WHen you mention black velvet art most people think of kitschy Elvis pictures, but the technique actually dates back to ancient Kashmir. The extremely black background allows the colors to appear all the more eye catching.

Mike Dubisch has been an active commercial artist for many years, as his website will show (http://mikedubischart.webs.com/). He has created art for RPGs and comics, notably The People That Melt in the Rain. He is also interested in Lovecraftian imagery.

I believe The Black Velvet Necronomicon: Black Velvet Cthulhu originated in a Kickstarter project in about 2009/2010. I recall it was one of the first such projects I participated in as a sponsor. Many Lovecraftian/Cthulhu mythos books have striking cover art; some offer interior illustrations. Books devoted to Lovecraftian art, however, are not that common. The massive Centipede Press retrospective survey of Lovecraftian art (ISBN 978-1933618340) is, of course, the best, but even discounted it was extremely expensive. Pat Harrigan edited a book of art from Fantasy Flight Games' The Call of Cthulhu card game (ISBN 978-1589943070) which had some lovely images. I otherwise refer you to my Listmania lists of Lovecraftian art and comics books. My point is that art books like this are unusual. Too bad, because this is a wonderful book.

Mr. Dubisch effectively uses the medium of black velvet and single color ink/paint to provide incredibly alluring images of Lovecraftian horror. There is a brief and pointed introduction from Cody Goodfellow, a short author bio, and quotations from HPL selected by the artist to enhance the experience. When you actually see his C'thon or Cthulhuoind Thing or Alien Octopus you will feel yourself transported to another dimension of experience. Everything is so lovely it's not really possible to choose a favorite, although I did linger over The Deep Man in my latest reading.

Any fan or collector of Lovecraftian art should make the effort to get a copy of this. If it sells out, Mr. Dubisch still has a few copies for sale through his web store. My only complaint is I wish there was more of it. Highly recommended. ( )