Via the Otus Shrine, I came across this new illustration by Erol Otus which depicts the guitarist Tom Morello jamming out with monsters not of this Earth. It was commissioned by Morello’s friend Dan B. Weiss as a gift for Morello’s 60th-birthday. Appropriately, it distorts my sense of time in a way that feels impossible.
Erol Otus was the artist responsible for many of the drawings in early Dungeons&Dragons books. That art had a big impact on me as a developing human. So I was somewhat surprised that Otus was still active and taking badass commissions.
Tom Morello is the guitarist for Rage Against the Machine, among other things. Rage is the kind of powerhouse which feels somehow young, so I was surprised to hear that Morello was turning 60.
I can’t find Otus’ exact age on-line, but he is probably not much older. So, although they are roughly the same age, in my head Otus is an elder guardian of the dear past and Morello a fresh champion of the wild future.
