the unspeakable, in ink on post-its
May 4, 2012 2:35 PM   Subscribe

What if Edward Gorey illustrated Lovecraft? It'd look like John Kenn Mortensen's work, that's what. Except Mortensen makes his art in his spare time, on post-it notes. He has an art book.
posted by Lou Stuells (39 comments total) 72 users marked this as a favorite
 
drat. double. damned trigger finger.
posted by Lou Stuells at 2:37 PM on May 4, 2012


Previously: What if Edward Gorey had met Monty Python? (Not really.) (Also, this is not a link re the double post issue.)
posted by onlyconnect at 2:55 PM on May 4, 2012


Ha! I was thinking of posting this yesterday and caught the double at the last second.
posted by brundlefly at 3:07 PM on May 4, 2012




Previously: What if Edward Gorey had met Monty Python? (Not really.) (Also, this is not a link re the double post issue.)
posted by onlyconnect at 2:55 PM on May 4 [+] [!]


I hate going back to wonderful old metafilter pages that I've never seen before; the links are always dead, and my heart falls each time I click one.
posted by Stagger Lee at 3:12 PM on May 4, 2012 [2 favorites]


The facial expressions of the monsters are what make it great.
posted by 2bucksplus at 3:13 PM on May 4, 2012


You can find Strindberg and Helium here.
posted by onlyconnect at 3:16 PM on May 4, 2012 [3 favorites]


"What if Edward Gorey illustrated Lovecraft?"

DON'T TEASE ME LIKE THAT.
posted by LMGM at 3:24 PM on May 4, 2012 [1 favorite]




The thing that gets me is the reaction of the people. Generally not terror, more like mild perturbation. Sort of a "Oh bother, we have monsters again." look.
posted by happyroach at 3:27 PM on May 4, 2012 [5 favorites]




What if Edward Gorey illustrated book covers? Oh wait -- he did.
What if Gorey illustrated perfectly ordinary children's books? He did that too!

What I'm trying to tell you here is, he's everywhere. It's better if you face that fact now and give in. That's right, SUCCUMB TO THE GOREY.
posted by JHarris at 3:37 PM on May 4, 2012 [4 favorites]


Some of the illustrations don't look so much like Edward Gorey doing Lovecraft so much as Edward Gorey doing Princess Mononoke, mixed with a twee Thomas Kincade love for little cottages.
posted by LionIndex at 3:40 PM on May 4, 2012


I like this one. The monster seems so helpful.
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:57 PM on May 4, 2012 [3 favorites]


Are these really huge post-it notes or a bunch of them stuck together or does he draw with a molecule-thick pen point?
posted by SharkParty at 4:08 PM on May 4, 2012


I've no idea. I'd love to know more about his process.
posted by Lou Stuells at 4:11 PM on May 4, 2012


I think this will serve as the basis of my next potluck invitation.
posted by kaibutsu at 4:16 PM on May 4, 2012 [6 favorites]


You may like the work by Erik Kriek who did draw Lovecraft.
posted by charles kaapjes at 4:30 PM on May 4, 2012 [1 favorite]


These are great. Happyroach is right--It's no big deal, just a bunch of monsters again.

Oddly enough, they remind me of S. Gross
posted by BlueHorse at 4:32 PM on May 4, 2012 [1 favorite]


The thing that gets me is the reaction of the people. Generally not terror, more like mild perturbation. Sort of a "Oh bother, we have monsters again." look.

Almost, say, like the monsters were like doubtful guests?
posted by JHarris at 4:56 PM on May 4, 2012


This is a worthy experiment, but it's not really working for me, for the reasons others have mentioned. I love both Lovecraft and Gorey, but the emotions they evoke are utterly different. Lovecraft evokes cosmic horror that threatens one's world-view, and Gorey evokes a wry smile and the deliciously guilty enjoyment of something wicked. These sensations are too far apart to mix well.

Incidentally, the art sometimes reminds me more of Gahan Wilson, than Gorey.
posted by Slithy_Tove at 5:19 PM on May 4, 2012 [1 favorite]


Incidentally, the art sometimes reminds me more of Gahan Wilson, than Gorey.

This was exactly what I was scrolling down to write.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:21 PM on May 4, 2012


Not even close.
posted by TDavis at 5:55 PM on May 4, 2012


I was thinking of comparing it to Gahan Wilson, but he doesn't often do blank-eyed mindless horrors. These have a touch of that, I think, in the mask-like pupil-less monster faces and mouths with way too many teeth, set into apparently fleshless mandibles. The drippy awfulness of these is refreshingly ooky, and the mindless screaming of these gives me a joyful frisson. The plantlike tentacle ones are great too, in an old-school way. I haven't enjoyed illustrations this much since Scary Stories to tell in the Dark.
posted by Lou Stuells at 6:16 PM on May 4, 2012 [3 favorites]


and the mindless screaming of these gives me a joyful frisson

Those ghoulies aren't screaming, they're singing. They so obviously have a barbershop octet going.
posted by JHarris at 6:22 PM on May 4, 2012 [4 favorites]


Straight from the night terrors of children.


Very cool!
posted by quanti at 6:26 PM on May 4, 2012


I adore them and will probably buy the book.
posted by dejah420 at 6:32 PM on May 4, 2012


These are fantastic and remind me more than a little of the wonderful Monster Parade.
posted by byanyothername at 7:22 PM on May 4, 2012


SharkParty: "does he draw with a molecule-thick pen point?"

Very fine-pointed pens are not that uncommon, though you may have to look outside the usual places. Those I've used myself for doodling on Post-It notes are the Sakura Pigma Micron (permanent archival ink, with widths as narrow as 0.2mm), and on occasion I've had need to go to something so tiny as a Signo Bit DX (a gel pen, but available with a mind-bogglingly small 0.18mm needle-point).

Interestingly, smaller line-widths are generally available in pens meant for the Asian market. This holds true for fountain pen nibs, also; the line put down by a "Fine" nib made by Pilot (a Japanese brand) will be narrower than that put down by a "Fine" nib made by MontBlanc or Parker (European brands).
posted by subbes at 7:41 PM on May 4, 2012 [2 favorites]


Tattoos.
posted by TheRedArmy at 8:11 PM on May 4, 2012


The monsters don't really seem outright evil or malevolent to me. They just love photobombing people.
posted by Hither at 8:34 PM on May 4, 2012 [3 favorites]


I also came in to say that they looked more like Princess Mononoke.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 9:24 PM on May 4, 2012


New Yorkers and NY visitors, there's currently a Gorey exhibition at Columbia, through July 27. I saw it. Darn that dude was prolific.
posted by Zed at 11:02 PM on May 4, 2012


Oh my. I want him to illustrate a Hellboy book.
posted by rifflesby at 11:16 PM on May 4, 2012 [2 favorites]


Chas Addams. Thought that name should appear somewhere in this thread.
posted by Trochanter at 12:49 AM on May 5, 2012


I want'im to illustrate me! :) Some pictures are like not that Lovecraft-ish but his style is impressive. even would like to get one of them hanging on my way.
posted by Chernobyl at 1:46 AM on May 5, 2012


I was also seeing Gahan Wilson in there. What's interesting to me is how impossible it seems to really duplicate another artist's style. These don't really give me a feeling of Gorey's drawings at all, beyond a superficial level. It reminds me of those faux Seuss books that have come out in the past few years.
posted by DarkForest at 5:31 AM on May 5, 2012


I dunno. I think Gorey engaged in his own Lovecraftian experiments. See especially: The Insect God.

*shudders*
posted by washburn at 6:30 AM on May 5, 2012 [1 favorite]


I don't see why it's necessary that he's trying to duplicate Gorey. Why can't it be that he is just drawing the way he wants, or the way he knows best, and that style happens to remind some others of Gorey?
posted by BurnChao at 11:44 PM on May 5, 2012 [1 favorite]


I like this one. The monster seems so helpful.
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:57 PM on May 4 [3 favorites +] [!]


See, my interpretation of it was more along the line of "I'm not touching yooouuuu..."
posted by FirstMateKate at 8:13 PM on May 6, 2012


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