Mondo Cult

presents

The Horror Art of L.J. Dopp from

the Brad Linaweaver Collection

All Artwork Copyright by L.J. Dopp. No reproduction permitted without the express, written permission of the artist.

I didn't meet Brad Linaweaver until the '90s, but it was a fortuitous day in San Fernando Valley's Dangerous Visions bookstore. It didn't take Brad long to appreciate my art skills, and early in the 2000s he bought one of of my spec paintings from Buddy Barnett's Cinema Collectors store in Hollywood. It was the Cyclops acrylic that now adorns my Ray Harryhausen article on this site. Later he started buying them from me directly, eventually commissioning paintings, and for the last four or five years ordered nearly one a month.

The Ackerlab

Ernest Borgnine from THE DEVIL'S RAIN, done in the style of Steve Ditko (Brad's idea).

There must be 100-150 of my oil on canvas paintings in his Florida home, and all the images in this layout are oils -- I don't create digital images like so many others. I love the smell of oil paint in the morning; smells like… creativity. Most of the time Brad left the pose and background to me; he would simply write, "I want you to paint Ernest Borgnine as Satan from THE DEVILS RAIN, but in the style of Steve Ditko," or "do a painting of Jeffrey Combs in a Lovecraftian setting." For the Ackerlab, he was more specific; he wanted Forry in a lab with beakers and flasks, but also the shadow of The Monster on the wall and "Strickfadden" electrical equipment around like in the Universal Frankenstein movies.

Max Von Sydow as Ming the Merciless from the 1980 FLASH GORDON feature.

"ROBOT MONSTER meets THE GIANT CLAW in 3D!" Bronson cave and the gorilla suit are sculpted in modeling paste.
The bird is being created from the bubble machine, explaining its smaller size (Brad's idea).

We had some great times together shooting Forry as Dr. Acula, host of THE BONEYARD COLLECTION, a film I co-produced with Edward L. Plumb. Edward adapted one of Brad's short stories, "Her Morbid Desires," for his main segment of the anthology horror comedy, and Brad appears in the film interviewing Ray Harryhausen in a limo. We also got together on the SPACE BABES MEET THE MONSTERS feature and THE SILICON ASSASSIN web series, and for both I was hired to create prop space guns.

Veronica Lake from I MARRIED A WITCH

"My Wiccan, Wiccan Ways" -- Illustration for Brad's short story.

Barbara Steele from PIT AND THE PENDULUM

Hedy Lamarr as Princess Aura. Had she signed with Universal instead of MGM,
she might have been cast in the FLASH GORDON serials.

Jeffrey Combs amid Lovecraftian horrors

Boris Karloff from DIE, MONSTER, DIE

Michael Gough from PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1962)

Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing from HORROR EXPRESS

Emilia Clarke as Khaleesi, Mother of Dragons, from GAME OF THRONES

"Attack of the 50-foot Bisexual" -- Allison Hayes has Yvette Vickers in the palm of her hand;
Harry never figured that Honey might look just as good to Nancy as she does to him!

Rondo Hatton - oil on board. Did this and sold it to Brad in 2007; told him it would make a good MONDO CULT cover some day.

Christopher Lee from VENGEANCE OF FU MANCHU. ...The final commission, July 2019.

Between ordering all these commissions, helping fund my movies, and publishing my art and writing in Mondo Cult, Brad is largely responsible for the part of my career that's shared with the world, and for that, and for his never-ending friendship and loyalty, I can never thank him enough.

— L.J. Dopp, Sherman Oaks, CA

Dopp's oil on canvas copy of Wally Wood's SPACEMEN 1965 YEARBOOK cover, with Brad Linaweaver
replacing the spaceman in the original, at his request. After his passing, the image offers a pleasant irony.

Wally Wood's SPACEMEN 1965 YEARBOOK cover..