THE DAILY MONSTER

A NEW VERSION OF THE APP!

Good afternoon! In case you've been wondering why I've been an absentee blogger once again, this is one of the major reasons: A major update of the Daily Monster® MONSTER MAKER app just went live in the App Store! If you've bought it before, the update is free, of course. Otherwise, I can tell you it's $0.99 well spent! Lots of new fun things in this one, not least of which is a set of special Halloween parts! And look what else it can do! Clearly 344 LOVES YOU

ANOTHER APP MONSTER

Good afternoon! What better way to celebrate Labor Day than making somebody else do the work? Another great mashup from Michelle Stephens:

THE DAILY MONSTER APP (in use)

Good morning! I thought I'd share a few of the Monsters people have been creating with the Daily Monster® app. Here's one from Michelle Stephens:

Turns out that there is extra fun in saving your creatures and tricking them out in other apps, like Instagram or Marron. Check out this one by David Pava:

And another one from Michelle:

Is it any wonder that 344 LOVES YOU

THE MONSTER MAKER APP (explained)

It occurs to me that a video demo says more than a thousand words. I hope you'll enjoy this quick walk-through of the new Daily Monster® MONSTER MAKER app. Which you can download for your Apple gizmo at this link here. As always, please rest assured that 344 LOVES YOU

THE DAILY MONSTER APP

   Good morning! How are you? Hey, have I got a cool new toy for you today! Check out the brand new Daily Monster® MONSTER MAKER app for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch! Make your own Daily Monsters®, and send them to your friends!

Blow the ink with your finger. Add eyes and mouths and arms and pants from the over 150 elements in the PARTS palette--all of which I lovingly made by hand exclusively for this app. Or you can draw your own! 

Pop up a speech bubble and make your monster say something profound.

You can even pose for a photo with your creature and post it to Facebook or Twitter right from inside the app!

99 cents well spent, don't you think? If you have an Apple gizmo, I hope you'll give it a try and post a review!

I have to give a big, huge shout-out to Dominik Wei-Fieg of Ars Subtilior who spent ludicrous amounts of time building and fine-tuning this beauty. On top of that he patiently addressed exactly 222 e-mails from me in a five month period. I couldn't have done this without him. (At all! I know this. I tried.) Check out his other apps.

A great big Thank You also to Bruce, Marian, and Ze for their expert beta-testing and their great ideas, which made the whole thing immeasurably better. And lastly, many thanks to Linda for the beautiful demo photos!

OK! Please... get the app! Let a million monsters bloom! I hope you have a ball!

Even in the multi-touch display world 344 LOVES YOU

MORE SOCCER MONSTERS (SOUTH AFRICA vs. URUGUAY)

First there were Katti, Zelda, and Jan. Now Vicky and Melissa & Roulé have dressed the World Cup Monster in the colors of Uruguay and South Africa, respectively, vuvuzela and all. Check it out, then make your own! You can download a letter-sized PDF version here, fill in your team colors, and e-mail the result back to me. Make sure your team is represented!

And let's not forget this cool (non-soccer) bonus monster by Ivy! Check out those amazing eyes, and the rocket-powered footwear! Nice work right there!

JAN'S SOCCER MONSTER (HOLLAND)

Following in the footsteps of Katti and Zelda, Jan has dressed the World Cup Monster in the colors of his favorite team. Check it out, then make your own! You can download a letter-sized PDF version here, fill in your team colors, and e-mail the result back to me. Make sure your team is represented!

JOYCE'S MONSTERS

Good afternoon. I just received a whole bunch of great Monster drawings from Joyce in Belgium -- Thank you, Joyce! -- and want to make sure you get to see them, too. Here are a few of my favorites. I especially love the Demon Mickey forked tongue with veins and everything! Truly monstrous!

VILLAGE SCHOOL MONSTER EXPLOSION

Good afternoon. Hey, remember when I told you about drawing Monsters at the Village School in Pacific Palisades a few weeks ago? Well, teacher Margot Mandel and her students took one of those Monsters, made it into a big honking banner -- which they're submitting to Katherine Josten's  "Global Art Project" at the Tucson Art Center where they know me -- and added Monsters of their own to it. How many Monsters? Conservative estimates put it in the bazillion range. 

And what an amazing job they did of it, too!
You can click on the image for a larger version:

Check out the great effect they got! I never would've thought of putting small Monsters on the big guy's face. It looks like a porcelain pattern! A Delft Monster! (Oooh, in fact... take a look!) And how about those great little details?

Incredible, right? I mean... just mind-blowing!

And speaking of porcelain -- oh, see, it's all coming together now -- when I visited the school, we were joined by Ms. Sidman's class from Palisades Elementary, where I had given a drawing demo a few years back. They made Monsters of their own, and friend of the Monsters Karen Linderman painted them onto a class platter! (You may remember Karen as the person who invited me to make the Topanga Film Festival Monster.)

That's a hell of a platter right there! I love the colors, too! Nice to see that not all Monsters are black and white purists.

Thank you to the whole Pacific Palisades Monster Enclave! You made my day! 344 LOVES YOU

 

DRAWING MONSTERS AT THE VILLAGE SCHOOL

Earlier today I got to draw Monsters for the students at the Village School in Pacific Palisades. I got a very kind reception by Ms. Mandel and about 300 of her students. After all this time, this may be my first positive memory of being in a school gym. Thank you! (Special thanks to Connor for joining me at the desk and drawing a cool Monster of his own, and to Ms. Mandel, Ms. McGowan, and Peter Culhane for putting it all in motion.)

Here are the Monsters that came through. I hope you'll like them: