monsters

Happy New Year! New Art and Stuff

| M. R. Kessell

First thing, I want to say HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my friends here!

I took some time to enjoy the holidays, reflected on the previous year’s accomplishments (and failures) and am now starting to get the ball rolling again for 2023.

I have some exciting projects and collaborations coming up that I will reveal when the time is just right. Until then, take a look at my latest YouTube time lapse pencil drawing:

Bity Bag Head. Very clever name for this monster, no?

My hopes with these types of videos is to both inspire you to draw something yourself and offer a few minutes of relaxing, meditative viewing somewhat similar to what I experience as I let my pencil and mind flow freely.

I will try to not neglect my YouTube channel so much this upcoming year. Let me know what you’d like to see, whether it’s drawing or painting tutorials, animation, music or whatever!

Getting Nowhere Fast: Another Batboy Comic Collection by M. R. Kessell Book Cover showing Batboy sweating as he pedals a stationary bike with a dill pickle hanging in front of him as motivation

I’m happy to announce that Batboy & the Art of Self-Sabotage and Getting Nowhere Fast: Another Batboy Comic Collection are both available in e-book format. Also both are available for FREE on Kindle Unlimited!

Finally, here are the last two drawings I did in 2022 and the first drawing of 2023:

Now it’s time to go think about 2023’s To-Do List.

What will we accomplish this year?

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Brooklyn Horror con 2021

| M. R. Kessell

GREETINGS, CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT!

I’m super excited to announce that I will be appearing at the first annual Brooklyn Horror Convention October 23rd & 24th 2021. You can find me somewhere in the Artist Alley. I will post more info as it becomes available.

In preparation for my first real convention appearance, I’ve been painting up a storm and having a blast!

Below you can see one of my dear friends who will be attending the convention.

Portrait of Bela Lugosi, Acrylic on 11x14 Canvas Board by M. R. Kessell 2021
Portrait of Bela Lugosi, Acrylic on 11×14 Canvas Board

In addition to my original paintings, I will have an assortment of prints and postcards. Good ol’ Pumpkinspice will be on hand to ruin your pastries and spoil your coffee drinks.

The Return of Pumpkinspice, 11x14 print by M.R. Kessell
Pumpkinspice ruining your breakfast

I will also have a few copies of my illustrated book on hand. Pick one up for the monster kid in your life. I’ll even sign it for you (although that might actually decrease its value.)

If you can’t wait until October, you can order a copy from Amazon, by clicking here!

I’ll be posting more in the upcoming weeks, I’ve got quite a few new artworks to share with you! Hopefully you’ll want to come peep them in person.

I might also do a few posts on the logistical prep as an artist for their first convention appearance. I’m learning a lot and hope the info could be helpful to some of you.

Until next time!

Halloween Creeps

| M. R. Kessell

This will be a short post, I need to claw my way back through the hot glue spider webs and continue working on my two separate Halloween costumes.

Blue monster with horns has a belly ache
This monster has eaten too much candy already.

I’ve also been working on a Halloween party playlist. I’m currently at 10 hours of music and still open to suggestions. Let me know if I missed anything.

If you’re a fan of horror movie themes, spooky novelty songs, dark punk, zombie surf, and rib cage percussion ensembles (I made that last one up) then you might enjoy this. It’s over on Spotify.

Until next time!

It Came from the Basement!

| M. R. Kessell

Forgive me if you’ve seen it already, but I nearly forgot to mention this here on my own blog. I have a new book available! Below is the description from Amazon:

It_Came_from_the_Bas_Cover_for_Kindle

” It Came from the Basement is an illustrated, inky homage to monsters and monster movies accompanied by a collection of thirty-one ridiculous rhymes to make you laugh uncomfortably in the night.

Darkly humorous, M. R. Kessell’s It Came from the Basement lies somewhere between Edward Gorey’s The Gashleycrumb Tinies and Tim Burton’s The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy.

Intended for the monster kid in all of us.”

Available in print and Kindle format on Amazon.com

You may have seen here on my blog that I published a new creepy illustration and rhyme each day of October 2017 in celebration of my love of Halloween. I’ve spent the past few months cleaning up and compiling all of it into this weird little book.

I am self-published and totally independent. Please check it out or pass it along if you or someone you know is a Monster Kid too!

 

Nothing of Value

| M. R. Kessell

His empty hands dripped with sweat as he approached the altar on his knees. The creature with a million dead eyes was waiting, its many orifices watering, towering over the small human.

“I know that you crave constant stimulation,” he said, “and you demand new content continuously,” he put his hands up, “but as an artist, I just can’t do it. I have nothing of value to offer today.”

The beast reared back and howled, pulling taut the thousands of cables running from its body. It thrashed. It shrieked. Drops of saliva rained down. The artist shielded his head and vital organs, anticipating a swift yet painful execution.

But the beast turned away, laughing and gurgling, distracted by another’s offering; something loud, flashy, and viral. That would buy the artist some more time.

He crawled into a dark corner of the temple, where, being enveloped by the whirring of giant cooling fans, he could have a moment to just be human and think.