engel's universe

Something wicked this way comes .... on Walpurgis Night

noreply@blogger.com (Rainer F. Engel) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 09:06:00 +0000

Rhymes by William Shakespeare.....

Fall of the Roman Empire

noreply@blogger.com (Rainer F. Engel) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 20:11:00 +0000

Charon and the Fall of the Roman Empire. Brush, Fineliner and ink, 2012. Color by Levin Kurio.

Detective Comics #31, September 1939 ...

noreply@blogger.com (Rainer F. Engel) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 09:45:00 +0000

A cover from an alternate universe or just »playing« with Photoshop...... Oils on board, Photoshop ( 2012/13).

Happy B-day Kong!

noreply@blogger.com (Rainer F. Engel) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 22:15:00 +0000

A (belated) Happy 80th Birthday to the Eighth Wonder of the World!

The Robot Monster - black & white

noreply@blogger.com (Rainer F. Engel) — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 23:04:00 +0000

From last years sketchbook - a sketch I complete forgot. Based on the goofy flick from the 50ties. Some minor adjustments in Photoshop done. Watch out for a color version soon....

The Bride of Frankenstein!

noreply@blogger.com (Rainer F. Engel) — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 19:46:00 +0000

The shading in the original sketch looks much more subtle. Ink, crayon and white out, tinted sepia in Photoshop (2011).

The Rocketeer!

noreply@blogger.com (Rainer F. Engel) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 21:26:00 +0000

From the folder of forgotten stuff comes this Convention sketch from last year. The Rocketeer was created by Dave Stevens. Fineliner & Copic, 2012.

Get well soon Bob Burns!

noreply@blogger.com (Rainer F. Engel) — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 11:51:00 +0000

Bob Burns is best known for his collection of movie props, particularly from horror and science-fiction movies. He has also had numerous smaller acting roles in movies as one of the last Hollywood Gorilla suit actors. His collection, Bob's Basement, is a real treasure featuring props and memorablia from the past 70 years of Imagi-Movies, including the legendary Time Machine used in George Pal's classic movie.

He suffered a major heart attack last weekend. According to Bob's wife Kathy, he received immediate medical attention. The surgery was successful, and Bob is resting comfortably in the hospital.

Get well soon, Bob!

The picture is the Moebius Models recent tribute kit release of the Gorilla suit he is famous for: The Mighty Kogar. There are also a Bob Burns and Tracy the Gorilla (Ghostbusters TV series) alternate head included. Now available here.

Should old acquaintance be forgot,....

noreply@blogger.com (Rainer F. Engel) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 21:18:00 +0000

Should old acquaintance be forgot,

and never brought to mind?

Should old acquaintance be forgot,

and old lang syne?

Everybody loves Tor!

noreply@blogger.com (Rainer F. Engel) — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 19:23:00 +0000

Flying saucers over Hollywood! Finally dried oil painting, (2012)

Bela's Birthday!

noreply@blogger.com (Rainer F. Engel) — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 19:51:00 +0000

»Home? I have no home. Hunted... despised... living like an animal. The jungle is my home! But I will show the world that I can be its master. I shall perfect my own race of people... a race of atomic supermen that will conquer the world!«

Shaken...not stirred.

noreply@blogger.com (Rainer F. Engel) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 11:04:00 +0000

Happy anniversary Mr. Bond! Pen, brush & ink, color by Photoshop (2012).

»Let's paint a happy little Vampire!«

noreply@blogger.com (Rainer F. Engel) — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 06:19:00 +0000

Another oil painting - let's paint a happy little Vampire Count! Based on a photograph by John Allred and a sculpture by Pete Murphy. Oil on paper (2012).

Glenn Stange as.....

noreply@blogger.com (Rainer F. Engel) — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 09:14:00 +0000

Guess who?! I recently rediscoverd oil paints (this time water souble) and this is one of the results. I love them, but the drying time kills me, I have more finished, but I can't put them on the scanner yet! Note to self: Get rid of the cheap brushes. Oil on paper, (2012).

Yo ho and a bottle of rum!

noreply@blogger.com (Rainer F. Engel) — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 21:04:00 +0000

Fifteen men on a dead man's chest,

Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

Drink and the devil had done for the rest,

Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

Ahhrrr... it's the international "Talk-like-a-Pirate-Day". Here is a true treasure from the classic plastic age of model kits: MPC's Pirates of the Caribbian: Dead Man's Raft. Enjoy, ehh... I mean... Ahrrr!

Restored!

noreply@blogger.com (Rainer F. Engel) — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 21:22:00 +0000

A Spanish lady in her eighties, Cecilia Gimenez, recently set the Internet and art world on fire. Her curious attempt to restore the fresco "Ecce Homo" by Elias Garcia Martinez in the Sanctuary of Mercy Church near Zaragoza made world wide news. So the net buzzed with more attempts of restoration based on her depiction of Jesus many refer to as "Beast-Jesus" (clearly related to an Ewok). You can see the hilarious results of Mrs. Gimenez brave act at the tumblr page of the Beast-Jesus Restoration Society.

So I couldn't resist....

Frankenbeast Jesus....

Still from the Spanish restoration of "King Kong" (1933)

Beast-Jesus the Mos Eisly cantina....

Raffael restored!

DINOSAURUS!

noreply@blogger.com (Rainer F. Engel) — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 10:56:00 +0000

Recently done: A retro-style illustration for the 60ties Matinee classic »Dinosaurus!« by Irwin S. Yeaworth.

Inspired by the works of Klaus Dill and other German movie poster artists of the 50ties and 60ties I went for a more stylized, "graphic" approach, with bold, black outlines and screaming colors. For the (fun) version above I reused and tweaked the typography from the original US one-sheet poster.

The actual illustration was used for Subkultur Entertainment's line of limited retro hard box re-packages, celebrating the good ol' VHS rental aesthetics. Grab it while you can, it's limited to 150 units only!

In Memoriam....

noreply@blogger.com (Rainer F. Engel) — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 15:42:00 +0000

Recent HORRIFIC commission....

noreply@blogger.com (Rainer F. Engel) — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 08:53:00 +0000

This is a recent commissioned drawing that took a life on it's own and turned into a Pre-Code Horror comic book cover.... stay tuned for the color version! Pen, ink, brush and Photoshop, 2012.

Happy Birthday Ray Harryhausen!

noreply@blogger.com (Rainer F. Engel) — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 20:00:00 +0000

Many happy returns and thanks for all the Creatures!

Christopher Lee turns 90 today....

noreply@blogger.com (Rainer F. Engel) — Sun, 27 May 2012 21:01:00 +0000

Happy 90th Birthday to Sir Christopher Lee, the last one of the elusive breed of Classic Horror Stars, still going strong at the movies - hopefully for many, more years to come!

Stuff from the hard drive part 4 of 4: Miscellaneous...

noreply@blogger.com (Rainer F. Engel) — Thu, 10 May 2012 07:06:00 +0000

Here is the last installment of the stuff that inhabited my hard drive. They're were all painted by me, mostly commissions, a few for my own collection. Enjoy!

Resin Chef Godzilla 1973

Resin Chef Megalon, second version.

Billiken Predator

Billiken Cyclops, two horned version.

Dimensional Designs Kraken from »Clash of the Titans«

Glenn Strange bust by William Paquet/Gothic House Designs

Resin from the Grave Igor together with Billiken Frankenstein Monster

The above with some Photoshop added.

Mike Hill's Horror Mount Rushmore

Aurora Plastic's Phantom of the Opera

Billiken Dracula

Billiken Phantom of the Opera

Resin from the Grave Werewolf of London

Juniper Model's Diana Rigg of »The Avengers«

Needful Things Yoda

Stuff from the hard drive part 3 of 4: Sculpted by Jeff Yeagher

noreply@blogger.com (Rainer F. Engel) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 08:18:00 +0000

These are kits sculpted by actor/writer Jeff Yeagher, one of my favourite sculptors. At the moment he is busy working for Sideshow Collectibles and Moebius Models, but still finds the time to crank out a garage kit or two. I still have more than a few of his kits in storage waiting for paint. Somewhere down the road I have to reshoot (and repaint) these kits to let them shine more. They deserve it!

Yeagher Classic Ardeth Bey, 1:6 scale resin kit released by "Tower of London"

James Bama Aurora box art tribute kit, 1:7 scale resin kit released by "Monsters in Motion"

"Curse of Frankenstein" Christopher Lee Monster, 1:6 scale resin kit released by Mr. Yeagher himself.

"Shadow of the Vampire" William Dafoe, 1:6 scale resin kit released by "Monsters in Motion"

"Teenage Werewolf", 1:6 scale resin kit released by Geometric Designs.

Base sculpted by Mike Parks.

Stuff from the hard drive, Part 2 of 4: Nosferatu!

noreply@blogger.com (Rainer F. Engel) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 18:11:00 +0000

Now a whole lotta Nosferatu images, one of my favourite characters and modelling subjects ever.

The first entry is Dave Grasso's first take on Max Schreck, 1:6 scale resin kit. A little Photoshop composite added based on the image Mr. Grasso used as reference.

Sculptor Jeff Yeagher used the final death scene in the movie as template for his awesome Nosferatu kit, released by the "Tower of London" company. Again, resin, 1:6 scale and a little Photoshopping.

From Great Britain comes Mooncrest Models 1:5 scale bust of Count Orlock, sculpted by Gary Hilliard.

Mike Good did this 1:5 scale bust for Jaguar Models.

My customized version of Monarch Models first release: Nosferatu! I added the hat, a few centimeters to the legs and reworked the nameplate. It's an Aurora 1:8 scale styrene plastic model kit.

Again, a ”Tower of London" release of William Paquet's terrific 1:3 scale resin bust of the count.

And finally, a bad picture of Amazing Figure Modeller Magazine's Nosferatu kit sculpted by Staffan Lindner of Sweden. 1:8 scale resin kit.

More to come!

Stuff from the harddrive.... Part 1 of 4: Thomas Kuntz's Artomic creations

noreply@blogger.com (Rainer F. Engel) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 08:16:00 +0000

Over the Easter holidays I'll post forgotten pictures of Garage kits I found on my hard drive. Some picts good, some mediocre, some low-res, but all painted by me.

First part are kits created by Thomas Kuntz, artist extraordinaire from Los Angeles. He started making GKs in the very early 90ties, based on German silent films, including »Der Golem und wie er in die Welt kam«, »Nosferatu«, »Das Kabinett des Dr. Caligari«.

He did some commercial assignments for other GK Companies in the following years (some STAR TREK TnG figures and a Lugosi as »White Zombie« among them), until he concentrated his talents to create unique automatons, with spectacular results.

He attending Resintopia Model & Statue Expo in late June this year, promising to unveil a new Garage kit for sale. You can see ( and buy) his works of art here on his website, including videos of his fantastic automatons.

First pictures are from his marvelous »Abduction 1919« kit based on »Das Kabinett des Dr. Caligari«.

Great likeness to German actor Conrad Veidt as »Cesare«, the deadly sleepwalker under the spell of the Mad doctor Caligari.

It's a 1/6 scale huge resin kit that needs lot of preparation work, but it's worth it.

This is a dramatic close up of his Golem full figure kit, sporting a good likeness to actor and director Paul Wegener.

The next ones are pictures of Thomas's 1:4 scale bust of Gywnplaine, the »Man who laughs« from the silent film based on Victor Hugos novel. Again, its showing Conrad Veidt with make up by Jack Pierce. Word is, that it inspired the Joker's appearance on the Batman comic books.

Finally, again Veidt, again »Das Kabinett des Dr. Caligari«, this time a single, full 1:6 scale figure.

Stay tuned for more!