Purebred's photos of Alex Pardee battling a tree monster

My insane and insanely-talented pals Stacey Ransom and Jason Mitchell at Purebred still + motion created a startling new photo series starring lowbrow artist Alex Pardee. Yes, that monster is real. Well, real in that it's not Photoshopped into the picture. Pardee is at ComicCon right now and will be signing photos at the ZeroFriends booth. Follow @alexpardee for times. And for all of the images, check out the Purebred portfoilo.

David Pescovitz is Boing Boing's co-editor/managing partner. He's also a research director at Institute for the Future. On Instagram, he's @pesco.

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gwailo_joe

A feral zombie ent? Wicked! Love the fangs…
Loafer

Really, I don’t think it’s fair that some people can draw that well. It’s simply not fair.
Awesome!
sixta

“Well, real in that it’s not Photoshopped into the picture”

but its drawn in/on? not sure what you mean by “real”
- ransom notes
  
  Hey sixta, everything you see in this photo was actually built and photographed.
  
  Alex Pardee drew a sketch of the beast and that I then built it. Pardee’s very tall friend, Alexander Tarrant (tarrant.tv) wore the 9 foot high costume for about 5 hours! The set was comprised of three trees I made and the cast was standing on ‘water’ that was actually sheets of mylar. We used a LOT of fog. The background of the final photo was created by duplicating the trees (shot separately) in photoshop.
  
  I’ll update the “set design” portion of our website soon to show the behind the scenes. :)
  - sixta
    
    Wow. that’s amazing!
Antinous / Moderator

I believe that’s actually a chlorofiend.
jfrancis

I love these guys
Anonymous

The damsel looks much better in the super photo here than in real life!! Smoke and Mirrors indeed… it’s like a “magical transformation”. I wonder what the beast with the machete looks like in real life… maybe something like Mickey Mouse maybe?!! :-)
noah django

Ghost Dog was a documentary.

Robocop was a prophecy.
Anonymous

Get some termites and it will be weeping like a willow!
ransom notes

@ mcv – “Painting-realistic photos” is a cool way to explain what we do! Why didn’t I think of that? can you handle our PR for us? :)

@ gwailo_joe – a feral zombie ent?… that’s brilliant. way to take it to the next level!

@ Anon(s) – GROOT + death by termites = classic. We like you guys.
mcv

Is this really a photo and not a painting? I think photo-realistic paintings are pretty neat, so what do you call this? Painting-realistic photos?
Anonymous

I.am.Groot!

(OK, that doesn’t sound as magnificent as the “real” Groot would say it, but the message box wouldn’t allow me to type in all capitals.)
knoxblox

Love the hotel room brawl image.

Anyway, he’s not going to make a dent with a machete. He needs a chainsaw.
- Muse
  
  I’d choose a flamethrower. Root monsters hate fire.
  
  Reminds me of Dr. Grordbort.
The Bus

The tree monster reminds me of a botanical version of the stupid, stupid rat creatures from Bone. Or, the box art to some plant-based follow-up to the board game Last Night on Earth.

Well done!
Cowicide

Photos are cool, but lawd gawd someone introduce the developer of purebredphoto.com to better interface design. The thumbnails jump out at you like a possessed tree trunk and then cover the photos so you can’t even hardly tell what picture you’re on. Also, ditch the Flash for html5.
DoctressJulia

I’d like it much better without the obligatory objectified woman in lingerie. Ugh, sexist. FAIL. :(

And, you’d think if she was out walking with her tree friend (who is AWESOME looking!) she’d wear something more substantial, and maybe some shoes.
Brainspore

Blatant propaganda for the lumber industry.
nanuq

Who is the bloodthirsty thug whacking on that poor Ent?
- Cowicide
  
  I know! The tree was just going for a pleasant walk with his girl!
  
  He now looks really startled and just trying to protect his date from the crazed, machete-wielding lunatic pouncing out of the fog.
  - ransom notes
    
    hahaha – your take on it is so true! When we were shooting the scene, we all kept laughing because the monster just seemed so happy to be holding hands with such a pretty girl.
    
    as for our website… yeah, you’ve got us there… sadly I only make monsters and other ‘real’ creepy things — web design confounds me.
    - Cowicide
      
      hahaha – your take on it is so true! When we were shooting the scene, we all kept laughing because the monster just seemed so happy to be holding hands with such a pretty girl.
      
      I’m just glad the fog is hiding his, uh… stick.
      
      as for our website… yeah, you’ve got us there… sadly I only make monsters and other ‘real’ creepy things — web design confounds me.
      
      Dude, you broke the rules. We just bitch about everything around here and never want the actual people we are bitching about to read our rants. I feel bad now and so should you. ;D
      - Brainspore
        
        I’m just glad the fog is hiding his, uh… stick.
        
        The anatomical term is “twig & berries.”
      - ransom notes
        
        @Brainspore, Cowicide, The Bus, knoxblox, nanuq and Antinous – This has been a hilarious and truly enjoyable thread. Thank you so much for this; I’ve been laughing all day.
        
        …and now, I must plot my revenge.
Thad E Ginataom

I’m rooting for the tree in this one
Anonymous

@knoxblox nah hedgeclippers.
ransom notes

@ Muse & knoxblox – man, you are BOTH right!! this shoot needed WEAPONS of mighty-mass-desTRUHKtion! (like my pals at Massive Black do) In truth, we added this shot the day before and I didn’t have time to make or find a real weapon Alex could hold. (damn those time/space limitations!) We were stoked to even be able to find such a lovely (and super cool) damsel in distress at the last minute. We live in San Francisco and she’s this years “Bone Rock Girl” for radio station 107.7 The BONE. (classic rock … of course)

and thanks for the Dr. Grordbort link – crazy cool stuff!
- libraryboi
  
  Is it too much to ask what kind of camera you use. Your photos don’t appear to be HDR but they just seem to jump off the screen. Thanks.
  - jfrancis
    
    I would guess this one
    
    http://www.product-reviews.net/2008/02/21/breaking-news-55-terapixels-digital-camera-is-world%E2%80%99s-first-that-is-5500000-mp/
    - ransom notes
      
      OMG jfrancis, if that fancy, schmancy terapixel thingy catches on, I am doomed.
      :)
  - ransom notes
    
    Hi libraryboi, Great question! Jason Mitchell shoots with a Nikon D3X, but it’s not the camera itself that gives us this look. I’d say it’s cinematic lighting and having a proper expose that captures a full range of dark/light values. This gives us a TON of information to work with later in Photoshop.
    
    You are correct, we don’t use HDR as a technique – we simply push / pull the lighting as it was on-set, by dodging and burning in photoshop to really enhance the scene. I guess you could say we literally paint the light both on-set and in post.
    
    thank you for asking about our process, we are happy to share.
- knoxblox
  
  Sorry if it sounded too nitpicky, but I’ve spent a few days this summer trying to tame the overgrowth on my mother’s property and found that even a saw-toothed machete felt gravely inadequate when it came to branches and roots.
  
  But hey, the machete’s a lot better choice than a three-pronged cultivator!
  
  As always though, I’m deeply in awe of a lighting team that can create an atmosphere as spooky as the one in this photograph.