Welcome to Ocean State Stories, Bob. Your cover on the Necronomicon issue of Motif magazine grabbed us immediately. It’s a masterpiece of horror illustration. Please tell us about how you created it.
This is just the latest in a very long list of your illustrations. We’ll go deeper into them shortly, but let’s start with the road you travelled to get to today. Where were you born and raised?
Well, I was born in Concord Mass, in 1960. I lived in Rhode Island, California and Pennsylvania after that and back to RI in 1969.
When did art first interest you?
When I was 4. My Dad taught me to draw.
Was it fantasy/supernatural/horror art?
No, not really. Boats, dinosaurs etc.
Who were your early inspirations — writers, artists, filmmakers, etc., living or dead?
I have to say Gene Roddenberry, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg. Artists, I could name dozens, but Frank Frazetta, Kelly Freas, Gustave Dore. Many, many more.
We’re guessing that watching TV and movies, reading, and viewing others’ art, influenced you. Is that correct?
Yes. I grew up on 60s and 70s sci Fi movies and shows. I also was a big fan of artists like Frederic Church early on. I liked classical artists.
OK, now to the “modern era,” so to speak. You mention in the Motif story written by John Picinich that accompanies the cover art that you are “attracted to monsters.” (John also has a short story, set on Block Island, in the issue: A Flicker of Flame) Break that monster attraction down for us please.
Monsters never really fit in yet they are the creation of ours, invariably. In the US Legendary Godzilla series it’s about “Nature Has an Order”. Push nature too much, destroy the environment and you create monsters. This says something in out modern world now.
If you’ll pardon the pun, it’s a safe bet that the Japanese monster Godzilla crushes all other monsters in film. Godzilla fascinates you along with millions of others. Why?
He was the creation of nuclear folly. Robert Oppenheimer created a fission bomb. What was unleashed was the potential for unknown mutations. Godzilla is a mutated creature of the past, a dinosaur maybe. The Japanese wanted to make this statement because they were the only nation to ever have been attacked with nuclear weapons.
Tell us about the books you’ve published and illustrated.
Ah…THE FOUNDATION TRILOGY, KING KONG, HG WELLS’ THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON, and of course dozens of bookcovers. Upcoming is HYPERBOREA by Clark Aston Smith. I also do IDW GOdzilla comic book covers. Worked recently with actor Todd Stashwick on his PROGCORE Gaming fantasy project. Here’s a guy who was in STAR TREK PICARD SEASON 3, we connected and hit it off and became fast friends.
And the many awards you have won.
I just won a Best Pro Artist Award from The National Fan Federation, I have won 9 Hugo Awards, 12 Chesleys, a Rondo in Classic Horror, A Mangled Skyscraper Award from the Godzilla Society of North America, and an L Ron Hubbard Life Achievement in The Arts. And a bunch of awards for my individual works.
The late H.P. Lovecraft, a Providence resident, is the inspiration for NecronomiCon Providence, “The International Festival of Weird Fiction, Art, and Academia,” which was from August 13 to 16 at venues around Rhode Island. One of Lovecraft’s most famous stories is “The Call of Cthulhu,” first published in the magazine Weird Tales in 1928. What is Cthulhu?
It is best not to ask. Just kidding. Cthulhu is the god of all the Old Ones, creatures from other realms, space etc. To look at him is madness. He has been the spawn of dozens of stories by many authors.
You painted Cthulhu for the Norman Rockwell Museum’s 2021 exhibition Enchanted: A History of Fantasy Illustration. Details please.
Yes, this was an epic exhibit. I told the curator I would do something special and I did.
Do you sell original paintings?
Yes. I sell more paintings, than I do covers and such.
What are your work habits?
Well, at 66, every day is a gift. I get up and get my druthers together and then go an create. What gets in the way are “adult” things. Yeah, taxes, dealing with occasional stupidity and so on.
What can we look for in the future from Bob Eggleton?
My personal goal is to do more large scale epics. I did two personal pieces this year and they are large, and they had customers.One piece now lives in Singapore with a collector.I have so many ideas to paint. I want to live long to do all the ideas I want to paint. My career goes back 43 years. That is something. I have done film design, all kinds of things. I try and stay very diversified.
Finally, a personal note: I have written several horror/fantasy books, so I have a deep appreciation for you art. Maybe you could illustrate the cover of my next!
Sure! Anything is possible.
