A Dog's Tale

Here's a heartfelt piece I wrote and illustrated fifteen years ago,

If you are viewing this on a laptop/desktop screen, I think the best way to read it is to double click the first image and then use your arrow keys to "turn" the page. 

See you next time.

UNCOOL UNDEAD UNSTOPPABLE

 

This was a fun piece to make. It was used as key art for a independent low-budget horror film called MELVIN. The style and tone of the film felt to me like a throwback to the 1980s films like RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD or THE TOXIC AVENGER, so that's the direction my mind went when designing the poster art.   

Here lies Melvin. Not for long....

Horror films are probably the most fun kind of movie to actually make. The bloody visual effects hopefully look gory on film, but on-set are often laugh-inducingly hilarious for some reason.   

Anyway, that's all I got. Gotta walk my dog. Until next time. Be safe out there.

EVEN PETS HAVE NIGHTMARES

Last year author F.P. LaRue published the fourth fabulous book in her award-winning SCARY SHIVERS series of spooky mystery-solving adventures for kids who read chapter books. THE PET SHOP NIGHTMARE. As with the first three in the series, I illustrated several interior images in creepy black and white (actually grayscale) along with the full color cover.  

Here's a few samples of the moody full-page interior illustrations. Scroll down, but, ONLY if you DARE.

I also created a promo video for each book as well as this SERIES PROMO video below, which gives you a little more idea of the story contents. The mysteries are fun and original, the main characters are funny, realistic and engaging, and yes, it does lead to some pretty dark and spooky shenanigans. And no, it's not "Ole Man Smithers" in a mask. These stories have actual stakes and require our heroes to muster real courage to 'save the day'. All the while being perfect mystery books for a twelve year old, ...or that twelve year old still lurking somewhere inside all of us.   

Paula (F.P.) LaRue

Award-Winning Author

The Pet Shop Nightmare – First Place Juvenile Mysteries, Juvenile Action & Adventure – Spring 2026 BookFest Awards

The Legend of the Serpent Witch – First Place Juvenile Mysteries, Action & Adventure, Fantasy & Magic – Fall 2025 BFA

The Curse of Shadow Park – First Place Juvenile Action & Adventure – Fall 2024 BookFest Awards

The Weeping House – First Place Juvenile Mysteries, Juvenile Fantasy & Magic – Spring 2024 BookFest Awards

www.FPLaRue.com

www.ScaryShivers.com

Until next time.... keep the lights on.

I LOVE ROBOTS

Here's a fun retro piece I did last year for a Blu-ray release of the 1988 Hong Kong sci-fi action comedy film I LOVE MARIA (aka ROBOFORCE) starring Sally Yeh, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, and Tsui Hark. The Hong Kong film industry did not produce many science fiction films, so it's interesting to view the ones they did manage to make on their typically constrained budgets. This one has obvious Japanese anime roots, as well as a nod to the robot "Maria" from Fritz Lang's 1927 German expressionist epic METROPOLIS, but leans heavily into situational comedy. Fun, inventive action scenes give the film the feel of a live-action cartoon.

Gorgeous Sally Yeh's performance as multiple characters, both human and robotic, is phenomenal. Everyone seems like they're just having a fun romp. If you can find the extended Taiwanese version, (running 122 minutes) seek it out for the additional action bits. It's my preferred version.   

Cheers. Until next time.

CHOWING THE SCENERY

No time to reload! These guns only run out of ammo when the moment is most dramatic! 

A year ago I got hired to illustrate a new poster for the Western re-release of John Woo's seminal Hong Kong 1992 action classic, HARD-BOILED, starring Chow Yun-fat and Tony Leung Chiu-wai. A fun project.

I tried to capture a sense of the energetic fun and explosive excitement of what is widely considered the apex of the heroic bloodshed film genre. I felt the original HK poster of Chow holding a toddler in a diaper (come on, THAT'S NO NEWBORN), although now pretty iconic, somewhat undersold the intense, over-the-top gun-fu spectacle audiences were about to experience. So my main priority was to put some excitement into the piece. (Of course most fans by this point have already seen this nearly 35 year old film multiple times so they know. They know.) 

Until next time... Cheers. And STAY FROSTY.

(Wrong movie, I know.)

Wooing the West

 

I caught John Woo's THE KILLER at Washington D.C.s The Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts in August 1989, (along with a double-bill of his A BETTER TOMORROW films.) And was blasted into the back of the theatre along with the rest of the audience. 

One could argue, that film, starring Chow Yun-fat, Danny Lee and Sally Yeh, was more influential, if not more popular, in the United States (and the UK), than with its native Hong Kong audience who perhaps saw it as just another heroic bloodshed picture. It was commercially successful in HK, but I think it did much more to woo (sorry) western audiences and wake up Hollywood to the amazing work of its writer/director. Of course, John Woo eventually did find a new parallel career working on American films as well as Hong Kong productions. Including a 2024 gender-swapped remake. 

Long unavailable in the West due to corporate mergers and licensing issues, now THE KILLER is not only widely available again, but has been remastered from the surviving negative. It looks and sounds stunning in 4K. 

A year ago I was lucky enough to be hired to produce new artwork for the long awaited "resurrection" of this beloved action film. I often pinch myself that this is really happening. In the year 2025. The irony is not lost on me. I'm doing hand drawn artwork (already replaced by AI) for a physical media release (already replaced by streaming) of an old celluloid film (already replaced by digital) of a story (already replaced by a remake). One could argue that the medium of the 90-minute film has itself been replaced in popularity by YouTube or TikToks or whatever. But let's not even go there.

As I've probably said before... this job combines my love of art, marketing and cinema, so I'll happily ride that train to the end of the line doing promotional art for films. 

 Below is the result.     

Alas, there once was a time when I would routinely drive over an hour to another city to see a film, weekly, by myself usually. But now, I haven't even been to a movie theatre in six and a half years. Times change. And people do too. It's so much easier today to see these foreign films, and movies in general, from the relative comfort of my home. And the cost versus quality is about the same. Physical media on a modern television keeps improving, while the theatre-going experience keeps declining. From lengthy commercials to acrophobia-inducing ticket prices. Given the choice, for the same cost I'd rather own it than see it once. If I tire of the film I can always sell it and get my money back. 

But it's true to say that something is lost amid the convenience. It's not just nostalgia for my youth, although there is some of that. (The power of that can't be underestimated.) I think the ritualistic experience of "going to see a film", much like dropping a stylus on a vinyl record, was something greater than just pressing a button from your couch. It's hard to explain, but, ahh, ... that's a whole other conversation. Don't get me started.  

Anyway.... the bullets and bodies keep flying. Next time. Right here.

WAH WAH

No, that's not a sad trombone. It's YUEN WAH! (Birth name Yung Kai-chi.)

It's a quickie piece I did for fun for a magazine cover. The cover boy is Hong Kong actor/stuntman/action choreographer (and, of course, martial artist) Yuen Wah, of the Seven Little Fortunes performing group from the 1960s—which also featured fellow classmates Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. 

One of his early claims to fame was as the body double for Bruce Lee in FIST OF FURY and ENTER THE DRAGON. Bruce could cartwheel, but not back or front flip. Yuen could do both in his sleep. So they stuck a fast friendship and Bruce hired him to work on several fights scenes with Bruce, as well as play small parts in the films. Wah was actually the one doing the acrobatics for Lee's character.  

With AI poised to make our future entertainment, we are not likely to see the causes and conditions arise for performers like Yuen Wah to entertain us again onscreen. So it's important to recognize and appreciate their unique talents, especially while these actors are still around so they can see what they meant to us film fans.

He's still working, but naturally slowing down a wee bit at 75 years old. He's earned it. But thankfully he's still alive and, of course, kicking. Here's to you. Long live Yung Kai-chi. 

Next up.... John Woo's gun-fu classics get a fresh coat of paint.