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Simon Underwood

@lizardbrain-art.bsky.social

1.4K followers 110 following 160 posts

Portland illustrator and comic book crafter. Swords, sorcery, trees, skulls, doom. For commissions, merch, and my graphic novel GARGANTUAN, check out www.lizardbrainart.com

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Simon Underwood @lizardbrain-art.bsky.social · Jan 14

#PortfolioDay ! I'm a traditional illustrator who's worked for a number of small press fantasy publications and TTRPG projects. I recently self-published a graphic novel featuring a kaiju in a sword-and-sorcery setting.

A necromancer armed with a sword and a spell descends the steps of a castle, surrounded by her skeleton guards.

A four-armed giant stands waist-deep in the ocean, face obscured by a green hooded cloak, holding a staff covered in bones and pulling a star out of the night sky.

Two adventurers, an elf and a dwarf, traverse the ruins of an ancient underground city while a shoggoth lurks on the cavern roof above.

Cover of the graphic novel GARGANTUAN, displaying the title and the protagonist, Queen Pharseia, standing amidst scattered, abandoned armaments and looking up defiantly as the shadow of a huge monster looms over her.

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Simon Underwood @lizardbrain-art.bsky.social · 23d

Made a little block print. It's hard to find inspiration for personal work in these fucked up times, but a new medium always helps me.

Spend time with the people, places and experiences that make life worth living, and return ready to take the heads of those who would steal those things from us.

Block-printed image in green ink depicting an arm holding a short sword bursting from the undergrowth on a forest floor. Above it are the words "FIGHT FOR LIFE"

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Simon Underwood @lizardbrain-art.bsky.social · 23d

Time to snap these nerds' glasses like an 80s movie bully

Reposted by Simon Underwood

New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine @newedgeswordmag.bsky.social · 25d

🖌️ ARTIST SPOTLIGHT🎨
Linnea Sterte, aka @decassette.bsky.social, made this beautiful interior illustration for WASTE FLOWERS by Bryn Hammond, and is returning to create a new full page illustration for WHAT ROUGH BEAST?

Learn more here 👉 www.backerkit.com/c/projects/b...

A black and white illustration by Linnea Sterte showing two Mongol women from the times of Genghis Khan. The taller is a bandit with short hair, dressed in a stolen coat with badges of authority visible. The shorter has a side buzz, otherwise longer hair, and is leaning into the shoulder of the taller one.

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Simon Underwood @lizardbrain-art.bsky.social · 26d

Thanks Trevor!

Reposted by Simon Underwood

Movie Madness @moviemadness.org · 26d

Our Movie Madness Presents Creature Features risograph print featuring artwork from Portland illustrator, Simon Underwood (@lizardbrain-art.bsky.social) is now available in the shop! Come on in and check it out!

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Simon Underwood @lizardbrain-art.bsky.social · 26d

Thanks for having me!

Simon Underwood @lizardbrain-art.bsky.social · 27d

Thank you! I actually haven't gotten to see the printed posters yet; I'm glad they turned out.

Simon Underwood @lizardbrain-art.bsky.social · 27d

Poster I did for Movie Madness here in Portland for their Creature Features block. One of the largest ink pieces I've ever done!

Pen-and-ink poster illustration. A number of monstrous limbs reach out from behind a steel door, chained and padlocked. The words "CREATURE FEATURES" are drippily painted on the door. A creature that resembles a spidery crustacean with a human woman's head scuttles across the door, approaching the padlock with a key in one claw and a mischievous expression on her face.

Pen-and-ink poster illustration with digital color. The words "MOVIE MADNESS PRESENTS" cover the top portion of the image. A number of monstrous limbs reach out from behind a steel door, chained and padlocked. The words "CREATURE FEATURES" are drippily painted on the door. A creature that resembles a spidery crustacean with a human woman's head scuttles across the door, approaching the padlock with a key in one claw and a mischievous expression on her face.

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Reposted by Simon Underwood

Carlos Vera @mentat0209.bsky.social · Sep 1

Inktober 52 - Virgo

A witch. Pens and white ink.

I'm open for commissions!

#art #inktober #inktober2025 #inktober52 #inktober52virgo #fantasy

Ink drawing of a druid woman with tattoos, cloak, raven, and basket, in retro TTRPG manual style with detailed cross-hatching.

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Simon Underwood @lizardbrain-art.bsky.social · Aug 22

Thank you! High praise indeed. I do have some more stuff inspired by his work coming down the pipe...

Simon Underwood @lizardbrain-art.bsky.social · Aug 22

As an aside, the Seven Geases is probably my favorite CAS story and I want to adapt it into a short comic someday

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Simon Underwood @lizardbrain-art.bsky.social · Aug 22

Thanks! Was the creature in the basin supposed to be Abhoth? Getting my primordial ooze entities mixed up here

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Simon Underwood @lizardbrain-art.bsky.social · Aug 22

Brilliant!

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Simon Underwood @lizardbrain-art.bsky.social · Aug 22

Some pieces I did for an adaptation of Clark Ashton Smith's Tale of Satampra Zeiros a few years ago. Not sure if they were ever used but they were super fun to draw.

Illustration from "The Tale of Satampra Zeiros" by Clark Ashton Smith. Two thieves stand in a dark room surrounded by the silhouettes of various reptilian creatures. One man holds a lockpick and is looking eagerly into the chest of glowing treasure he just opened, while the other, holding a dagger, glances nervously behind him.

Illustration from "The Tale of Satampra Zeiros" by Clark Ashton Smith. Two men explore a dense, vine-choked jungle.

Illustration from "The Tale of Satampra Zeiros" by Clark Ashton Smith. Two men approach a small, simply built temple in the middle of a starlit jungle clearing. One swigs from a wineskin as he walks towards the doors.

Illustration from "The Tale of Satampra Zeiros" by Clark Ashton Smith. Two men confront a strange, protoplasmic entity rising from a large basin in the center of a small temple. An idol of the god Tsathoggua perches on a dais behind them, looking like a humanoid cross between a toad and a bat.

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Simon Underwood @lizardbrain-art.bsky.social · Aug 21

Yeah! If nothing else Earthsea feels like a very grounded culture and most real-world cultures have a neat aesthetic even for mundane things.

It does allow for a lot of creative freedom as to how the world is depicted and I think there's a lot of potential for different cool interpretations

Simon Underwood @lizardbrain-art.bsky.social · Aug 21

I feel like part of Sparrowhawk's character is that he's an unremarkable looking guy, but that combined with Earthsea as a whole being pretty vague on visuals means it's pretty hard to do recognizable art of him. And yeah I love seeing New Sun art far more than I enjoy reading the books

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Simon Underwood @lizardbrain-art.bsky.social · Aug 21

I got one legit enquiry on Artstation back in 2017, and then nothing until 2022 when it was a different bot offering to buy NFTs from me every month until I deleted my account last year. So as of 2024 it still sucks!

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Simon Underwood @lizardbrain-art.bsky.social · Aug 20

Thinking about GARGANTUAN: "the queen's an essentially good person being sabotaged by her aristocratic nature--thematically it's about accepting the loss of control and the unpredictability of the future--"

Describing GARGANTUAN in front of a camera: "yep. I drawed it. It has a BIG monster."

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Simon Underwood @lizardbrain-art.bsky.social · Aug 13

Cool, thank you! I probably will give them another go at some point. Maybe a reread of the ones I've started to understand is in order.

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Simon Underwood @lizardbrain-art.bsky.social · Aug 12

Shadow of the Torturer and Claw of the Conciliator. There were parts of the prose and setting I really enjoyed but I could tell there were layers and layers I was missing, like the whole story was an allegory for something I was totally unfamiliar with.

Simon Underwood @lizardbrain-art.bsky.social · Aug 11

I think I have to come to terms with the fact that, unlike seemingly every other artist and writer I respect, I'm too dumb to read Gene Wolfe.

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Simon Underwood @lizardbrain-art.bsky.social · Aug 4

Money is tight this month, so I suppose now is a good time to mention that I have a store with some neat stuff in it. Skeleton T-shirts! Lizardman prints! A full-length sword-and-sorcery kaiju graphic novel! Anything you feel like picking up is much appreciated.
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