Simon Underwood
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lizardbrain-art.bsky.social
Simon Underwood
@lizardbrain-art.bsky.social
1.5K followers 110 following 170 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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lizardbrain-art.bsky.social
Man I love drawing dead guys
Work-in-progress photo of a comic panel featuring a richly dressed, crowned corpse turning its head to ward the viewer. The clothing and jewelry suggest an ancient, mummified king or sorcerer. At the top of the panel, a shadowy form can be glimpsed clinging to the top of the corpse's crown.
October 16, 2025 at 7:05 PM
lizardbrain-art.bsky.social
I can finally show off probably my favorite piece I've done this year--the Halloween merch design for @moviemadness.org. Beyond stoked to do more work for the best movie rental/theater/museum/temple in the world. And those practical effects are sooo satisfying to replicate in ink
A green illustration on a black background, featuring the words "MOVIE MADNESS" in a font that suggests bad VHS tracking. In the center of the image, four monsters burst out of a vintage TV set--the werewolf from An American Werewolf in London, the creature from The Thing, half-human and half nightmarish alien, the dripping Tarman zombie from Return of the Living Dead, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon reaching toward the viewer.
October 11, 2025 at 6:29 AM
lizardbrain-art.bsky.social
"The apparitions are getting worse. The air in the vaults feels like a thin curtain that could be ripped away at any moment. I do not know what door I opened in search of the afterlife, but I pray to all the gods it isn't the one our souls go to in the end."

A quick one for the spookiest of seasons
Pen and ink illustration depicting a darkened doorway in a stone wall. A robed scholar scrambles away from the doorway in a panic, having dropped his writing implements, as a monstrous, glowing apparition manifests in the darkness beyond. At first glance, it appears vaguely humanoid, but has the suggestion of three heads, many mouths, and an indeterminate number of limbs.
October 10, 2025 at 10:22 PM
lizardbrain-art.bsky.social
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"
September 15, 2025 at 7:34 PM
lizardbrain-art.bsky.social
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.
September 11, 2025 at 8:24 PM
lizardbrain-art.bsky.social
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.
August 22, 2025 at 8:03 PM
lizardbrain-art.bsky.social
Turned 32. Spent some time with @esque-arts.bsky.social and the local mountain.
Photograph of me. I am standing on a dock with a cup of coffee overlooking a large lake surrounded by firs. Mt. Hood is visible in the background. Photograph of Mt. Hood in the evening taken through a binocular lens. Photograph of an ink sketch of Mt. Hood being held up in front of the actual Mt. Hood, out of focus on the background.
July 25, 2025 at 5:47 PM
lizardbrain-art.bsky.social
Great minds...I literally proposed to my wife with these since neither of us like rings
Closeup of a rad silver skull earring
July 10, 2025 at 8:53 PM
lizardbrain-art.bsky.social
Our long-suffering protagonist wakes up to some new friends
Two comic panels showing an extreme close-up of a man's dirty, tired face as he wakes up. A large, pale insect is licking the dirt off his skin. They notice each other with alarm as the man comes to.
July 6, 2025 at 1:47 AM
lizardbrain-art.bsky.social
More painting practice. I have been reading the Earthsea books and they are just what I need right now. Here's Ged and his boat.
Gouache painting of Ged, the protagonist of A Wizard of Earthsea, sailing in his boat Lookfar. He holds onto the rigging, his staff leaned on his shoulder. A couple of craggy, forested islands are visible in the background over the foggy ocean, and a dragon flies through the overcast sky in the distance.
July 5, 2025 at 11:16 PM
lizardbrain-art.bsky.social
Cover for the debut album from the band SALTYR. I love when the brief is basically "make it as trad heavy metal as possible"
Album cover featuring a warrior descending a winding staircase in a huge cavern. Behind him, the stairs lead up to an open doorway surrounded by shattered remnants of the door and with light pouring through. Ahead of him, a horde of undead and demons advance up the stairs, and he fights them with an axe and shield. Small dragonlike creatures flap about overhead.
July 2, 2025 at 6:27 PM
lizardbrain-art.bsky.social
Vainamoinen in the pines for @elyvilon.bsky.social .
I really enjoyed this one. Tried to infuse it with some of that Scandinavian Golden Age of Illustration energy.
The Finnish mythological hero Vainamoinen sits under a pine tree in a mossy meadow, playing a kantele made of a large jawbone. His sword leans against the tree trunk. Various forest animals gather to listen to his music.
June 18, 2025 at 7:00 PM
lizardbrain-art.bsky.social
Painted a weird little guy. I still flounder every time I break out the paint, but this felt like I learned some things.
Gouache painting of a fully armored warrior standing in the desert with sunset clouds behind them. Their armor is brick red and resembles a carapace in places. They carry a falchion which also has an organic quality to it. Their eyes glow green from behind a full face mask.
June 12, 2025 at 4:24 AM
lizardbrain-art.bsky.social
Got the Wall of Skeletons back up and thus the new studio space is complete
Photo of my workspace with a drawing desk and art supplies. The wall behind it is covered in a variety of skeleton-based art
May 31, 2025 at 9:25 PM
lizardbrain-art.bsky.social
Show me how you draw armor.

Chain and scale gang here
Cover for Old Moon Quarterly--A female necromancer descends the steps of a castle keep, wearing black armor and a horned helmet, a falcata in one hand and a spell readied in the other. She is surrounded by skeleton warriors in a variety of gear. An undead warrior in ornate chainmail and a feather-crested helmet rises out of an open sarcophagus, wielding a huge two-handed leaf-bladed sword. A ragged tapestry is visible in the background. A hulking giant mercenary captain stands in front of her troop, wearing chain armor, a feathered helmet and a lion pelt over her shoulders. She holds a heavy six-sided shield and battleaxe. Her pet condor perches on her shoulder, and more are visible flying above the soldiers in the background. A black-armored warrior with glowing red eyes emerges from a portal in a sorcerer's workshop, pointing an accusing finger at the sorcerer, who is turned away from the viewer looking back at the warrior.
May 28, 2025 at 5:26 AM
lizardbrain-art.bsky.social
Poster I did for the upcoming Cascadian Midsummer festival! My first foray into digital color in five years; glad I haven't gotten too rusty.
Poster illustration featuring a Pacific Northwest forest scene framed between the trunks of two red cedars. The shape of a humanoid forest spirit is visible in the bark of both trees. A creek runs between them, bridged by a mossy fallen log, upon which stands an elk glancing toward the viewer. There is an altar of piled stones, sticks and animal bones on the bank. The words "CASCADIAN MIDSUMMER" in a jagged font are visible between the branches in the upper part of the image.
April 28, 2025 at 12:01 AM
lizardbrain-art.bsky.social
Been deep in work I can't show off yet, but here's a DnD character commission I enjoyed from a while back.
Two hulking Goliath brothers stand next to each other. One wields a heavy morningstar and a crescent-shaped shield, and has the phases of the moon tattooed on his bare chest. The other kneels, wearing a pendant of the black circle of the goddess Shar. His face is heavily scarred, and shadow magic coalesces around his left fist.
April 10, 2025 at 1:33 AM
lizardbrain-art.bsky.social
Threw some digital color on this sketch of some legendary sorcerers from the world of GARGANTUAN. The Thanticon irreparably changes the physical forms of those exposed.

Felt good to do something straight from the imagination again. It's been hard to get the ol brain in gear lately.
Colored sketch of three sorcerers. The first is a sitting giant engulfed in green flame. His head above his eyesockets is hollow and filled with the fire. He is naked except for black iron jewelry and holds an archaic iron sword. The second is floating, a small body hidden under a red cloak. A number of irregular limbs dangle from beneath the cloak. A hood painted with two vertically stacked eyes obscures the face. The third is a lanky figure in a blue and white robe and red-crested bronze mask. His right arm branches into two forearms at the elbow, both gripping a bronze-tipped staff that glows with arcane energy. Four glowing eyes peer out from the mask above a face that seems ornamental.
March 31, 2025 at 3:06 AM
lizardbrain-art.bsky.social
My original guy deep in Caelid. In the middle of my DLC playthrough now, coincidentally also deep in Caelid. Gonna have to draw that one too
Elden Ring fanart of a barbarian hero wielding a large battleaxe fighting zombies in the scarlet-rotted Caelid Wilds. A monstrous crow caws in the background.
February 26, 2025 at 6:06 PM
lizardbrain-art.bsky.social
You best believe I've got this one in lock. If you see this, share a skeleton 💀
February 24, 2025 at 9:50 PM
lizardbrain-art.bsky.social
QTP with powerful women ⚔️
A warrior woman in ornate bronze scale armor crouches over a defeated foe, her sword still in his chest. In her other hand she clutches a dagger at the ready. Behind her is a blood-red sun.
February 24, 2025 at 5:54 AM
lizardbrain-art.bsky.social
I've been working on a short comic for a bit, adapting one of my favorite public domain stories from the Weird Tales era. It's a little ways off from completion, but it's chugging along and has been keeping my comics muscles in shape for my next big project. Here are some raw panels!
Three panels depicting a man wandering through a strange desert: past bones and cacti, insect-infested ruins and a massive eroded statue. Three panels depicting a man encountering a mysterious statue of a woman, buried waist-deep in the sand. Three panels depicting a man noticing an uncanny shadow.
February 24, 2025 at 5:49 AM
lizardbrain-art.bsky.social
Me at 20 and me at 31, three subcultures and ten chin hairs later
February 21, 2025 at 10:13 PM
lizardbrain-art.bsky.social
And finally...the lizard wizards
A blue reptilian wizard crouches in a magic circle, wearing a feathered cloak and holding a staff, looking over its shoulder at a portal to the stars A blue reptilian necromancer with a horned headdress and lizard skin tabard is surrounded by burning, floating skulls, both human and reptilian A blue reptilian sorcerer with large head frills summons lightning between it's hands
February 10, 2025 at 6:43 AM
lizardbrain-art.bsky.social
More lizards of a different class.
A green reptilian archer wearing furs and scale armor. A green reptilian assassin crouched with a poisoned dagger and an array of javelins on its back. A green reptilian hunter with a plumed helmet lamellar armor and a longbow. Its pet pterosaur alights on its upraised hand.
February 7, 2025 at 10:37 PM