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BryanBaugh — The Call of Cthulhu

Published: 2008-08-25 20:53:47 +0000 UTC; Views: 24259; Favourites: 474; Downloads: 2376
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Description I've always been a big reader / fan of H.P. Lovecraft's fiction. Love his crazy, cosmically horrifying imagination, his wordy, luxurious writing voice, and his dark, unswerving certainty regarding the unavoidable, miserable future for the pathetic little human race.

So I've been struck by the urge to do a series of illustrations based on his work.

Here's my illustration for: "The Call of Cthulhu".

This seemed like the ideal Lovecraft story to start with, since it is one of his most famous stories... and because Cthulhu himself is the trademark monster of Lovecraft's fiction.

Of course, in "The Call of Cthulhu" you only learn vague facts about the monster from the perspective of confused, skeptical, or mentally deranged people, who know almost nothing about him, and are simply horrified upon finally witnessing his appearance.

You have to dig a bit deeper, and read the much longer novella "At The Mountains of Madness" to learn the whole history of where Cthulhu came from, and his place in the family of monsters who ruled our earth long before man existed... and who have been hibernating ever since, waiting for the perfect moment to return and take the planet back from us...

But that's the fun thing about Lovecraft's fiction - the way all his stories intersect and tie into each other. Cthulhu is mentioned or discussed in other Lovecraft stories as well, and not just the ones that fall into the "Cthulhu Mythos" series. It seems like a very confusing mythology until you read "At The Mountains of Madness" and then it all kinda makes sense.

But personally, as a horror fan, I find the mysterious, less detailed story "The Call of Cthulhu", with its explosive ending, much more fun, scary, and entertaining. So here's my rendition of it.

I've made up a list of my top 10 favorite Lovecraft stories and plan to slowly, gradually noodle them out, one by one. Now let's see if my kindergarten level attention span lasts long enough for me to get through the rest of them!



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Comments: 157

RobbVision In reply to ??? [2008-09-04 04:16:13 +0000 UTC]

GODDAMN...YOU ARE A MASTER!

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BryanBaugh In reply to RobbVision [2008-09-04 17:47:55 +0000 UTC]

Haha, you are too flattering my friend! Thanks!

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gojisan [2008-09-03 14:16:12 +0000 UTC]

"The Call of Cthulhu" is the epitomy when it comes to H.P. Lovecraft's works, and the way the story is sculpted reminds me of the way Bram Stoker wrote "Dracua". And I hope you add more to your series as well.

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ErnestAbacus In reply to ??? [2008-09-01 16:41:43 +0000 UTC]

The rain and Cthulhu's slumping frame really make this.

Out of curiousity, have you ever seen or made an illustration of the boat going throught Cthulhu's head?

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BryanBaugh In reply to ErnestAbacus [2008-09-01 20:04:26 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for the comments! I would like to do more illustrations of Cthulhu and probably will in the future. Stay tuned!

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Kallus In reply to ??? [2008-08-31 20:20:10 +0000 UTC]

yay nice work!

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BackyardAbortion [2008-08-29 20:25:00 +0000 UTC]

AWW he's lovely! His eyes remind me of Kermit the Frog's.

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QuestingRaven [2008-08-29 18:16:13 +0000 UTC]

Totally Squidtastic

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stvnhthr [2008-08-29 12:05:59 +0000 UTC]

Pretty neat-o keen

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Emmacabre [2008-08-28 03:02:26 +0000 UTC]

I've never actually tried Lovecraft's work, but I'll try to look into it now! Awesome drawing!

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BryanBaugh In reply to Emmacabre [2008-08-28 05:25:20 +0000 UTC]

Cool, and thanks!

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catgod13 [2008-08-28 01:30:31 +0000 UTC]

Yay! Ia! Ia!
I like it.

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Freelance-57 In reply to ??? [2008-08-27 00:08:46 +0000 UTC]

Sir, I think you have made my day. This is an excellent portrait of dread Cthulhu. It's one of the only ones with a mouth and I absolutely love the mind-shattering sort of bodily tentacles and textures. Ol' Howard Philip, I think, would be proud. Can't wait to see the others...I hope you read The Dunwich Horror and At the Mountains of Madness...

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BryanBaugh In reply to Freelance-57 [2008-08-27 18:41:04 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for those very flattering comments!

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Freelance-57 In reply to BryanBaugh [2008-08-28 18:43:12 +0000 UTC]

No problem.

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Attila777 In reply to ??? [2008-08-26 23:12:56 +0000 UTC]

Woah a tribute to Cthulhu!
This week I'm working at an illustration tribute to Lovecraft too, but I'm lazy and slow.
This helps me to re-start my work.

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BryanBaugh In reply to Attila777 [2008-08-27 18:40:36 +0000 UTC]

Cool! Nice to know I could be of help! Oh and thanks for your kind words!

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SPY46 In reply to ??? [2008-08-26 22:29:43 +0000 UTC]

how many of his books were made into movies?

i know some were i just cant remember them by name or any thing.


oh yeah, nice work on the pic

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MrFacehug [2008-08-26 20:29:26 +0000 UTC]

Awesome picture! Lovecraft is so cool.

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xorac In reply to ??? [2008-08-26 18:25:01 +0000 UTC]

love the pic. i've heard about lovecraft a lot, any idea which of his books i should start off with?

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BryanBaugh In reply to xorac [2008-08-26 19:14:24 +0000 UTC]

Yikes that's a tough question. I dunno, Lovecraft's fiction is one of those things you get immersed in so gradually and so deeply and there's so much to it that it's hard to tell a newcomer where to start! Here's an idea - I'm gonna draw tribute illustrations of a bunch of them over the next couple months, so maybe keep an eye on my illustrations and see if the subject matter of any of them grab you. Then hit the library and look up that story in a book!

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xorac In reply to BryanBaugh [2008-08-29 07:22:24 +0000 UTC]

good idea. and i hope the other illustrations are as cool as this one.

Thanks

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ChadGrimm In reply to ??? [2008-08-26 16:03:50 +0000 UTC]

bryan this is so awsome! i cant wait to see the rest! any chance Nyarlathotep will be making an apearance some where in one? ive yet to see any works of him.

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BryanBaugh In reply to ChadGrimm [2008-08-26 17:56:22 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for the kind words! Like I said I've got my list of top ten favorite Lovecraft stories I want to pay tribute to. You'll just have to wait and see!

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raisinlove [2008-08-26 14:43:00 +0000 UTC]

D00D! This is super sweet

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BryanBaugh In reply to raisinlove [2008-08-26 17:56:32 +0000 UTC]

Thanks man!!

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Clayman8 In reply to ??? [2008-08-26 12:01:52 +0000 UTC]

thats an auto-fav' for me too beeing a big fan of his works.

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bigdobbo In reply to ??? [2008-08-26 08:50:09 +0000 UTC]

I was just talking to my 6 yr old son about Cthulhu this evening. He saw a plushy doll Cthulhu at our local comic book store. And when I logged on to DA there was your drawing. My son is now obsessed and made me promise to make him a Cthulhu costume for Halloween.

love the picture

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BryanBaugh In reply to bigdobbo [2008-08-26 08:54:10 +0000 UTC]

Wow, I can't figure out if you are just a really cool dad or an evil member of the ancient Cthulhu cult bent on brainwashing the next generation! Haha. Just teasing.

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bigdobbo In reply to BryanBaugh [2008-08-26 09:00:32 +0000 UTC]

A bit of both! MWHHAAHAAHAAAA

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BryanBaugh In reply to bigdobbo [2008-08-26 18:13:25 +0000 UTC]

Haha! Good answer!

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Tillinghast23 In reply to ??? [2008-08-26 07:09:45 +0000 UTC]

Wow! Great job at capturing the cyclopean horror of the mighty Cthulhu!

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BryanBaugh In reply to Tillinghast23 [2008-08-26 07:52:56 +0000 UTC]

Hey, thanks, friend! Coming from a true Lovecraft fan like yourself that means a lot!

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Tillinghast23 In reply to BryanBaugh [2008-08-26 07:58:58 +0000 UTC]

Are you planning on doing one for Dreams in the Witch-House? My favorite HPL story, and very under-rated...

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BryanBaugh In reply to Tillinghast23 [2008-08-26 08:48:46 +0000 UTC]

I am very aware of "Dreams in the Witch-House"... not an underrated story at all in my perception of things! But it didn't quite make my top 10 list of favorite Lovecraft stories. If it were a top 11 list or a top 12 list it probably woulda been there! Haha!

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Tillinghast23 In reply to BryanBaugh [2008-08-26 09:22:32 +0000 UTC]

That's too bad... I'd love to see your vision of Keziah Mason and Brown Jenkin. Here's my version:

[link]

I've been working on some new HPL inspired stuff myself.

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BryanBaugh In reply to Tillinghast23 [2008-08-26 18:13:02 +0000 UTC]

Well for what it's worth I love your interpretation!

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Tillinghast23 In reply to BryanBaugh [2008-08-27 08:29:33 +0000 UTC]

Thanks very much- I really appreciate it!

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moonfreakformula [2008-08-26 07:05:04 +0000 UTC]

That's another really great one Bryan.

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BryanBaugh In reply to moonfreakformula [2008-08-26 07:51:33 +0000 UTC]

Thanks, Kath!!

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Jazon19 In reply to ??? [2008-08-26 05:32:35 +0000 UTC]

Ohh man!! Loving the big Cthulhu here man! I ike the fact you coloured it like its an old picture as well. H.P. himself would love this picture!

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BryanBaugh In reply to Jazon19 [2008-08-26 05:38:39 +0000 UTC]

Aww thanks for those kind words!

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Jazon19 In reply to BryanBaugh [2008-08-26 11:55:07 +0000 UTC]

No problem man! Just keep pumping out that fantastic art and we will be sweet

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graelignites In reply to ??? [2008-08-26 05:12:34 +0000 UTC]

At the Mountains of Madness?!?

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BryanBaugh In reply to graelignites [2008-08-26 05:19:13 +0000 UTC]

I'm not spoiling any surprises!

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remean In reply to ??? [2008-08-26 03:05:00 +0000 UTC]

Awsomeness. If you do the others, I can't wait to see them...

Saddly my short attention span got to me last time I was reading his stuff T_T I got about halfway through one of his LOOOONG ones... an never finished it ._.;

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DocRedfield In reply to ??? [2008-08-26 03:00:39 +0000 UTC]

Nice take on the ol' beastie. COoOol work.

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BryanBaugh In reply to DocRedfield [2008-08-26 05:15:32 +0000 UTC]

Thanks!

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Cytotec [2008-08-26 02:27:45 +0000 UTC]

great job rendering the unprounceable!! if you ever get a chance you should see the movie they of that story. completely done in that silent film style of the thirties.

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BryanBaugh In reply to Cytotec [2008-08-26 05:20:49 +0000 UTC]

Yeah I own it on DVD. See my thoughts on it in my discussion with SAGG... (you'll find it somewhere among the comments on this illustration).

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