In Roch Urbaniak’s Ulthar, civilization seems to drift into an orbit of seven moons. At its center stands an oversized black cat and a diminutive blue man holding a lantern.
A puzzler asked if Ulthar was based on H.P. Lovecraft’s The Cats of Ulthar (free to read), which also features a black cat and a boy.
"It is said that in Ulthar, which lies beyond the river Skai, no man may kill a cat; and this I can verily believe as I gaze upon him who sitteth purring before the fire. For the cat is cryptic, and close to strange things which men cannot see..."
Urbaniak replied:
“Yes—the title is inspired by H.P. Lovecraft. However, the painting itself is not. The elements just kept showing on the canvas as I painted. When I looked at it and saw a cat in this strange place, I thought about Ulthar. And Lovecraft.”
Like painter, like puzzler.
And like the story, our puzzle for this image has a cosmic complexity to it —you never know if you’re edging a border or splitting a tendril, enjoy!