Mount Ngranek

"And when he saw that crag he gasped and cried out aloud, and clutched at the jagged rock in awe; for the titan bulge had not stayed as earth’s dawn had shaped it, but gleamed red and stupendous in the sunset with the carved and polished features of a god.
Stern and terrible shone that face that the sunset lit with fire. How vast it was no mind can ever measure, but Carter knew at once that man could never have fashioned it. It was a god chiselled by the hands of the gods, and it looked down haughty and majestic upon the seeker. Rumour had said it was strange and not to be mistaken, and Carter saw that it was indeed so; for those long narrow eyes and long-lobed ears, and that thin nose and pointed chin, all spoke of a race that is not of men but of gods." - "The Dream Quest Of Unknown Kadath," H.P. Lovecraft

Forest Of Zoogs

"Threading now the low phosphorescent aisles between those gigantic trunks, Carter made fluttering sounds in the manner of the zoogs, and listened now and then for responses. He remembered one particular village of the creatures near the centre of the wood, where a circle of great mossy stones in what was once a clearing tells of older and more terrible dwellers long forgotten, and toward this spot he hastened. He traced his way by the grotesque fungi, which always seem better nourished as one approaches the dread circle where elder beings danced and sacrificed." – HPL, The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath

A Zoog. They live in the upper forests of Dreamland, near the Waking World.

"It was the zoogs, for one sees their weird eyes long before one can discern their small, slippery brown outlines." -- HPL, The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath

Strange Merchant in Dylath-Leen

"The strange merchant drank heavily, but smirked unchanged by the draught. Then he drew forth a curious bottle with wine of his own, and Carter saw that the bottle was a single hollowed ruby, grotesquely carved in patterns too fabulous to be comprehended. He offered his wine to his host, and though Carter took only the least sip, he felt the dizziness of space and the fever of unimagined jungles" - The Dream Quest Of Unknown Kadath

Marsh Patriarch Portrait

Mi-Go Anatomy

A Dark Dirt Road In Vermont

The Dreams In The Witch House

Dragging Old One specimen back to camp

Yithian Biology

Cthulhu

"...the mountainous monstrosity flopped down the slimy stones and hesitated floundering at the edge of the water."

Cthulhu Idol

Yithians Attacking Flying Polyp Rookery

Cthulhu Seated on Pillar

Another update: Added blue 'vapor' swirls. Update: played with color and lighting.

One of my favorite renditions of Him so far. Update: tweaked his legs, the tuna, the background, the wave highlights, and made his eyes and the sigil blue.

I drew a tuna to add for scale... I didn't want to just pilfer a photo, didn't feel right. I did base this on another artist's rendition, but redrew it in Illustrator.

Flying Polyp Study

Another concept for the mysterious Flying Polyps from Lovecraft's 'The Shadow Out of Time.' They are quite vaguely described, so the artist has some freedom; the only requirements are no eyes, no wings or other apparent means of flight, and some way of leaving round, five-toed footprints. I gave my polyp a sort of hold-fast base with five suction cups. They are also capable of partial or total invisibility, which I sort of showed here.

Pencil sketch:




Final:


Second version:

At The Mountains of Madness, Etchings from College

These are both from 1982 or thereabouts.

Yithians battling Flying Polyps

Pencil sketch with Photoshop color and shading. The Flying Polyps are opening a hole in the sky, and letting in noxious vapors from God knows where or when. The Flying Polyps are described as being similar to the Cthulhu Spawn in not being made of ordinary matter, and displaying a distressing plasticity.

Sketch for flying polyp. I deliberately gave them Cthulhuish affinities. So many artists who've drawn the polyps obviously did not read even the scant descriptions provided by Lovecraft. Here's a hint: when the creature is described as EYELESS, making eyeballs the main feature of its skin is counterproductive.

Update: reenvisioned Polyps, and did a new sketch of battle.

The Horror At The Museum

From an obscure short story. Pencil with Photoshop highlights and color.

Cthulhu Rising

Detail

Cthulhu Dozing

An image I did in college, back in the eighties. Litho stone and crayon.

Cthulhu Clock

Did this back in 2003...