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The Great Ones

The Great Pumpkin - 36x24 Poster

The Great Pumpkin ("Cucurbita Maxima") secretly oversees all witch-hunts and has also been known to devour powerful woodland monsters. The title is won by single combat. On Hallowe'en, the Great Pumpkin selects a single patch of pumpkins and pays it a visitation, where he must accept all challenges...

This monstrously detailed poster illustrates the history of the Great Ones from antiquity to the present. Over a hundred pumpkins in over thirty vignettes fill out six square feet. The drawings and calligraphy were made completely by hand by M.K. Davis. Featured Great Ones hail from the U.S.A., Canada, Ireland, England, Scandinavia, the Alps, Ukraine, Mexico...well a lot of places!

The poster is matte finish in order to glow optimally under a UV light (optional) and to accept UV paints if desired.

Detail images:

GP Poster WIP Update 2

This is going to be huge (36"x24") and detailed. This will explain the nature and office of the Great Pumpkin and feature 30-50 contenders for the title throughout the ages, in styles that are familiar to haunters and some that are new. Lots of ink and calligraphy to put down yet.

The details in these previews are unfinished and larger than actual size. The finished poster will be loaded with details you won't see without a careful look.

GP Poster WIP Update

The details in these previews are unfinished and larger than actual size. 

Great Pumpkin(s) Poster Preview - WIP

The details in these previews are unfinished and larger than actual size. 

Not Dead Yet

Happy Octoberween. Here's two that I just added to the YargCade store for digital download at US letter size (8.5x11), without the big orange X of course. You won't see an anatomical drawing of Jack-O-Lanterns or Murder Mushrooms anywhere else (for now). Click to embiggenize.

Misty Mountains Old

The Dwarven Song of Old Wealth. All 27 verses. In the halls of Erebor (The Lonely Mountain). 37x60. Words and runic alphabet by J.R.R. Tolkien. Illustration by M.K. Davis.

I had more details in mind for this one but as is typical these days, it was gathering dust on the drawing table. And hanging off of the drawing table! At five feet long and over three feet wide, it's honking big. But it perfectly occupies the wall over my stairwell. I had to tape a screwdriver to a bamboo cane to mount it.

The Tolkien atlas illustrates a much simpler, much more shallow Erebor. But where's the fun in that? I wanted a cutaway dungeon version more fitting for "hollow halls beneath the fells" in "places deep where dark things creep."

No attempt was made at consistency of scale or of even being reasonable with it, but what you probably can't see in this pic are many ladders, bridges, elevators, and tunnels. By the time I got to Smaug's heap, the notion of chalices and statuary in silhouette just didn't make sense anymore. But should I change my mind, I can always go back to it.

BIG THANKS to Mike Roberts for getting my initial layout printed on that wonderful paper. Don't know what it is but I wish I had a ton of it. It made a gorgeous clean print and has taken a lot of abuse without wrinkling or tearing.

In Places Deep Where Dark Things Sleep

Details from another work in progress.

More Riddle of Steel Pix

It's framed now so the photos are a bit glare-y.

Update: prints are now for sale in the Etsy store!

May It Be - Calligraphy of Enya Lyrics

This one had been in my mental queue for years. I had lofty goals of detailed illustrations and personal elements but sometimes you just have to get an idea off the table to make room -- and go back to it later if you get a mind to. The song, if you don't recognize it.

CROM!

Thanks to Mikeyboy for posting a link to YargCade at CROM! Go there NOW for all your Conan Fandom goodness.

The Riddle of Steel

The Riddle of Steel is complete. Prints of the full-sized version (24x18) are now available for sale in the Etsy store.

Closer

Well finally I had some time to do a little more work on this. It's getting closer to done.

Conan Montage pt.6

The little drawings in the poster are simple by themselves but collectively should add up to a neat poster, I hope. I'm taking liberties mixing quotes with visual elements, and at first they might not make sense together. The finished product should bring it all home.

The Tree of Woe

Wheel of Pain Necklace

Studies for Conan as King. 

Too many details in the first one but my wife digs it. ;)

The layout of the second one is shamelessly ripped off from Patricia Smith.

Conan Montage Pt.4

Thinking about the shape of the Doom symbol. The one in this poster is not like the red and black symbol shown during the credits. But contrary to memory, there is no single standard; there are many variant symbols in the movie.

A - Battle standard. There is a variant of this one with bells and hair (scalps?).

B - Thulsa Doom wears a snake amulet on an elaborate chain; the amulet looks very similar to the one worn by the princess, but they are different.

C - The symbol above Doom's nook in the Mountain of Power.

D - Rexor's leather armor worn during the raid has a double snake motif sewn onto it.

E - Rexor wears an amulet unlike Doom's other priests during the Tower of Set scene. In later scenes, he wears the other kind (H - presumably because this one got caught in his hair/face during the action?)

F - The symbol on Rexor's headpiece is the same shape as Doom's.

G - Guards at the Mountain of Power have a unique symbol on their breastplates and shields.

H - Priests and servants of Doom wear an amulet like this one.

I - The jade amulet found in the Tower of Set.

J - The princess wears a unique amulet.

A - Symbol shown when the credits roll. This exact symbol is never seen in the movie.

B - Thulsa Doom's shield. Close to A but not exact.

C - Shields and tridents of Doom's guards bear different snake symbols.

D-H - Production drawings.

If you watch closely, there are many more variations in the movie. But most of them have either the shape of a W (or lower-case Omega) or an O. I might adjust the poster to better imitate shield B or D.

Conan Montage pt. 3

Made a severe calligraphy mistake tonight that will have to be completely pasted over. Also discovered that this knockoff artboard is much weaker than bristol board and can only take about one harsh erasing before it falls apart. But still I am excited and hate to stop to go to bed.

Lizard on a stick. FRESH.

Inking vs. Sleeping

Hate to stop at this stage. But with most of the ink down I can now see how painfully low the weight of the page will be if I don't change something. Thulsa Doom's symbol has many varieties; I'd chosen one without the crescent moon, and adding the moon back in has dramatically shifted the balance. Have to choose now whether to start over or add something to counter it.

Conan Montage Pt. 2 - The Anvil of Crom

I repeat: "Never show a work in progress!"

"The Anvil of Crom" was a piece of music composed for the 1982 Conan movie. Most likely it's the one you are thinking of right now, if you saw it. It inspired me to design some element for the montage.

At first I was thinking that the entire poster would be only calligraphy and silhouettes, and though an anvil does have an unmistakable shape, it's not that imposing by itself. So I tried to design something worthy of Crom.

The one above was what I'd settled on, as it echoes the mantra of flesh being stronger than steel. An idea for a hammer also came to me:

And I thought great, awesome, ready for ink. But then I got inspired by this incredible photograph: http://www.flickr.com/photos/natgeo-/6124449390/in/photostream

And now my little anvil man looks a tad puny. Nevermind that in real life few men would be strong enough to lift it, this has to be an anvil worthy of Crom! So now I'm thinking something more like this:

Except that will be a difficult thing to simplify into the very plain sort of shapes I had in mind for this montage.

What to do, what to do.

Conan Montage Pt. 1

"Never show a work in progress"

The montage will be 18x24 and will focus on the Riddle of Steel from the 1982 Conan movie but will incorporate other elements from the genre. The illustrations will primarily be silhouette and simple b/w drawings. The finished product will have at least 10 quotes and over 30 elements and motifs:

Top left
Border: Conan's father's belt pattern. Text: "This you can trust" etc.

Bottom left
Border: Doom priest hood pattern + Lizard on a stick (fresh!) Text: "Time enough for the earth in the gave" Conan fighting wolves/cutaway of Atlantean tomb.

Top right
Border: Mother's tunic pattern. Text: "Crom laughs at your four winds"

Bottom right
Border: Runic text as from Father's Sword (But text will be Genghis Khan quote). Text: For us there is no spring" etc Inset: Subotai chained (Dinner for wolves)

Splash:
Symbol of Doom + Wheel of Pain. Shape of snake heads are likely to change. Text overlay is the riddle of steel. In sun area of Doom symbol, Conan and children being led away from village. In moon area, King Osric quote re: a father's love.

Left tapestry: Endcaps of rod are 5-point pit fighter knives.

Right tapestry: Endcaps of rod are Wheel of Pain animal faces.

Axe on left, Thorgrim's hammer on right.

Wenches in 4 corners (clockwise from top left: belly dancer, captive princess, entranced Doom acolyte, ?

Wizard bottom left, elephant god bottom right. Tree of woe between top right and bottom right. Anvil of Crom between top left and bottom left. Above the Doom symbol I might add calligraphy or a horned helmet.

Here are some plans and studies made before starting.