Something Smells Fishy...

Ichthyosapien 61912
Digital Painting
2012

Lately, I've been working on a project that I have been thinking about for a long time. Originally, the project was a series of essays connecting classic movie monsters with fears and phobias. Though I may return to the lengthy written discourse the project originated as sometime in the future, for the time being, the project lives as a series of portraits called Social Monsters.

The first portait, Zombie 5412, actually marked the first time I made an artistic rendition of the walking dead, as I wrote about previously. Originally, it was created for a friend, but the enjoyment it brought encouraged me to complete and entire series of related portraits. Icthyosapien 61912, as seen above, is the third portrait of the series and one of the more challenging pieces I have ever completed. In fact, the image seen above is the second version of the piece. The first was much more heavily inspired by Creature From the Black Lagoon.

The goal is to complete the series in time for Halloween. If I feel inspired, I may write the full essays to accompany each image explaining what fears and phobias each monster represents and why. For now, I'm content just making the images. What are your thoughts?