Church of Mena

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Max Martelli Interview

Max Martelli is a horror and fantasy artist based out of Boston, MA. We discovered him through his dope creations of horror movie monsters, which everyone should definitely check out!

Max: I am primarily a horror/ fantasy artist, and have been working in oils, acrylics and digital media for as long as I can remember.

 

I believe one’s style is the result of throwing all your influences and hours of practice across ALL mediums into a blender with maybe a little ice cream… malt… a nice black and white malted “STYLE” frappe.

 

As you discover how to paint or draw you start by emulating your influences. You see a certain way they lay down the paint or how they draw a face. You try it out for yourself and while you don’t often get it completely right, neither do you fail completely. I find that you generally land somewhere in the middle. Even when you do fail in whatever capacity, as long as you open yourself to learning from every action, every stroke you make, it is never a wasted attempt. Through these repeated actions you start to carve out your own path and you eventually develop your OWN way. 

 

CoM: What originally got you into art? How long have you been creating?

 

Art has always been a part of my life and it absolutely runs in the family. My father (and his identical twin) are both fantastic painters as is my aunt. Suffice it to say that I was surrounded by painting from the start. It was always encouraged and there was never a time in my childhood where I thought I would grow up to be anything BUT an artist. Games, books, comics, movies. I could see art everywhere and always knew I would pursue it. There was never a time I wasn’t drawing, writing stories and creating characters as a kid and the urge to do so never stopped.

CoM: Talk to us about your influences with horror and the abnormal!

 

I have always been a monster kid at heart and the Universal classics were definite influences as early as I can remember but what really got me going was playing Magic: the Gathering. I started in 2nd grade and never really stopped. I bought them initially for the art and once I learned how to play I was hooked. The artwork ended up being a MASSIVE influence on me and the game opened my eyes to the vast world of gaming in general. My first RPG was Vampire the Masquerade and subsequently the World of Darkness as a whole which got me leaning towards a much darker aesthetic. Always an avid reader, I picked up Stephen King in high school and by the time I got to college I discovered Lovecraft, another watershed moment, which opened my eyes to cosmic horror. From there I circled back to the old classic monster films and here we are.

 

CoM: What’s your favorite horror movie?

 

This one is TOUGH and has had different answers throughout my life. Below is a selection of some favorites as there are too many to choose from.

 

Universal Classics (Dracula, Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, The Mummy, The Wolf Man, The Creature From the Black Lagoon)

John Carpenter’s The Thing

Fright Night (the original)

Beetlejuice

The Evil Dead Trilogy

And probably a dozen more I’m not immediately thinking of…

 

Also I read somewhere recently that Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was a gateway horror film of sorts for kids so let’s throw that on the list too. (CoM: Didn’t know that! That makes sense though…)

CoM: I see that you also have a graphic novel, tell me about that! What was your inspiration behind it?

 

A legendary band of Norse mercenaries are enlisted in their righteous quest by more than the promise of gold and riches. One of their own has been sourly afflicted by a power unknown to all but his attacker, the captive outsider, the níðingr. Driven by their loyalty, led by the cryptic words of their battered prisoner, yet armed with only the slightest of tangible clues, they risk both life and limb venturing out across the vast ocean, through Ginungagap itself, to the unknown worlds beyond in attempt to abolish this evil housed within their brother. It is here they encounter the keepers of this foul majick or seiðr and move to destroy it by any means possible.

 

Little do they know, nothing is quite as it seems…

 

This marks the opening scene to what I have come to call my cinematic visual horror novel, NÍÐINGABÓK.

 

NÍÐINGABÓK is an exploration in visual storytelling. Told in a cinematic style, this project is an endeavor to convey a rich narrative through pictures alone. Following along in grim silence you will enter a harsh world of monsters and men.

 

The impetus for this project was to create something for myself that was entirely my own. I went through the first several years out of college doing a little freelance here and there but always felt that my body of work was disjointed at best and I didn’t have any clear direction. I have always been interested in writing (having written and illustrated my own stories time and again as a child) so I decided to get back into it and create something that was wholly mine. Conceptually this is a combination of all my interests, monsters, cosmic horror, viking mythology and history. 

 

As I began working through the concepting phase of the project I was an avid watcher and follower of Greg Manchess and his “Above the Timberline” project (he is absolutely one of the best painters currently alive so go check him out if you don’t know his work). “Above the Timberline” is a fully illustrated novel and was very much a guiding light for how I ultimately envisioned this project.

 

CoM: Will you be making more books in the future? What are some other projects you’ll be doing in the future?

 

NÍÐINGABÓK marks the first in a series of visual novels telling an expansive story within the mythologies put forth in this first volume.

 

I have grand plans for a trilogy taking place through the 1940’s and into the present day which continues the story (working title is APOCRYPHA). This will follow an artist, plagued by vivid dreams of terrifying flayed men and women. These dreams lead him on a journey across oceans (and time) in order to discover their true meaning and ultimately stop what they portent to unleash. This will contain prose as well and exist more as an illustrated novel as opposed to it’s strictly visual predecessor. 

 

As I work on NÍÐINGABÓK I am also in the process of drafting out the later books. Setting up for an easy transition into the visual aspects of these once the first project is complete. 

 

This process can be followed through my Patreon here: www.patreon.com/maxmartelliart 

 

I also have a series of sketchbooks which will be released of my ink work. Sketchbook Vol. 1 can be found here www.maxmartelli.com/shop/sketchbook-vol-1

 

Connect and keep up with Max here:

Shops:

www.maxmartelli.com/shop 

www.maxmartelli.threadless.com

Social media:

www.instagram.com/maxmartelliart

www.facebook.com/maxmartelliart

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