ShadowMyths and Hieroglyphs! An Interview with Doug Hoppes

Here I Am: Illustrations created by ShadowMyths

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ROMMI: Hey, Doug, thanks for taking the time to let me pick your brain after our brief chat at the Indy Oddities Expo!

I perused your excellent Gallery of Nightmares, and I was highly impressed!

What was your inspiration for this broad work, as well as for your work generally? Also, we’d love to hear about your background—where you came from and how you ended up where you are!

DOUG: My inspiration for my work and everything else is that I like weird and uncommon things. For me, horror isn’t about slash and gore. It’s about twisting reality to make the common things unsettling and showing not just the monster or situation but dark recesses that hint at something else that may or may not happen. Everybody has their own fears and things going on in their lives. I just happen to have the ability to paint and write what I feel.

I’ve been a fan of self-help books and psychology my entire life. I’ve also been a fan of the weird stuff. When I was a kid reading comic books, others read about superheroes, but I was a huge fan of Dr. Strange. The magic and monsters were awesome, but the best part of his comics was that he visited semi-abstract dimensions instead of visiting other planets. That is the stuff that really interests me… something that I wouldn’t normally see. That was also why I loved playing Dungeons and Dragons from the late 70’s to the late 80’s.

Regarding my art, I started painting/drawing seriously in my late 40s (now almost 60), but I dabbled in high school when I was bored. When I first started, I painted landscapes and birds, etc, and tried to make a living in the fine art/gallery world. That didn’t work out for me. However, when we moved from Vermont to North Carolina, I had trouble getting into the galleries because they were all full, and my work wasn’t unique enough.

Three events changed my life.

First, I went to my first comic con. I’ve been to museums in different parts of the world and loved fine art. However, comicons brought me back to my childhood and all the weird things I’d loved my entire life. Rather than the craft shows and art shows I had been doing, I saw that I could make a living doing my weird stuff (Even when I did landscape work, I mixed in some abstract shapes).

Secondly, I told my wife that I loved landscapes. She said, “No, you don’t. You LIKE landscapes. You LOVE monsters. After a number of paintings that you brought to the galleries, you said you had to paint one for yourself. That was a monster.” She was right. I had more ideas about what to paint, in terms of monsters and dark art, than I did for a landscape that everybody else does.

Finally, an art director friend told me he didn’t care for my monster paintings but loved my plein-air (outdoor painting) work. It had a lot more energy. I learned oil painting from a friend, Karen Winslow, at her gallery in Vermont and then, with the help of a fabulous workshop (The Illustration Master class in Amherst, MA) that I attended once a year (for a week) for five years, my paintings got better (with the help of people like Julie Bell, Boris Vallejo, Greg Manchess, Rebecca Guay, and many, many more). I applied my outdoor painting style to my monsters and then incorporated my love for self-help books into the stories of the paintings. That was when I knew I had something I thought was special.

At first, my ShadowMyths brand was about the meanings of the paintings and tools for DnD, oracle readers, writers, and therapists. After seven years, a change needed to be made. It was popular, but didn’t fit the stories I wanted to write. So, last year, I wrapped it all within the Gallery of Nightmares and my main character, Jonathan. This is a more cohesive idea that is easier to understand and a better framework for building my brand.

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ROMMI: I felt like one of The Gallery’s strengths was that I could jump in anywhere and get a sense of it, but also that moving from piece to piece in order gave this sense of passing through an immense haunted mansion room by room. Is there a specific way to best read The Gallery of Nightmares, or any other suggestions for readers going into it for the first time?

DOUG: The best way to read the Gallery of Nightmares site is to go immediately to the wing that interests you. It’s like when you go to my table at a show. Everybody is drawn to a particular painting and immediately understands why when they read the story. Most people say, “Oh my God! This is me!” or “I was just talking to a friend about this!”

I usually have one to three people tear up or cry in a show. In some shows, I’ve had as many as five people tear up, four cry, and two need hugs. People are drawn to a particular image that speaks to them.

The gallery works the same way. Visit the wings where the subject matter is interesting and quickly scroll through the images. One image will stop you, and you’ll read it and then understand why you stopped. In some cases, I have a video about how to use the painting to improve your life.

The important part to remember is that all of the stories are me. They are the things I’ve gone through in my 60 years of life, and they are the paths I use to resolve those issues. There is nothing special about me. I’m just like everybody else.

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ROMMI: What can you tell us about your book The Gallery of Nightmares: Lost?

DOUG: In the past, I’ve tried writing fantasy stories that were strange and different. Honestly, they were okay. Nothing special. Nothing bad. However, last summer, I knew I wanted to tell my stories on YouTube to create an audience there. I came up with the idea of one-off episodes of Jonathan where he would die every episode. In the next episode, he would come back, and something bad would happen to him again. It was actually fun to come up with a weird short story about what happened to him.

Over the summer, after recording about a dozen stories, I realized I had more fun doing those creepy short stories than my previous long, dark fantasy stories. There was something there. However, a series of short stories like that would get boring after a while.

What about Jonathan? How would the many deaths affect his mental state? Like the stories in my paintings, I wanted to explore how that would affect his mental state and life. That was where I came up with the Gallery of Nightmares in the fall of 2024.

Gallery of Nightmares became a series of stories about Jonathan and how the dark things that happen to him affect his life. Each book is a series of six short stories that can be read independently and have no bearing on the overall world of Jonathan. They are just creepy stories.

However, there is an overarching story about Jonathan and how the gallery affects his life. When he steps into the Shadow Nook and enters the paintings, he is transported into my previous fantasy world of Caeliff. This is a world of monsters, elementals, and sacramancers (wizards in my world), and he constantly dies.

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ROMMI: Do you plan on doing more on this theme in the future, and are there any other projects of yours you’d like to highlight for our readers?

DOUG: Gallery of Nightmares:Lost is the first book in the series, and five books are already planned from my pre-recorded video stories. Each book will explore a particular theme about Jonathan’s life. The first book was about losing his father. The second book is about dealing with bullies. Other themes will include unrequited love, being alone, and being arrogant.

In terms of highlights, more ShadowMyths decks are coming out. They will always be coming out. These decks contain the original oil paintings that I create and, for me, are used as writing prompts. I randomly draw three cards and figure out what happens between the three cards. Each three-card grouping leads to a 5000-word short story, and when I want to write longer stories, the story is made of multiple three-card groupings. This way, I always come up with new and original ideas versus doing the same tropes everybody else does.

In addition to working on new oil paintings, I’m now venturing into sculpting. A buddy of mine, Arend Smith of Ravendark Creations, is a fantastic sculptor, and he’s teaching me how to work with Monster Clay. The goal is to eventually have traditional sculptures of all my monsters living in Caeliff. That will take a while, but it’s been a fun first step into this new medium.

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ROMMI: As someone selling his wares both online and through conventions like the Oddities Expo, do you have any advice for others trying to get their work out there in this ever-changing digital landscape?

DOUG: Yep. There are three things that I always like to point out:

1) No matter what the internet says, it won’t be a fast route. You won’t make $10,000 a month doing POD, selling courses, or whatever the new method is. It will take time. You could be an overnight success, but, realistically, that is extremely rare and won’t happen for most people. Think in terms of multiple years and slow growth over time. It is achievable, but it takes time. I’m not a fan of the idea, “Go big or go home.” A better way to do it is to move in a direction you want to go slowly, and that makes you happy. That happiness will sustain you over the years as you build your business.

2) Times change, and businesses must adapt. This does NOT mean that you have to do whatever is new. You must figure out how to navigate your business around the changes to survive. When I started, you had to do blogs or you would fail. Then you have to use social media. Now, you have to do reels and TikTok videos. Once you had to do shows… or online… or do… whatever. AI came in, and now people say you must use ChatGPT to write your books or do AI for your art. Things change. Some for the better. Some for the worse (Note: I consider AI for art and ChatGPT for writing detrimental to your business and shouldn’t be done… but that’s my opinion.) The rule of business is that you must constantly adapt and see how you fit in with how things are moving.

3) Embrace what is new, but make sure that you don’t give up your identity for it. In my business, I’ve added videos because nowadays, more people prefer watching videos than reading. However, the videos aren’t the end product. They are an enhancement to my paintings and my stories. They are a form of marketing that will entice people to check out my product lines… the original oil paintings, the stories, and my ShadowMyths decks.

Would things be easier if I went the AI art route and used ChatGPT to write my stories? It would. However, that is not me. It’s not why I create my paintings and write my stories. I would do the paintings and writings even if I didn’t sell my art or stories. I did that long ago, before I made a business out of it. My art reflects me… and is not done because of social media likes or making money through my brand. There are easier ways to make money.

When you decide why you have a business and why you want to create it, you will have an idea of what online platform works best for you.

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ROMMI: As a fellow Horror Hound, do you have any suggestions for our readers: favorite books, films, artists—plumb the depths of your own inspirations and please share them here! And it doesn’t have to be strictly Horror!

DOUG: Okay… now here’s where I’m quite different.

First of all, I can tell you that… I love watching Hallmark movies, especially the Christmas shows, for the same reason that I love watching things like the British Bake-off or the kids’ baking challenges. There is such niceness that is a contrast to what you see in everyday life.

Some of my favorite books are Tuesdays with Morrie, Tao of Pooh, Starship Troopers, The Godfather, etc. All the books have emotional writing that allows you to feel what the characters are going through. I especially love the Spenser for Hire series for the same reason.

I’ll still watch a smattering of different things, but I do stay away from slashers or gore/ultra-violent movies. I also avoid things like Law and Order: SVU, other reality-based shows, and movies. There is too much violence in the world, and I would prefer not to constantly be reminded of that when I’m trying to relax.

In the end, it comes down to my favorite stories being weirdly different and focusing on an emotionally uplifting feel.

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ROMMI: Are there any last words—um, for this interview, of course—that you’d like to share?

DOUG: Three final things-

First, just because you are good at something does not mean you must create a business. When you have a business, you’ll find that two-thirds of your time is spent on the business, not the creative part. That’s the reality if you want your business to survive. No matter what the internet or your friends say, it’s not a quick journey. So, if you want to make a business of it, you have to enjoy the business and art parts, or have someone else do the business part. However, that entails you giving them a portion of your earnings.

Secondly, I have three rules for my brand:

1) Be so good that you can’t be ignored,

2) Create something familiar but put your unique twist on it, and

3) Create a connection with the customer.

This is why people love fan art. By creating comics and movies, the large companies have made a connection with the customer in which the customer can see themselves as the hero… or villain. With your brand, you have to create that connection. My connection is that people like the paintings, but they identify with the piece's story. It is them.

Secondly, a successful business and life are about doing what you love and doing what needs to be done. My paintings are a mixture of what I know will sell… I am a business, after all… and what I want to do. I would prefer not to do as many skull or raven paintings, but they sell. However, I also look at them and figure out how to adjust them so I’m happy creating them.

Ultimately, there is no right or wrong way to create a business or art you love. Just remember to do it for yourself and not for anyone else. You’ll be happier and will want to create for a longer period of time.

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ROMMI: Thanks so much, Doug!

I cannot recommend Doug’s work enough! If you want to see more of my take and its profound and positive effect on my own consciousness, you can check out my review of The Gallery of Nightmares here.

However, if you just can’t wait to see more of Doug’s excellent work, check out his site, which you can find here.