Gallery

Finished work by Dan La Ferlita. Every painting opens with its process, from first sketch to signed canvas.

Painting of a plague doctor in a red beaked mask and round brass lenses, flames behind him — **The Cure**A stitched-leather plague doctor lit from inside by fire, embers where the eyes should be. The cure worse than the plague.Acrylic on canvas Sketch to finished, 6 photos

**The Cure**A stitched-leather plague doctor lit from inside by fire, embers where the eyes should be. The cure worse than the plague.Acrylic on canvas Sketch to finished, 6 photos

Painting of Cthulhu, a green tentacled head with yellow eyes glowing against a blue-black sea — **The Old One**Cthulhu surfacing through drowned greens, sigils pulsing red in the black. Dreaming long before any of us.Acrylic on canvas, painted live at RPM Fest Sketch to finished, 4 photos

**The Old One**Cthulhu surfacing through drowned greens, sigils pulsing red in the black. Dreaming long before any of us.Acrylic on canvas, painted live at RPM Fest Sketch to finished, 4 photos

**Baphomet’s Rest**A horned skull laid down to sleep, the old goat finally gone quiet. More memorial than menace.Acrylic on canvas Sketch to finished, 4 photos

Painting of a red anatomical heart with blue veins, haloed in toxic green — **Half-Life**An anatomical heart glowing like it’s radioactive. Half still beating, half already gone.Acrylic on canvas Sketch to finished, 5 photos

**Half-Life**An anatomical heart glowing like it’s radioactive. Half still beating, half already gone.Acrylic on canvas Sketch to finished, 5 photos

Painting of a charred grey skull with fangs, red flames licking up both sides — **Even the Embers**A green-rotted skull rising from a fire that climbs black up to red. What still glows after everything else burned down.Acrylic on canvas Sketch to finished, 5 photos

**Even the Embers**A green-rotted skull rising from a fire that climbs black up to red. What still glows after everything else burned down.Acrylic on canvas Sketch to finished, 5 photos

Painting of a pale skull with gold teeth melting into black drips over a red ground — **Snuffed Out**A skull melting into black tar, its last light going under. A play on a friend’s name, dark humor baked right in.Acrylic on canvas Sketch to finished, 5 photos

**Snuffed Out**A skull melting into black tar, its last light going under. A play on a friend’s name, dark humor baked right in.Acrylic on canvas Sketch to finished, 5 photos

Pencil drawing of a skull with curling ram horns — **Horned Skull Study**Pencil on paper

Ink drawing of Nian, the horned New Year beast of Chinese myth — **Nian**Ink drawing

Line art of Abhartach, an ancient Irish vampire with a staff — **Abhartach**Line drawing, digitally finished. From *Vampire Mythology*

Line art of the Nabeshima vampire cat stalking forward — **The Nabeshima Cat**Line drawing, digitally finished. From *Vampire Mythology*

Ink drawing of a fierce rooster head with ragged feathers — **Feral Rooster**Ink drawing

Ink drawing of a hunched, bearded Santa carrying a sack — **Dark Santa**Ink drawing

Mixed media sculpture of a bronze, moss-covered mass on a twisted trunk rising from a mossy base — **Forgotten Dreams**A monument to the aspirations we traded for stability, where industrial rigidity meets organic decay and a life's work becomes a life's weight. Some things are buried by choice; others are simply forgotten in the mud.Mixed media Start to finished, 5 photos

**Forgotten Dreams**A monument to the aspirations we traded for stability, where industrial rigidity meets organic decay and a life's work becomes a life's weight. Some things are buried by choice; others are simply forgotten in the mud.Mixed media Start to finished, 5 photos

Resin skull lamp glowing purple fading to yellow — **Skull Lamp, Violet to Gold**Cast resin, lit

Clear resin skull glowing bright green in the dark — **Glow Skull, Green**Cast resin

Resin sphere with a violet rose inside, glowing between two hands — **Rose Sphere, Violet**Cast resin

Row of glowing apothecary bottles topped with resin skulls — **Apothecary Bottles**Cast resin and glass

Resin skull glowing ice blue with brass shell casings set in the top — **Glow Skull, Blue**Cast resin

Clear resin sphere with a red glitter rose inside — **Rose Sphere, Red**Cast resin

Resin skull lamp glowing green in a dark room — **Skull Lamp, Green**Cast resin, lit

Clear resin skull with a red-capped vial inside, fresh from the mold — **Vial Skull**Cast resin

Ornate resin skull lamp glowing pink and red in the dark — **Skull Lamp, Rose**Cast resin, lit

Four black cast resin skulls, two holding paintbrushes and pens — **Black Skulls**Cast resin

The Old One, painted live

At RPM Fest, Cthulhu started Friday as a few red lines on a blank canvas. By Sunday afternoon he had his sea. Dan paints in the booth at most shows, so you can watch a piece come up out of nothing.

Friday
Saturday
Sunday

Hand-cast resin, lit from within

Skulls, spheres and lamps, poured and unmolded one at a time. Every piece comes out a little different. Custom colors and commissions on request.

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Table of colorful cast resin skulls, some lit from inside

Clear resin sphere with a red glitter rose inside, held in two hands

Questions about the art

Can I buy an original painting or sculpture?

Originals and custom resin pieces are available by request. Use the contact page to ask about a specific piece.

What medium are Dan La Ferlita's paintings?

Acrylic on canvas. Each painting in the gallery includes photos of its progress from first sketch to finished canvas.

Where can I buy Upstream Lion shirts?

Shirts with Dan's original designs are sold on Etsy at etsy.com/shop/UpstreamLion, made to order.

See something you want on your wall?

Originals and custom resin pieces are available by request. Shirts are on Etsy.

Get in touch