Sunday, November 28, 2010

Idle Hands and the Devil's Workshop

I've been unemployed for a little bit, but the time has afforded me the opportunity to craft and generate a lot of artwork that has been swishing around inside my head as of recently.

A while back Carl Manes of I LIKE HORROR MOVIES won a contest I held. His prize an original piece of artwork done by me. His request; Dario Argento's OPERA with a comic book vibe.



For the piece I used fountain nibs and ink to draw on Bristol board. I used the black ink with water & brush to achieve the various shades of grey. I used paper masking tape for the mouth restraint and to hold the nails under the eyes. I used actual picture frame nails and painted my "blood" on with red acrylic paint. The rope is standard twine I found at the Dollar Store and simply glued into place with Elmer's. This is the most iconic image of the associated with the film so I wanted to toy with it slightly without losing what die-hard fans would instantly recognize. The fine points of the Nibs really allowed to capture the eyelashes and the eyebrows. It gives it a sense of fluidity in my opinion, though it was quite the challenge to work solely in inks. I framed the piece in a simple certificate frame I found at the Dollar Store as well. All in all I'm quite pleased with it and so is Carl. Proof positive you should read Z for Zombies and follow me on Twitter.


The lovely Hannah Neurotica who is the brains & beauty behind Ax Wound Zine and a crusader for Women in Horror Month is looking for support in spreading the word about her efforts. I was happy enough to oblige by making up a flyer to show my support.




I clipped out old postcards, comic books, horror magazines, and sex ads to cut & paste a punk rock style band flyer glued on a sheet of typing paper. I outlined it in paint markers and Sharpie to add a bit of pop to this collage. You can find out more about details of making your own flyer by clicking here.


If you haven't heard of the Soska Sisters or their cult classic in waiting DEAD HOOKER IN A TRUNK then you're seriously missing out. I am pretty much a big fan of everything that they do and I only wish I could give them more of the exposure that they deserve. That being said I decided to make my first attempt at fan art. CJ Wallis is like the Oz behind the curtain and I decided to show some love to one of my favorite characters from the film, Goody Two Shoes.









I drew this up on Bristol board in pencil and then went in watercolors. I tried to grade variant with colors and push myself in controlling the flow of the materials I was using. I kinda feel it has a distinct 80s album cover vibe to it all. I outlined it in Sharpie and went in with a fine point pen for the outline details. Then I went in and erased the pencil outlines to give it a softer, more blended look. The ribbon is actually a separate piece of paper I cut out, water colored, and glue on with a signature piece of his dialogue. The hardest part of the piece was recreating the signature style font of the DEAD HOOKER IN A TRUNK title. It's a broken, disjointed style that's pretty difficult to replicate though I tried to recreate with Sharpie and a fine point pen. It was a lot of fun to create and I hope others follow suit with their creations of fan art. I'm sure it will come pouring in with the release of their new feature AMERICAN MARY.


Stay tuned as I have more goodies to upload and share with you. I hope you enjoy what you see and be sure to return for an exciting announcement.

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