GODZILLA VS BIOLLANTE (1989)

Here it is - my biggest piece ever, both physically and in ambition. This is the Big Painting that I started back in May. It made its public debut at G-Fest XXIV, where it won 3rd place in the art contest (trust me, EVERYONE was shocked by that, but it was still quite the talk of the show), and all fifteen of the 24x36 posters I brought with me sold out! I don't like bragging about my art, but this is my best work yet. Especially after getting the posters made, I truly am proud of this piece.

As some of you know, GODZILLA VS BIOLLANTE is my personal favorite Godzilla film. In fact, it was the second G-film I ever saw; naturally, as I did with COSMIC MONSTER, I had to pay tribute to my first experience with it 20 years ago. Aside from having a newfound love for the medium, I specifically made this a painting to also pay tribute to the late Noriyoshi Ohrai, who you may know as the artist behind the concept posters for the Heisei and Millennium Godzilla films, including BIOLLANTE. Well, that artwork was also used for the VHS cover on the copy I first saw it on, and little me back in 1997 was blown away on first glance.

And, of course, the roses on the surrounding landscape is in reference to a deleted scene from the film.

I'm not gonna lie, I seriously got emotional after finishing it. Not just for the nostalgia I mentioned above, but it was such a fantastic experience to make this. There's a very relaxing aura about paintings, which is present even during the creative process. But more than anything, I've realized I'm artistically capable of more than I had once thought.

I think it was made at the right time, too. No, not because it was done in time for a convention. A couple years ago, I would have bitten off more than I could chew. Just compare it to the Godzilla/Biollante piece I made back in 2011 -> almightyrayzilla.deviantart.co… But as it is, I pushed the boundaries of my comfort zone. I had the canvas for quite some time, long before I started work on it in May, and I made the initial concept sketch around New Year's. I was waiting until I had the SH Monsterarts Godzilla 1989 to use as reference. Hell, I was contemplating recording videos of my sessions to make a speedpaint video. I was an absolute nervous wreck about doing this and came EXTREMELY close to chickening out. But I'm so glad I didn't.

*I didn't record videos of my progress, as that would have been too much for me to pull off. But I did take photos after each session, and I'll get around to posting those soon.

Rest assured this won't be the last big painting from me. Next year - or perhaps later this year - I can look back on this and say, "If I can do that, I can do this".

24x36 canvas; acrylics
Completed 7/5/2017