Cthulhu Looks Out To Sea

Don't you love it when you try to get into a new genre of interest, only to have the so-called 'veteran fans', being more antagonistic then playful, treat you like James Mason's character at the end of "The Man Between"?

To the miserable idiots who kept mentioning multiple eyes on Cthulhu, without even explaining why he should have them to begin with, especially since such a tidbit is never mentioned IN LOVECRAFT'S ORIGINAL STORY...this is my revenge to you, for this picture and text is a public service...or so I desperately hope.

Contrary to popular belief (and the tight lips of the abovementioned buffoons), H.P. Lovecraft himself actually did a sketch of the monster who would become his trademark, Cthulhu. HPL scholars believe the author drew it shortly after "Call of Cthulhu" was first rejected for the magazine "Weird Tales", in one of the letters written to convince editor Farnsworth Wright to give it a second chance. Though it may have been fellow writer and Lovecraft's friend Donald Wandrei who helped win the argument in Lovecraft's favor.

I first came across the infamous sketch on this wonderfully bizarre blog:

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And when I decided to do my own Cthulhu illustration based on the 'original design', fellow DA member Zombiequadrille's related entry, which seems to feature ANOTHER illustration from Lovecraft, was most welcomed in the reference department.

[link]

HOWEVER, despite being a fairly accurate attempt on the famous alien deity, Zombiequadrille brings up a very good point that the infamous sketch isn't supposed to be the REAL Cthulhu, as its true form would be too extreme for the comprehension of mere human beings (or at least the schmucks still living on Earth). And the fact that the surprisingly bloated Great Old One is sitting on a stone block (no toilet jokes please), further suggests its really the small man-made sculpture mentioned throughout the story.

Hence, it's the Human-Safe Cthulhu for everyday worshipping.

And although I incorporated the multiple-eyes, I have to say, how do we know that wasn't just ink-stains left by Lovecraft on accident? That or the author just couldn't decide where he wanted to put the eyes, and what we're really seeing is drawing mistakes and / or sketch tests.

Still, I'm very happy with the way this picture came out, so much so that I wrestled with the idea of adding it to the Kaiju Portraits, given its rather official background. But it's better I hold off on adding anymore Lovecraft characters to that series, as I'll admit I screwed up on the Gug's hair color...But I'm not adding the multiple arms because that tidbit is even more controversial (or obscure) then the spider-eyes of Ol' R'lyeh Sleeper here...so back off!

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As for what Cthulhu himself is all about, for those unfamiliar with the original Mythos;

At its most BASIC explanation, Cthulhu and his Great Old One brethren are ancient cosmic monsters immense in both power and size. With Cthulhu himself being water-based and among their more powerful members (or at least the most well known to us lowly humans).

Cthulhu sleeps in a 'death-like' state, in the mysterious stone city of R'lyeh, which surfaces from the ocean's depths on rare occasion. It's also mentioned in Lovecraft's stories that if Cthulhu ever did decide to fully awake, the world and all the civilizations upon it would fall, as he would usher in a new dominion of the Great Old Ones.

Again, VERY basic.

More information can be found here:

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