(2017)

You can definitely tell there's been some improvement since the last one.

Obviously, this is inspired by my favorite Godzilla film, GODZILLA VS BIOLLANTE (1989). But not just the movie itself - the fact it's a painting was in tribute to Noriyoshi Ohrai's artwork for the movie, which also happened to be used for the cover on my old VHS copy. I remember being wowed by that alone as a kid. As I demonstrated with Sanctity, I have a fondness for the deleted scene taking place after the monsters' first battle, where thousands of roses suddenly blossom. Adding that detail to this piece was sort of a eulogy to Koichi Kawakita, who passed away in 2014.

I do feel that this was made at the right time, too. Not in terms of getting it ready for a convention, but that I was at a point where I knew I was READY to make it. Had I done it the year prior, I would have bitten off more than I could chew. Hell, at one point, I even considered doing it DIGITALLY...but the Crash of '17 (read about that here) definitely had an impact on that decision. Besides, it would not have had the same emotional impact. When I signed it to officially declare it done...it was a wave of emotions. I DID IT.

It is kinda funny though. I had entered it into G-Fest's little art contest. No prize money or anything, just a ribbon. I only won 3rd place. Even my buddy Lenny Romero, who won 1st place, was shocked about that. But I was in no way discouraged by it - everyone who saw it absolutely LOVED it. I had posters of it made - I was going to only have ten made, but I felt that I might need extra. I sold out of them that weekend. That hadn't happened since the 2010 show, with the old SpaceGodzilla piece. I mean, of course the money mattered; get paid for your work, kinda thing. But what made it worth it all was the emotional payoff. Just seeing people's reactions to it. Having it be the talk of the show. Having broken so many comfort zone barriers to make it - THAT is why I love being an artist.

Anywho, after each session, I would take a photo of my progress. If you crunched all the time together, it literally took about 24 hours. But it was made over the course of about a month, give or take.

24x36 canvas; acrylics