A Troll of Your Own

Would you look at that?  Seriously, take a good, hard look at the texture work on this troll from Tom Kuebler.  I'm convinced the man is a real life wizard that summons these creatures using arcane spells.

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A post shared by Sculptor of the Bizarre (@tomkuebler) on Jan 29, 2020 at 6:47pm PST

Fantasy Specimen Vials

Burned Raven Tales returns to our pages with this wonderful collection of fantastic curiosities including fairy ring mushrooms, a snippet of a unicorn's mane, dragon's gold, ghost grubs, werewolf fur, and more.  The presentation is absolutely beautiful.

Primitive Cthulhu Idol

This nicely done primitive Cthulhu idol comes to us from Jaseriand.

Fae in the Wild

Pirkleations brings us the results of a recent fae hunting expedition.  Given their natural camoflauge is it any wonder pixies are so difficult to find in the wild?

The Dolls

Every doll is special, but it's obvious these are particularly well loved.  This gruesome little duo comes to us from the Monster Sandbox. When I saw them the first thing that popped into my head was the song from Robert Munsch's infamous "Love You Forever" children's book.

“I’ll love you forever,

I’ll like you for always,

as long as I’m living

my baby you’ll be.”

One of Us

Jason McKittrick, one of the most prolific Mythos artists around, was recently diagnosed with Bell's Palsy.  I hope you'll join me in wishing him a complete and rapid recovery.  His work has been featured here for years, and I hope that continues for many years to come.

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Friday I was diagnosed with Bell's Palsy. Basically what this means is that due to inflammation of the facial nerves, the left side of my face is paralyzed. This is a full smile. Eating and drinking are a challenge now plus my speech has been affected quite a bit. The biggest difficulty is my eyesight though. Because of not being able to blink correctly my eyes dry out quickly so I constantly have to use eye drops. Not a very good situation for an artist. Because Bell's Palsy isn't fully understood recovery times differ with each person and full recovery isn't guaranteed. Some folks recover in two weeks while others can take up to a year. I'm optimistic. I wasn't going to post about this because honestly it's embarrassing but I realized sharing my situation could be therapeutic. Not gonna lie, this has been very stressful for me but I'm staying positive. . . . . #bellspalsy

A post shared by Jason McKittrick (@the_cryptocurium) on Jan 20, 2020 at 6:21pm PST

The Three Lobed Burning Eye

This toothy abomination comes to us from the gifted Karen Main. 

The Great Race of Yith

After a too-long absence the talented Joe Broers returns to our pages with this outstanding take on the Great Race of Yith. 

The Innsmouth Look

"His age was perhaps thirty-five, but the odd, deep creases in the sides of his neck made him seem older when one did not study his dull, expressionless face. He had a narrow head, bulging, watery blue eyes that seemed never to wink, a flat nose, a receding forehead and chin, and singularly undeveloped ears. His long, thick lip and coarse-pored, greyish cheeks seemed almost beardless except for some sparse yellow hairs that straggled and curled in irregular patches; and in places the surface seemed queerly irregular, as if peeling from some cutaneous disease."

- H. P. Lovecraft, The Shadow over Innsmouth

If you're planning a trip to shadow-haunted Innsmouth it might be a good idea to contact James Krstulovich.  His Deep One hybrid mask does a great job of recreating the infamous "Innsmouth look".  It's a latex half-mask that uses the attached knit hat as a suspension.   

Tome of Eternity

This hand-tooled leather tome, featuring custom Ouroboros embossment and brass hardware, comes to us from the talented Alex Libris.

Jotnar Troll Horn

Dead Crow Curio brings us this Jotnar troll horn, just the thing for your final stand against the frost giants during Ragnarok.

That Voodoo That You Do

This collection of voodoo props comes to us from the improbably named Moonchild.  My first thought on seeing this paraphernalia is that it would make a great set-up for a B-movie.  "It was just a voodoo LARP!  It wasn't supposed to be real!"  But that's just me.

Great Cthulhu

This well done Cthulhu icon comes to us from Eduardo Daniel Mendoza Gomez.

Health Potion

Burned Raven Tales returns to our pages with this nicely done health potion, the alchemical brew beloved by adventurers and dungeoneers across the planes.

Momento Mori

The talented Nick deRosa returns to our pages with this mummified catacomb mummy skull, mounted in a hand crafted coffin presentation box.  Click through the link for a gallery of build out photos.

The Tillinghast Device

This recreation of the infamous Tillinghast device from Lovecraft's "From Beyond" comes to us from Adam Houghton of Synthetic Relics.  The field effect is a plexi panel illuminated with a fully interactive RGB LED array.

For your consideration, a modern re-imagining of the Tillinghast Device first referenced in the classic HP Lovecraft Tale: ‘From Beyond’.

Physical descriptions of the device itself are minimal save for the presence of batteries, an arresting ghastly light, and  scale such that it may rest upon Tillinghast’s desk. Certainly this allows a reader’s imagination to wander freely in conjuring it’s physical form in the mind’s eye. However its wondrous and psyche-shattering effects on all those who experience it’s terrible electrical power are described by Lovecraft in sickening detail. The waves generated by that small machine would act upon undiscovered sense organs in the human brain revealing vistas unknown to man and ‘overleap time, space, and dimensions’ to ‘peer to the bottom of creation’. Unfortunately for poor Tillinghast, something terrible peered back!

Faux Leather Scroll Case

Elias Neris brings us this tutorial on crafting a faux leather scroll case using readily available craft foam.  This is a great little project that doesn't take much time and uses inexpensive materials.

Wizarding Wand

This nicely done magic wand in hand-turned maple comes to us from Marco Bianchini.

Elder Thing Idol

This Elder Thing idol comes to us from Fogbank Minis.  It's a great sculpt, the patina is excellent, but the striation artifacts from the figure being 3D printed are incredibly distracting.  Is it just me?  Whenever I bring up this issue I feel like I'm being a jerk.

Seal of Shudde m'ell

This page from the Necronomicon depicting the Seal of Shudde m'ell comes to us from the amazingly talented Francois Launet.  Personally, I think his artwork, which he's been producing for decades, is the definitive take on Lovecraft's infamous tome.

Fae Specimens

Burned Raven Tales returns to our pages with this intriguing collection of specimens from the fae realm.  I absolutely love the weathered iron finish of the display containers. 

Warrior of Mandalore

This medieval Mandalorian warrior comes to us from the Fell and Fair cosplay group. 

Totem of the Walrus God

I've always been puzzled why Mythos gaming is the only tabletop niche where props and document handouts have really established themselves.  That appears to be changing, as demonstrated by this Totem of the Walrus God totem from Evan Carothers.   The faux-ivory artifact was originally a stretch goal in his "Wilds of Wintertide" Kickstarter miniatures project.  He's now made it available as an object file on Thingiverse suitable for 3D printing.

Congratulations, You've Brewed a Potion. Now What?

Tap a cork in a bottle, maybe add a little sealing wax, and you've got yourself a potion.

That's pretty much it for most prop potion bottles.  Nothing wrong with that, of course.  It's quick, easy, and serviceable.

If you'd like to go a bit beyond those basics you need to check out Mark C. Kehoe's excellent article on Medicine Containers Used In the Golden Age of Piracy.  It's aimed at pirate reeneactors, but you'll find a treasure trove of information for propmakers interested in reproducing fantasy potions, elixers, and preparations.

He goes over the types of containers, from glass bottles to oddments like the Burras pipe, used to hold various medical preparations in historic medicine chests.  The section I found particularly interesting was the discussion of classic closures.  It's filled with the kind of minutia that can help ground a prop in history.  As one example, the 19th century chest pictured below demonstrates an interesting historical oddity.  Can you spot it?

It's the corks.  Tapered, machine cut corks are a relatively modern invention.  Until well into the 1800s corks were all trimmed to fit by hand.   It's not a huge detail, but taking the time to facet a modern cork should realistically be part of the aging process for prop versions.

Mr. Kehoe also touches on the plethora of materials used as closures.  Beyond the stereotypical cork you'll find leather, cloth, pewter, and, as in this container of Crocus Martis, parchment.  All potentially combined with further sealants including, wax, pitch, and tree resin.

I would feel a bit guilty if I didn't add some kind of warning.  The article on classic medical containers is phenomenally good, but beware wandering into the rest of the Pirate Surgeon website.  If you have any interest in history it's a rabbit hole that could easily consume several hours of your day.