Day 08: Young Frankenstein (1974) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022
Young Frankenstein (1974)

Young Frankenstein is the Doctor, the Young Monster is actually... Oh, wait, never mind, I did that joke already.  While not a Horror movie, per se, it is a parody done with such care and attention to details, that they used the actual props from the original James Whale movie of "Frankenstein" (1932).  It is a great comedy with so many great lines.  In our office, I used to call out "Puddin' on da ritz!" to a couple co-workers in the know, followed by "Soooper-duperrrr!"  Also, Marty Feldman as Igor (pronounced "Eyegore") was awesome, with the response to where he got the brain for the monster: "Abby... Someone".

Slight tangent: I generally like parody songs (and movies, comics, books, etc.).  There is a parody of the Kim Carnes song "She's got Bette Davis Eyes" by Bruce "Baby Man" Baum, "She's Got Marty Feldman Eyes".  It was a regular rotation on "Dr. Demento" back in the day (a syndicated radio show which played all manner of novelty songs, and strange ephemera) and I was delighted to hear it every single time!  Give it a listen, won't you?  😁

Great stuff!

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STEP ONE:  Here are the loosely sketched digital (blue) pencils on a 2,000px x 3,000px canvas.

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STEP TWO:  And here's the first with a digital brush in Clip Studio Paint called "Wet Chet". It's sort of a cross between a gouache and charcoal brush.

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STEP THREE:  And here's the finished digital painting.

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Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint.

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Day 07: Society (1989) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022
Society (1989)

This time it's a bit of satirical horror in which the rich quite literally consume the poor (no one said the satire was subtle).  In "Society", Billy learns the rich (and his family) aren't just a different Class, but a different species altogether.  This particular scene is from their, um, orgy of sorts, where the rich all merge together and absorb the sacrificial poor, working class.  The movie is fun and mildly amusing with a lot of grotesqueries by the end, mixed in with the 80's style rubber suits and puppetry.

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STEP ONE:  Here are the pencils on an 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

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STEP TWO:  Here's the first (and probably part of a second) pass with acrylic paint.

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STEP THREE: And here's the finished painting.

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Done with Acrylic Paint on 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

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Day 06: The Ring (2002) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022
The Ring (2002)

Hey, it's the movie that launched a thousand J-Horror Movies in America: Gore Verbinski's "The Ring" from 2002.  And how could someone named "Gore" not do a horror movie, I ask you?  Creepy ghost girl with long hair obscuring her face for 99% of the time... Check.  Semi-creepy video tape that reminded me of work from The Brothers Quay and Jan Svankmajer... Check.  While it wasn't really scary, per se, it did have a few cool moment.

One effect I really appreciated from the movie was the flicker effect that still went through Samara, like a living television with poor reception.  There was a 30's style detective character in William S. Burroughs' that I read a long time ago that was described with the same flicker effect like an old movie, which I found such a visually interesting idea (I think it was in the "Nova Trilogy"?  It's been a long, long time since I read it).

And I'm sure it's just a coincidence that Nosferatu, Frankenstein, Mummy, Werewolf, and a Ghost, just happens to mostly correspond to the General Mills Monster Cereals.

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STEP ONE:  Here are the pencils on an 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

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STEP TWO:  Here's the first (and probably part of a second) pass with acrylic paint.

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STEP THREE: And here's the finished painting.

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Done with Acrylic Paint on 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

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Day 05: The Wolfman (2010) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022
The Wolfman (2010)

It's one more of the classic monsters, if you will, before I start moving on to other ones: The Wolfman/Werewolf.  In this case, it is from the relatively recent "The Wolfman", with Benicio del Toro and Anthony Hopkins.

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STEP ONE:  Here are the pencils on an 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

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STEP TWO:  Here's the first (and probably part of a second) pass with acrylic paint.

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STEP THREE: And here's the finished painting.

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Done with Acrylic Paint on 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

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Day 04: The Mummy (1959) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022
The Mummy (1959)

Hey, hey!  Before Terminator, there was "The Mummy" (1959).  An unstoppable, remorseless, killing machine.  On to the next one!

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STEP ONE:  Here are the pencils on an 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

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STEP TWO:  Here's the first (and probably part of a second) pass with acrylic paint.

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STEP THREE: And here's the finished painting.

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Done with Acrylic Paint on 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

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Day 03: Frankenstein (1931) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022
Frankenstein (1931)

Hey, it wouldn't be HELL-O-Ween without a Frankenstein post, would it?

Also, I would be remiss if I didn't bring up the great joke from Joseph Scrimshaw.  In this case, rather than just steal his joke, I found the Tweet directly from him:

And here are a couple process picks from the Acrylic Painting.  Onward to the next one!

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STEP ONE:  Here are the pencils on an 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

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STEP TWO:  Here's the first (and probably part of a second) pass with acrylic paint.

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STEP THREE:  And here's the finished painting.

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Done with Acrylic Paint on 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

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Day 02: Nosferatu (1922) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022:
Nosferatu (1922)

Hey, what's 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween without "Nosferatu" (1922)?  And on the 100th Anniversary of "Nosferatu", no less!  So, Happy Anniversary to Count Orlock--he doesn't look a day over 650 years of age.

"Nosferatu" is still one of the creepiest and most unsettling representations of Vampires on screen.  Lurking, skulking, and a shadowy presence (literally), and the fact it is a silent movie adds to the unease watching it.

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STEP ONE:  Here are the quick pencils on an 8-1/2" x 11" piece of heavy cardstock.

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STEP TWO:  And this is the first pass with acrylic paints, just to establish the general lights and darks and some modeling of the figure.

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STEP THREE:  And the final painting.  I used some black and white colored pencil to add some finishing touches and texture to the painting.  Oh, crud, I just realized that I forgot to re-add the buttons on Nosferatu's jacket which I had painted over.  Ah, well.  Maybe if I don't say anything, no one will notice?  Oops, once again it's me and my big mouth always getting me into trouble.

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Done traditionally with acrylic paint and colored pencil on 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

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Day 01: Return of the Fly (1959) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022:
Return of the Fly (1959)

Oh, hi, I didn't see you there.  It's time again once again for "31 Days of HELL-O-Ween" in which I try to do 31 pictures from various horror movies--posting daily--in celebration of HELL-O-Ween!  And, of course, each year something seems to come up which adds further obstacles to finishing this self-imposed challenge, and this year I have several.  We shall see if I prevail or I get to use the much-threatened blank page of "The Invisible Man" or "Slenderman" as a stick figure.  We shall see!  Hmmm, Y'know I sure complain a lot for someone who has no one to blame but himself for all this...

Anyhoo, this opening bit involving myself as the human-headed housefly from the 1959 movie, "Return of the Fly" (don't worry, in the movie he gets better).  Sure, the original "The Fly" had marginally better effects (and was shot in color, as opposed to "Return of the Fly" in black-and-white), but the fly head in "Return of the Fly" will always be the iconic one I think of when I think of this movie series.  "But," I can hear you asking, "If the movie is black-and-white, why are you in color in the bottom panel?"  Good question!  And the answer is...  (mumbles and incoherent muttering)

I have an inordinate affection for crappy B-Movies--I watched them as a small kid every chance I could get.  Anything involving monsters, aliens, or robots, and I was all in.  Yeah, it really doesn't say much for my upbringing.  But, it was either that or go play outside.  I stand by my choice!

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31 DAYS OF HELL-O-WEEN:
The Take-Home Game!

Once again, here are some logos for those of you who (for some dumb reason) want to play along at home!  It doesn't have to be daily--heck, just do one or two for the entire month--that's just as valid.  I'm just a dum-dum that does stuff the hard way.  There's no glory, no fame, and no fortune (trust me, this is the fourth year and none of those are anywhere to be found).  It's just for fun.  Sorry, I meant "fun".  If you do wind up using them or posting anything, send me an e-mail of the link and I'll check it out!

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STEP ONE:  Here are the first pass with pen-and-ink and gouache (opaque watercolor) painting.  I had some pencils, but I did them so light they didn't scan for sour apples, so here's this stage, instead.

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STEP TWO:  And this was the finished painting/pen-and-ink before I imported it into Clip Studio Paint to colorize the bottom panel and engage in some digital chicanery to clean it up a little bit.  I did include the word balloon which was done in CSP.

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STEP THREE:  And here's the finished image.  Onward to tomorrow's image!

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Done in pen-and-ink and gouache on 11" x 14" (140#) watercolor paper and some digital fixing and coloration in Clip Studio Paint.

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Moss Piglet (September 2022): Comic Stips

Moss Piglet (September 2022):
Comic Stips

This year, I've been contributing to a small art magazine out of Wisconsin, "Moss Piglet".  It's a round-about tale involving my High School Art Teacher getting in contact with me to see if I was interested in doing an Art Show of former students (I was and did participate in the Art Show back in July), and he suggested sending work to "Moss Piglet", as he was friends with the publisher and he contributed to regularly.  It seemed like fun and I've been contributing ever since (although, through a mistake on my part involving a deadline, I did miss the Cryptid issue in March 2022, which I was looking forward to participating.  D'oh!). 

Each month they have a prompt/theme and the various artists and poets work around it.  September's was "Comic Strips", so that was something right up my alley--and fits with the Blog here a little bit.  In this case, I thought it would be fun to do a series of self-referential comic strips based on various comic strips throughout history ("The Yellow Kid", "Little Nemo in Slumberland", "The Far Side", "Zippy the Pinhead", and "Peanuts").  And, of course, egomaniac that I am, inserted myself into the story, as well.

I used Clip Studio Paint to create the strips and added a series of newsprint-style textures from Retro Supply Company over top to give it a Sunday Paper feeling to the cartoons.  I will admit that the idea behind the cover was better than the carry through.  I mean, it's OK, but it was so much better in my head, of course, with comic characters coming out of their strips to look at a Sunday Paper, etc.  Also, the "Zippy the Pinhead" pilfered a bit of Grant Morrison's "Animal Man" with the "I see you!", and I did use the same joke twice with characters pointing to themselves on the page.  And the self-portrait on the last page/panel... eh, it could be a lot better, but ran out of time, alas.  Ah, well.  I had "The Yellow Kid" joke of "I was in 'Moss Piglet' and all I got was this lousy T-Shirt" done before the self-referential comics idea and it looked a little plain all by itself, so I added other older comic strip characters in the background to fill it out a bit.  And, yes, I actually have used "Hully Gee!" as an interjection every once in a while throughout most of my life because of "The Yellow Kid".

[Aside: While getting together some research for the comic strips of yore, I read some "The Yellow Kid" strips and was fully expecting it to have some racist content from the time period it was written... but, Holy Smokes, while the strip was amusing and imaginative at times, anytime there was a black character... YIKES!]

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For those of you interested, here's the link to the Homepage for "Moss Piglet": https://www.krazines.com/

You can also view previous issues online at: https://www.krazines.com/archives.html

Feel free to subscribe and tell 'em John D. sent you.

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Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint.

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In Memoriam: Nichelle Nichols

In Memoriam:
Nichelle Nichols

Well, I'm a little bit late to this (and by "little bit", I mean a LOT a bit, of course), but I didn't want it to pass unnoticed by myself.  While I always liked her in "Star Trek" as a youngster, I only truly grew to appreciate her as a life-long activist later in life.  From Civil Rights and her working with Martin Luther King, Jr., to being an advocate of Science and Space Exploration.

Also, it gives me an excuse to show one of my favorite pictures from Chicago ComiCon... this was probably 20 years ago (YIKES!  How is that possible?), but as I was wandering randomly I saw a fan of Nichelle Nichols asking Lou Ferrigno if he would be able to take the picture for her (Nichelle took her picture with Lou, next).  

It was something which delighted me to witness it, and snap a picture of it, as well.  As I said, it is probably one of my favorite moments from all my trips to Chicago ComiCon (Two regrets: I should have raced over to tell Harlan Ellison I was a fan, but didn't want to bother him; I so wanted to yell out "Sejanus!" (from "I, Claudius") to Sir Patrick Stewart as he was setting up his booth... again, I didn't want to bother him).  All that was needed is for some to have snapped a picture of me, taking a picture of them, to close the loop.

Anyhoo, I've been swamped the past couple months, alas, but I couldn't let another month go by with nuttin' to post (even if it is on the last day of August, I'm still gonna count it).  Eesh!  Only about 4-1/2 weeks 'til "31 Days of HELL-O-Ween"!  Then it will be nothing but posts for 31 days in a row (if all goes to plan, of course).

Sorry, no "Work in Progress" this time around.  I did it all on one layer and didn't think to save steps until it was in the finishing stages.  Ah, well, will anyone really miss 'em?

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Done digitally with Clip Studio Paint.

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Imperial Inquisitor: Third Sister - Reva Sevander

Imperial Inquisitor:
Third Sister - Reva Sevander

Well, it's been way too long.  Alas, several projects were keeping my busy (and still are).  This time, it's Reva Sevander, the Third Sister of the Imperial Inquisitors from the "Kenobi" mini-series.  I thought the character had an interesting look and wanted to do a quick drawing.  I may have to do this more in the future.  I guess we shall see!

Alas, I completely forgot to set aside any progress pics until I was mostly done.  So, this time it's just a one-and-done and no "Work in Progress".  You're welcome!  😛

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Done digitally with Art Studio Pro on iPad.

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May the Fourth Be With You (belated)...

 May the Fourth Be With You

It's my (belated) "May the Fourth Be With You" post starring Jaxxon, everyone's favorite giant, green space-rabbit based on Bugs Bunny who first appeared in the Marvel Comics "Star Wars" run.  Better late than never, I always say!  Once again, I will engage in my Quixotic quest to bring Jaxxon to the masses!  OK, sure, he's already making a comeback, appearing in "Star Wars Adventures", but that's besides the point.

Like Jaxxon, I'm sure I should get some sort of medal for that happening... 😉

Holy cow, I just realized I've been beating this joke into the ground for the past 8 years already.  Well, here's to 8 more years, I guess?

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STEP ONE:  Here are the loosely scrawled digital pencils, done on a 2,000px x 3,000px canvas @ 300dpi.  I was still trying to figure out what to call this Two-Page comic when I pencilled it, as well as the writing in the last panel.  I knew it would involve him stealing... er "borrowing" the medal from some dumb Wookie.

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STEP TWO:  And the digital inks and lettering.  I did do some minor cheating with tracing rendered models of Tie Fighters/X-Wing/Millennium Falcon.  Obviously, I just freehanded Jaxxon's ship, given the shoddy nature of that drawing. 😁

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STEP THREE:  Finally, all the color on top.

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Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint.

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