You might have noticed that the vibrant palette in Coffee Monster is atypical from the range of colors I normally use. Since the star of this image is a 1980s toy, I wanted my colors to complement the plastic fantastic materials used in the creature. I also chose a slick plastic on which to stage the scene to provide a vehicle for color and crisp reflections.
All the action of this image occurs on one side and getting the correct balance of Godzilla on the left and the shorter cup on the right was elusive. I knew that dramatic shadow play was imperative to portraying that inner coffee monster with just the right amount of ferocity, but the setting was just not working. Finally, I angled the head toward the cup which created the cohesiveness between the two components that I was seeking.
The blue painter’s tape and and sticky note are painted in the ultra-realistic trompe l’oeil style, where these elements look so real you might think there was actually tape on the surface of the canvas.