream, I decided to have some fun. I looked up the 1958 psychological horror B-movie, The Screaming Skull.
The Screaming Skull, 1958 American International Pictures
This one is just a corny cheese-fest. It starts off with the producers of the film making the grandiose claim that the finale of the movie is so terrifying that they promised a free coffin to anyone who dies of fright while viewing it. The premise and plot is actually pretty good, and the ending was a fairly good surprise and very entertaining.. The only problem is that there’s only about 20 minutes of story in this movie. Poor editing, bad pacing, and a lot of awkward silences where nothing is happening drag this out to a yawn-inducing 68 minutes. As Mystery Science Theater pointed out, “they took a tiny movie and put it in a huge box full of packing peanuts.” That being said, there’s a lot of great moments in this movie, and one can’t help seeing the brilliance under the truckload of packing peanuts.
Safest. Bet. Ever.
Oct3
Inktober Day 3
Here’s Day 3 of Inktober. I drew Linus from CRIT! He’s actually tossing a D8 over his shoulder, that part’s not put in yet, since my mathematical perspective is strictly non-euclidean. Media is Pen and Ink. This is going to be on a big CRIT! banner at some point. I like how I managed to get more scar tissue on his skin.
Linus Weedwhacker, by Monica Marier
Oct3
Carpe Scream Day 3
Well, I’ve seen the Omen several times, so I decided to finally watch the sequel…
Damien Omen II, 20th Century Fox
I have to say, this one is slightly less of a thrill ride. The pacing is pretty slow, and the movie relies more on stunning color pallets and gorgeous location shots than it does on plot.
Apart from that, I like that we got to know Damien’s character as he’s starting to grow up and discovering his dark powers. Johnathin Scott-Taylor’s performance as the 12-year-old antichrist is really captivating and heartbreakingly sympathetic at times. I also love that we get to see another huge classic actor like William Holden take the reins as the next father figure/martyr. Plotwise, I had to laugh because it’s almost like a very dark version of Harry Potter.
“Yer a Wizard, Harry.”
The only thing I didn’t like was that we spent so much time with “Uncle Rich’s” work and a lot of side plot-lines that seemed disconnected and didn’t really seem to go anywhere except to provide us with a body-count. The deaths themselves were also faster, bigger, splashier, and in the end more cartoony than interesting, because they had to top Patrick Troughton’s skewering and David Warner’s decapitation. I laughed at every cheesey death, where with the first Omen movie, I gasped. They could have trimmed all that and added more scenes of Damien bumping off classmates and teachers while discovering himself as a man to make it better. Like discovering girls…
“…and then I set her on fire!” Hahahahaha!
I’ll probably go ahead and watch the Omen III and IV to see how I like the over-arching story, but maybe I’ll do it later.
Oct2
Inktober Day2
Day 2 of the Inktober Challenge, and here is an attempt at Quince the Barbarian. Big Muscley men are very strange to draw because their proportions always seem, just WRONG. I even did this with a photo-reference and I remember looking at all the photos of muscley men and thinking they just look like cartoons, and made of clay. Oh well. Minimal lines, since I intend to colour this. See you all tomorrow.
Monica Marier Author 