Uncle Forry SCARY MONSTERS cover

Just finished late last night, this is the wraparound cover for the upcoming 70th issue of SCARY MONSTERS. Click on it to see a larger version.  I've been doing cover illos for this mag for years, usually acrylic on illustration board -- and pasting up logos and copy  on an overlay the old fashioned way -- leaving a lot of the assembly work to the printers.  But this is the second one I've done since buying an 11 x 17 scanner, which is allowing me to scan the whole image, and then, in Photoshop, add background color and cover copy myself, tweaking the colors and such as I like.  The original images were done with colored inks on bristol board.

This is a tribute to the late great Forrest J. Ackerman, whose FAMOUS MONSTERS magazine was a huge influence on me and looms large in my childhood memories.  I was one of "Uncle Forry's" many "nephews" to visit his digs in "Karloffornia," and tour his incredible collection of movie memorabilia.  Every day I wear a reproduction of the Lugosi Dracula ring (pictured here) that was famously part of Forry's collection -- as much in tribute to FJA as to Bela.  I'm pleased to have the opportunity to use my artwork to say thank you to FJA on behalf of "monster kids" everywhere.  

A special thanks to Alan Light for the reference photos of Forry -- taken on his pilgrimage to the "Ackermansion" many moons ago.