The Technique (Pickman’s Model)

“It was a colossal and nameless blasphemy with glaring 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!

For me, this acrylic painting was an exploration in subject matter and lighting. Long time Monkeypit fans know that Lovecraft is one of my primary inspirations but lately I haven’t been specifically painting creatures from his storis. After rereading Lovecraft’s “Pickman’s Model”, I couldn’t help but draw inspiration from the description and try my own hand at recreating the basement creature. In addition, I tried to use two sources of lighting (the yellow spotlight and the blue backlighting) to accentuate the beast. I was really happy with the result!

I should also mention that Angstchild posted this on the /r/ImaginaryNecronomicon subreddit and it garnered a lot of interest. In fact, it’s one of the top voted posts this year on that subreddit (with around 1,200 upvotes)! I thought the piece turned out great but it’s always nice to have external validation as well.

MONKEYPIT SHOP