User:Macula

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I have always loved mythology and folklore but most of the books on the subject had good descriptions but lacked pictures. I have taken on the task of bringing the creatures of legend to life through my own illustrative interpretations. I had an idea to do a series of one hundred mythological paintings to improve my skills in character design and painting.

A letter of endorsment from Richard Freeman Cryptozoologist and Zoological Director of the Centre for Fortean Zoology

I stumbled on Chris Bonnette’s Macula.tv site quite by chance. I was looking for illustrations of the Australian Aboriginal monster yara-mar-yah-who. I found a wild picture of a red skinned, suction cup fingered monster with a mouth like a rabid Kermit the Frog. I fell in love with Chris’ art instantly and instead of getting on with work I explored his amazing site for the next hour or so. Chris’ depictions of creatures from ancient mythology and modern day encounters are some of the very best I have ever see. His style is somewhat like the early black and white cartoons of the 1920s (see his Betty Boop style Medusa) mixed with an explosively colourfull streak all of his own. Not only are Chris’ pictures engaging they are highly important in showing how our perception of monsters and updating there pictorial history. Despite being cartoony in style they are mostly faithful to the original descriptions. Were he has added his own touches he makes this clear in his write ups (as with the fictional white fur on his Yeti). If you are board of the same old monsters then Macula.tv is a breath of fresh air as a veritable menagerie of critters from all over the globe are on show, from the Kappa of Japan to the Trenti of Spain. Macula.tv is a valuable resource for researchers. Chris has taken time to research his subjects and it shows. Cryptozoologists, folklorists and students of world mythology will all love the site. As a full time cryptozoologist myself I found Macula.tv to be both madly entertaining and very enlightening. I can hardly wait for Chris’ upcoming book featuring his wacky, wonderful pictures of wacky, wonderful beasts.
Richard Freeman
Cryptozoologist and Zoological Director of the Centre for Fortean Zoology

• (Christopher Bonnette) was born and raised in Los Angeles. Since the age of four he knew he wanted to be an artist. He mostly stayed indoors drawing the cartoons he would watch on television. He was taught at an early age to be "constructive not destructive" by his mother. His father was a hard working machinist who taught him the responsibility of getting a job and providing for your family. Having an older brother who would force him to watch horror movies made him develop a strange fascination for monsters, aliens, robots, and anything that goes bump in the night. He would often suffer from night terrors because of this. His father would also tell him ghost and voodoo stories of the old days when he lived on the farm in Louisiana. In 1984 he suffered a grand mall seizure and was clinically deceased for two minutes. Due to this fact his artistic style tends to be dark and macabre yet still maintain a cute whimsical appearance. It is a balance of shape, line and form along with color that makes his artwork very appealing.
•   Christopher is a true Gemini and never allows he to be pigeon holed into one classification. He can be a graphic designer as well as an illustrator and a fine artist as well as a commercial artist. Right before entering High School he volunteered at John Muir Public Library to teach arts and crafts for the children's summer program. Christopher's dedication to art is representative in even his early childhood years. A High School art teacher saw Christopher's talent and led him to participate in the Otis College summer program. This led him to be accepted at the Otis College of Art and Design. He majored in Illustration and dedicated the four years of his life to further his craft. His hard work and dedication was rewarded after receiving the 1998 Senior Thesis Award.
• He has participated in five art shows that have been very successful. His art can be seen in galleries, stores, and homes all over the U.S.A., and from Germany to Japan. There is no medium that Christopher's work cannot be adapted to. From apparel, book, toys, and anything that can be imagined Christopher will continue to be happy if many people can enjoy what he enjoys doing. Christopher resides in California along with his lovely wife and two dogs Odin and Tengu.

• Why mythology and folklore?
• I have always loved tall tales. I have collected many books on mythology and folklore from all around the world. The one thing I noticed most of the books did not have pictures and if they did they were very old. I want to update the pictorial history of the creatures of legend. I try to create the illustration as accurate as possible but still keep them whimsical, stylish, and modern. If the image is not fully accurate to its original description I will state it as an artists interpretation. Besides know one knows how these creatures may have looked. I am dedicated to keeping the tales of the past known so they are not forgotten. I still hold the hope that mankind has a lot left to discover. This will be a series of 100 paintings that I hope to publish into a book. After seeing the response of my mythological paintings on the site I am sure it will go way past 100 and continue for the rest of my life.