The Technique (Pickman’s Model)

“It was a colossal and nameless blasphemy with blaring red eyes, and it held in bony claws a thing that had been a man, gnawing at the head as a child nibbles at a stick of candy. It’s position was a kind of crouch, and as one looked one felt that at any moment it might drop its present prey and seek a juicier morsel.”

My latest painting was inspired by the H.P. Lovecraft short story “Pickman’s Model”. In the tale, the main protagonist Richard Upton Pickman has been painting monstrosities with uncanny accuracy. When visiting Pickman’s home, a friend discovers the terrifying reason why the paintings are uncanny… he has creatures locked in his basement!