October Art Shows

Yesterday I setup two art shows in Spokane for the month of October. Both The Blue Door Theater and Giant Nerd Books are going to have my Horror Icons silkscreen posters on display! I was very excited to have this opportunity, it has been maybe seven years since my last art show for myself. This is also the first time I have had my silkscreen work exhibited anywhere. Most art shows I've done were of my acrylic work.

Browse through the walls displaying my art at Blue Door Theater, and the latter half of the photos are process pics at the screen printing press. Yes, I hand made the silkscreen press!

Silkscreen Postcards of Universal Monsters

Been working like a madman on a series of silkscreen postcards. The initial cards were drawn by hand, but finally got cozy behind my Monoprice digital drawing tablet, so the latest three are completely digital.

Three down, three left for the new series of six. I really want to work this series more than the previous three (Werewolf of London, Bride of Frankenstein, Nosferatu). The last ones were awfully plain. This time I'm pumping up the background with scenes of London, a full moon night, and a creepy dark castle.

What’s next? Frankenstein for sure. The Creature from the Black Lagoon, aka Gillman, Imhotep the Mummy, maybe Phantom of the Opera. From there I may have to do the more obscure or later era monsters like The Amazing Colossal Man, the 50 Foot Woman, and The Metaluna Mutant (This Island Earth). From there I may finally jump the pond and do Hammer Horror.

The final art will be printed six cards on 12x12 chipboard via silkscreen printmaking. Then I'll cut the cards to separate them. Previous runs I've done them individually and damn that's a nauseating pain in the butt. This will be much faster knocking out six cards at a time.

The current run of four are available on my Etsy Shop! Dracula, Wolfman, Invisible Man will be ready when I finish three more and get time to screen print.

 

Halloween Art and Comics!

I haven't had much time to write a decent blog entry in a while, but I've been actively at work. If you follow me on tumblr or instagram, I am a little more frequent about posts simply because I can share just images and photos of my projects.

Right now I am trying to do four things. 1) Prepare to teach a silkscreen workshop 2) write a silkscreen zine guide 3) Writing a El Gran Búho lucha-halloween comic 4) A Boris Karloff Mummy limited edition silkscreen print

Right now I'm building the silkscreen frames from scratch, and just recently worked with my father to build a four color silkscreen press based on plans from http://www.printingplans.com/. My silkscreen project will be three colors: black, dark brown, and light brown on an offwhite "taupe" heavyweight paper. Here are some pictures of the project:

 These are my three silkscreen layers of ink.

This is a mockup of what it will look light when I am done.

I'm pretty excited about this project, can't wait to photograph the silkscreen process for you, and get the final product up in my etsy shop.

I'm also finishing up a couple things for my Etsy shop as well. I need new business cards, plus I want to put a giveaway postcard of my art in each Etsy order. Here's my illustration so far for that postcard:

Now regarding the comic, here's what I have so far:

As you can see, I'm fairly busy running around like a headless chicken. Halloween is so much fun, I love the movies, candy, monster cereal, and everything else that just makes this time of year so special. I'll be posting next week when I complete the silkscreen project, then hopefully I can jump on that mini comic and get it done before the 31st!

Sending off the Bride

Two nights ago I finished the Bride of Frankenstein portrait for my client who also bought the Frankenstein's Monster portrait about two months ago. It's so great to have a returning customer who is so happy with the work. Now that it's done, I'm pretty excited to ship it. It almost feels slightly romantic, having drawn Frankie, and now finishing his Bride like the good doctor, and now mailing her off to join her husband at last. I'm a sap, I know. Here's the final piece:

18"x24" acrylic on canvas

As always, I added a little touch to the packaging. I drew a big Sharpie sketch of the Bride:

The box is pretty huge, so it's nice to have drawn so large. The last piece of packaging art I did was on an envelope when I sent off a sketch card based on the 1958 film, The Fly.


Now that this commission is complete, I have two more commissions for friends that I need to wrap up. They are more traditional style paintings, one of Bob Marley, and another of a beloved dog. When they are out of the way, I will be starting a couple new portraits. I currently have Vincent Price, Edgar Allan Poe, Tor Johnson, Bruce Lee, and Zorro in mind. Besides "fine" art, I am also finishing up a storybook, and I need to work on an eight page comic book for the upcoming convention in May. Speaking of conventions, today I am going to RadCon as a visitor. I've never been to it, and I am very curious to see if it's the type of con for me and my art. I hope so, it's only a stone's throw from where I live. I'll be attending a panel discussion on the Pros and Cons of Etsy and E-bay for artists. Hopefully it will be a good discussion. I plan on taking photos, jotting down notes and relaying them in the blog, and maybe even pass out a few business cards.

Here comes the Bride

Not too long ago I sold a portrait of Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's Monster. The buyer was so happy, he commissioned me to match the painting with a Bride of Frankenstein portrait. I'm pretty thrilled about the project, not only am I honored a fan loves my work and commissioned more from me, but I also get to join the bride with her husband. I've wanted to paint the Bride for some time, but lack of sales and business of daily life kind of slows down my productivity. But with this sale, and potential future commissions, I'm back in my groove

A note to those who do commissions. As soon as I started the basic sketch on the canvas, I snapped a photo with my cellphone and emailed the buyer with a note about my progress. I usually do this, but this is the first time a buyer has told me that he "felt a part of the process." I've never thought of it like that before, I just wanted them to know I was on task with their commission. But now that I know that there is a personal touch beyond that with frequent updates, I am even more encouraged to let my customers know what is going on with an email an photo.
So with that, after work tonight I'll be hitting the paint and canvas and sending a new photo update.

Frankenstein's Monster

Just finished this Frankenstein painting. 18"x24" acrylic on canvas.

It's also for sale on Etsy: http://etsy.me/fJU00T Stay tuned for a Bride of Frankenstein!