h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Makes you wonder who won?

Yes. That's some monster pic! I love the way the sea is painted. I would love to watch you painting a pic, Willem. How do you start to paint an ocean like that? I guess all pics start with a line. And then another line. And then the monster swims in. hehe.

My mother in law once saw Nessie. We were on an afternoon drive around Loch Ness, on an outing from the old folks home. No one else saw him on that day, so makes you wonder, but I'm glad she had a sighting before she died.

What an incredible picture! You have a rare talent, Willem

A while ago I started to research all the old sea serpent stories for an edited guide entry, but I collected so much stuff I didn't know where to start, and lost the motivation to carry on. Your picture has made me seriously want to go and revisit it all.

It makes me wonder what control substance those guys in the boat are on. To be out on that sea with such a small boat and harpoon.

Heh heh, thanks everyone! I wanted to draw a really heroic sort of picture. Even heroic in the sense of 'totally idiotically reckless'. Hence the tiny boat, the patched-together sail, the rough sea, and the size and ferocity of the monster. But you got to wonder ... those two guys do look like they might know what they're doing. Do they have a chance at all? They got the boat with the sea-dragon head and flag, and they came that far on that sea, and they actually found their quarry. Might this be something they've done before? What is going to happen next?

Anyways you know what made me paint that picture amongst other reasons ... my getting fed up with 'hunters', the sort that we often get over here. The guys who think its some sort of accomplishment to bring down a defenseless little antelope with a high-powered rifle with a telescope sight, they then proudly pose for a photo with the carcass and think they're really manly. I wanted to show a contest where the odds were a bit better for the other side.

Cactuscafe it's great your mother-in-law saw Nessie! Whether Nessie really exists or not, it's still great.

I think some day I'll make a video of how I do a painting. For this one I was inspired by a couple of sea monster paintings by Frank Frazetta:

http://www.painting-palace.com/en/paintings/37052

http://lcart2.narod.ru/image/fantasy/frank_frazetta/frank_frazetta_carson_of_venus_2.jpg

Well I'm still not nearly as good as Frank was at his best. But I hope you can see the monster is all my own! I started with a few concept sketches of the boat and Ungor and Thrundar and the sea monster, and also the waves, then I made a big sketch in pencil, then I added the watercolour.

Icy North, I'd be interested in that sea serpent entry!

That really touched my heart, you know, Willem, what you said about the hunters. Its good to be able to use the process of painting like that, to somehow balance out weird or scary things. Like the hunters. Or anything.

So, Frank Frazetta. I haven't heard of him before. Always something new to learn, eh, especially if you're me because I daydreamed my way through the whole of school, so I have a lot to learn. haha.

Its amazing, isn't it, drawing. Like, how humans draw. The magic gift of art. From the cave paintings onwards.

There's a new Herzog film just out about cave paintings, called Cave of Forgotten Dreams.

OK I'm rambling here. Off to drink brandy. Thanks, as always, Willem, for sharing your amazing art.