Playin' Your Guitar, Sweatin' Out the Hate

I just watched 'Crazy Heart' tonight.  Good lord, what an amazing movie.  I haven't been so moved by a film in... well, a long time.  I'm not sure what it is about the movie that speaks to me so strongly, but it really did.  Maybe it's the idea that, no matter how many mistakes we've made in our lives, no matter how dark the night can seem, there is always another chance to set things right, another chance to find the light.

There is still hope in the world.

Music: 'The Weary Kind' - Ryan Bingham (or watch the movie to hear Jeff Bridges' and Colin Farrell's renditions)

PS- I did this in Photoshop in about 90 minutes, using the cover art directly.  I normally don't like to 'trace' like this, but I really needed to get this drawn and posted- it's not about the 'art' of it, it's about how I feel and how the movie made me feel. 

 

Are you SURE you want a new post?

Seriously, I had NO intention of making a Twilight post.  Really.  But, my good buddy Joey has been politely suggesting I post new art instead of the decade old junk I have been posting (my words, not his).  And believe it or not, I actually do have a few new things to post- but they're not really at any stage at which I'd like to present them.  So, I'm left with this.  God help me. 

These actually came first.  As you can see by the dates, they were done on New Year's Eve/Day- so if I were a smart man, I'd chalk it up to the alcohol.  Except I wasn't drinking.  Nope, my usual NYE tradition is to sit down with a bunch of movies and watch them till I fall asleep, then wake up and keep watching.  This year, for a number of reasons, I wasn't really feeling the desire to watch movies- the ones I picked weren't catching my attention, my mind was distracted, I was just pissed at something, take your pick.  But weirdly enough, though I was all over the place and in a not-good mood, I did feel like drawing.  Except for the fact that I had no idea what to draw.  As usual.  What to draw, what to draw...

I borrowed Twilight from my niece because I figured if I was going to keep hating on it, I should at least try to watch it first.  Then go on with hating, but informed hating.  Hating out of ignorance is so gauche.  'Hate out of knowledge', that's my motto (well, that and 'not in the face!' but that's another story).  I didn't watch it then- what are you, crazy? the night was already sucking- but it was lying there in my line of sight.  I saw the cover of the dvd case and thought to myself- 'dude, his face would be SO EASY to caricature.'  So, struck by the urge to draw ANYTHING, I took a stab at it.  And, honestly, I kind of like it.  Silly, not terribly accurate (I'll leave that to many other more talented people), but I thought it worked.  So, drunk on my 'success', I decided to try to draw poor Bella.  That one didn't turn out quite so successful as Edward- her face is just too boring to really sink my artistic teeth into (though she's certainly a pretty girl in real life, just not a very striking face to parody).  She did have those nice gothy eyes, so I tried to give them a little life.  Overall, I did get a kick out of it, and was surprised by how well it worked, even as an exercise in drawing something I had no interest in- except to HATE!

Cut to This past Sunday.  Bored.  Boredboredbored.  What to watch?  No fresh netflix, and not ready to dive in to the last season of The Sandbaggers just yet.  Hmm... LotR?  Too long, too late... Hitchhiker's Guide?  Nah, not feeling the humor.  Well not that kind of humor.  Hmm... Jeez- There's friggin' Twilight.  I should probably get this over with.  So, I sat down and watched it. 

And you know what?  It was actually pretty go----  HAH!  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  LIKE I'D ACTUALLY SAY IT WAS PRETTY GOOD!  Please.

It didn't suck as badly as I thought.  Make no mistake, it wasn't all that great- the acting was... uneven, the effects very low-grade (when I heard ILM worked on this I nearly spit out my beverage), and the story... well, I know it's not written for me, but neither was Harry Potter but I can still get something meaningful out of that.  What meaning I get out of this was, 'I'll never be able to predict what's popular.'  But for all that, it wasn't terrible.  There were some amusing moments in there (like the random synaptic firings of someone remembering they'd once been told a story of a trip to a theater where they showed a really bad copy of a John Hughes teen movie) and I really did get a kick out of VAMPIRE BASEBALL.  I also liked Alice- she strikes me as batsh!t crazy. 

As I've described it, It's a SciFi Saturday movie as produced by the Lifetime Network.

And all things being equal, from what I've heard, I'd rather watch this a dozen times than read the book once. 

And that, my friends, is why you've got this as your new art.

Oh, and one last Twilight observation.  The soundtracks for both of the movies are actually really good.  The music is easily superior to the films, and the lead tracks ('Decode' by Paramore for Twilight and 'Meet Me on the Equinox' by Death Cab for Cutie for New Moon) are both do a fantastic job of conveying the emotions I think the films are trying (and failing) to get across.  If you want a good summary of the movies, watch the videos.  Shorter, and better.

Okay, one more thing.  Sorry for any inadvertent puns in the above- it was how my mind processed this stuff.

Cheers!

Music: 'Meet Me on the Equinox'- Death Cab for Cutie (It's a really good, dark song- honest!)

From The Crypt Halloween, 3: Horror's Hero

7/24/90.

Not quite a horror monster, Darkman was nonetheless a horror fan's dream. Imagine a superhero movie done by Evil Dead's Sam Raimi... oh wait, that was Spider-Man. Well, go back twelve years or so and you'll see Raimi's first superhero movie. Coming out a year after Tim Burton took the 'comic' out of 'comic books' and redefined the superhero movie, Darkman was an early successor to that grim and gritty, super-stylized movie, channeled through the mind of Sam Raimi. Starring a pre-Qui-Gon Liam Neeson, it failed to make much of an impact at the box office- but made quite the impact on little film and movie geeks everywhere. I remember loving the bombast and insanity of it all- one of the bad guys had a machine gun built into his prosthetic leg!- as well as the drama and pathos of the poor, disfigured scientist who can no longer feel anything but rage... plus he's got a face that melts every 99 minutes! I haven't seen it since the early 90's, so I have no idea how it holds up. I would hope it's another good example of Prime Sam. I found a few pictures of Darkman- I might post another one for your viewing amusement later this week.

Oh- although it didn't do well at the box office, the filmmakers knew just how to hit up the geek market: They made two follow up films that were direct-to-video, starring Arnold Vosloo (that guy from The Mummy)- probably because he was cheap and bald, which makes for less money on bald caps. I never saw them, so I can't speak for their filmic value. Might be worth watching, yes?

Music: "Theme from Darkman" - Danny Elfman

From The Crypt Halloween, 2: First Cuts

12/20/89. Cause, you know, nothing says 'Christmas' like Freddy Krueger. Nightmare Before Christmas, indeed.

Looking back at these old pictures, I've come across a number of Freddy Krueger drawings. Now, before you decide I need medical attention (or reaffirm your initial opinion), let's take a look at another thought in play here. Essentially, Freddy Krueger, star of some hard-R movies, had by this time become a superhero. Okay, supervillain, to be precise, but hardly a horror movie monster. Sure, he killed kids in their sleep and terrorized a generation of teens, but let's take a closer look. Horribly damaged as a young man? Check. Virtually impossible to kill? Check. Long metal claws? Check.

He's not a monster.

He's Wolverine.

Alright, a bit of a stretch there. But, hopefully you take my meaning. By this point, the late 80's, the horror of Freddy (not even sleep is safe) had been replaced by a joking, nearly cartoon image of the original- the later episodes were practically action movies with more blood and makeup effects. Where had all the horror icons gone?

Looking at this pic, evidently Freddy took them out. I forget where I'd first heard the mention of a team-up between Freddy and Jason (one of those fanboy dreams that never, EVER live up to the hype), but this was a little idea that I put down on paper. I never did see the movie. I'm betting whatever I was thinking here was probably better than what made it to film.

Music: "One, Two Freddy's Coming For You"

From the Crypt, 8: Groovy

June 2, 1992.

Ah yes, to be a teen and exposed to movies.

I think every teen finds a movie, or set of movies, that becomes a bit of a touchstone for their age- something revelatory, stretching their boundaries and ideas of what can be done in film, or something profoundly in-the-moment, something that will always draw their memory to a time or place, something that will always say to them, 'you were doing this at this time when you saw this' and open a floodgate of memories. For some people, one can become the other- those eye-opening moments of 'wow, there's a lot of stuff out in the world' can become a half-wistful, half-chagrined walk down memory lane, thinking back to the idea that a movie really could change a person's life. Of course, for just as many people, those movies get locked in time, put in a place of importance, and relevance, beyond all reason. It's all a matter of perspective, of course- one man's Clerks is another man's Citizen Kane... If you're of the former thoughts, you all know someone like I'm describing. If you're of the latter, chances are you really have no idea you're like that. I'm sorry, but while Reservoir Dogs was a great movie, it was hardly the greatest film put to celluloid. Nor was Highlander. Or Clerks. Or, for that matter, The Evil Dead.

But we're speaking of then, not now. And for the then-me, The Evil Dead was damn near the best thing ever filmed. Specifically, Evil Dead II. The first movie (the one without the 'II', of course) was an ultra-low budget horror movie directed by some guy named Sam Raimi, who would go on to eventually direct Spider-Man. Back then, pretty much a nobody. The movie was a genuine horror movie though, with plenty of scares and gross-outs... but also a pretty wicked sense of humor, and a knack for the left-turn into the bizarre that seems to cater to teenage boys everywhere. Nothing highlights this quite so much as when, in Evil Dead II, the main character Ash (played by champion to nerds and Old Spice fans everywhere, Bruce Campbell (a guy awesome enough to teens that friends of mine wrote a song about him back then)) cut off his hand when it went bad... and replaced it with a chainsaw. That, my friends, is cinematic gold. Then the third movie came out and dumped the character into medieval times... and not the restaurant. I can certainly look back on those movies quite fondly- and honestly, they still hold up pretty well for what they were- but mostly, I look back at them and realize how many more great movies (and not so great ones) I've been exposed to because, once I found the joy of Ash and the Deadites, I wanted to know "what else is out there to watch?"

This picture is essentially a swipe/homage to the original poster to the first movie... or at least a poster for the first one...

See you around- sorry about the randomness of the posts, but a number of illnesses and a trip to the hospital have left me with some serious catching up to do. Hopefully Friday, but don't hold me to that.

Music: "Man in the Box" - Alice in Chains

P.S. If someone comes up to me and seriously tries to compare Clerks to Citizen Kane, they get punched in the face.

"Keep watching the skies!"

Nikki, Captain Hendry, and The Thing From Another World!

This is it- this is my favorite movie. Ever.

I know, it's hardly the first movie you'd think of when it comes to me and movies. Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, those are the movies that leap to mind. And don't get me wrong, they're great movies, and I consider them some of my favorites...

But they're not The Thing From Another World. I discovered this gem back in grade school. Our school library used to have a pretty impressive selection of books about movies, especially classic sci-fi and horror (I'm guessing, since this was the early 80's, they figured the classic monsters were a safe alternative from the likes of Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees... if only they knew!). There were a series of books I really loved, about all the classic monsters, written by a man named Ian Thorne (yes, I remember that, 27 years later). They would tell the story of the main movie, then go on to describe other movies with similar themes. Books like this are the direct reason why I love the Universal Monsters. And, naturally, The Thing From Another World.

There was just something about the description that hooked me: a group of scientists and soldiers, trapped at the top of the world, must fight to survive against an alien terror. How cool is that? The photos I saw looked great, as well: fire, axes, electricity, all were used against The Thing. The Thing itself looked like another classic Universal Monster (even though it was released by RKO Pictures): nasty-looking, with wicked clawed hands and that super-developed brain, he looked like he could outthink you as well as tear you apart. It just SOUNDED awesome.

Sadly, I had to wait another 5 years before I'd ever see The Thing in motion. By that time, we had cable, and TBS was showing all kinds of movies. Most of their programming consisted of classic movies, black and white features you nowadays only catch on AMC or Turner Classic. But, lo and behold, what should I come across one Sunday, but The Thing From Another World. What would it be like? Would it be as great as I imagined? Would it look silly, these moving pictures showing how poor special effects were back then, the dialogue show how painfully poorly scripted most horror movies were back then? What if it sucked?

It most definitely did NOT suck. I was amazed, from the start. The dialogue was rapid-fire, actors speaking over each other, dishing out lines like they were old friends, the jokes were fast and funny, delivered like they were in an Oscar-worthy movie, not a 'B' movie. The story itself was just as I'd imagined- filled with tension, wit, and decent scares for the day. The actors were fantastic- they looked like they were having a great time with the filming, and that shone through in the performances. The Thing itself was great- like the best monsters, he shows up without warning, strikes fast, and leaves them scared for their lives. Even the music was freaky- in a good way. I also learned that Thermite is the cause, and solution, of all men's problems. By God, this was a good movie.

Thankfully, TBS played their movies more than once a day, so for the next showing, I had the VCR ready to go. And oh yes, it was taped. Over the following years, I would put the tape in, and let it play. When it finished, I rewound it, and played it again. And again. And again. I'd fall asleep to it, and wake up to it. Those were good times.

As the years passed, I would go on to learn more about the movie, and the people behind it. I learned that it was based on a short story, "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell, and immediately tracked it down (reprinted in a great paperback, Between Time and Terror, a wonderful compilation of sci-fi stories with a distinct horror aspect to them; one of the best anthologies I've read). It was like night and day, the differences between the two stories, but I didn't care; I ended up loving both. I learned that John Carpenter's 1982 movie was a remake, and fell in love with that one, as well- though it was nothing like the original. But I loved them both, as well. As my understanding and appreciation of film grew, I learned why it was so good- the man behind it, Howard Hawks, was one of the great filmmakers of his day, responsible for some of the best movies of the 30's through the 60's. I began to also appreciate the story itself- like all good sci-fi, it was a reflection of its time, filtered through a glass darkly. A great allegory for the Cold War, there's still insight to be gained from the movie. And the dialogue- oh, the dialogue is still a joy to hear. I still pick up new things, after all this time. Not to mention, as I got older, I could better appreciate the dynamic of the relationship between Nikki and Captain Hendry. She was definitely NOT a stereotypical damsel in distress. The stunts were just crazy, I could see- they set a stuntman on fire, in a closed room, with the actors present- then thrown on Kerosene! Now THAT'S bad-ass! So much goodness. About 5 years ago, when the movie finally came out on DVD, I figured that was it; it didn't get any better than that.

I was wrong.

Frederick County, Maryland, has a nice little theater- year 'round, they have musical programs, dance troupes, plays, and movies pass through. Every Fall, they show some classic horror movies. Dracula, Frankenstein, Phantom of the Opera, all have played there. Well, about 3 years ago, when I was living there-

You know where this is going, right?

-they were showing The Thing From Another World.

So, I sent out an email to all my friends (more like a flyer- I take this thing seriously), letting them know of this momentous occasion. Two of them rose to the challenge: Dave and Thad. I reserved my tickets, and eagerly awaited the day. I would finally see it as it was meant to be seen: ON THE BIG SCREEN.

At last, the day was upon me. Dave and Thad showed up at my apartment, and we made our way to downtown Frederick. I picked up our tickets-holy crap! It says The Thing on the tickets!!!- we picked up some popcorn, and went in to the auditorium. The lights went down, I got goosebumps (seriously, I did) and I spent the next 87 minutes on the edge of my seat. We all went out after for some mediocre food and good beer, talked about the movie (the guys pointed out, when the military barricaded a door, The Thing outsmarted them- because the door pulled open. All these years, and I never noticed.), talked about life in general, and we all left the restaurant, and that's how one of the happiest days of my life went. All because of a 1950's sci-fi movie.

So there you go, the story of my favorite movie of all time. Others will come along, better movies, smarter movies, funnier movies... but The Thing From Another World will always be my favorite.

-oh, one last thing. earlier this year, when I was up visiting with my folks, Dad and I were sitting around talking about old movies we liked. It was late, I think I'd just gotten in from Maryland, and he had on TCM- I'm pretty sure it was Creature From the Black Lagoon, but I could be wrong. Anyway, we were talking classics, and I mentioned The Thing, and told him how it was my favorite movie ever.

"Did you know, I saw that in Korea?" he said. "That was a great movie."

25 years after I first discovered what would become my favorite movie, I learn my Dad loved it too. That pleased me immensely then, and it makes me even happier now.

---

Thanks for reading. And Happy Halloween!

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Okay, one last thing- this makes my 150th official blog post! I honestly can't believe I made it this long. Thank you to everyone who's been stopping by to visit and read, and extra thanks to those of you who leave comments or email me with your thoughts- getting that feedback really makes my day, and I appreciate it all. Fingers crossed, next stop, 200!

Music: "The Thing From Another World- Main Title" - Dimitri Tiomkin

When The Wolfsbane Blooms...

... And the Moon is Full and Bright.

It's that time of year again, Halloween is nearly upon us. So I'll be giving over some posts to the theme again this year, though nothing like last year. Sorry, things just aren't what they used to be. Maybe I'll get wordier to compensate. Sorry, things haven't changed THAT much.

Today's picture, like a couple to follow, actually precede the idea for the Halloween postings this year. This, like the other recent postings, began as a drawing exercise, something to loosen up those drawing muscles. This one, however, I did in pen. Pen is an interesting drawing tool for an unrepentant sketcher like myself. There's no erasing, and at least with these pens, virtually no line variation. So it forces me to be much more... choosy about what I'm drawing, in terms of line choice. But since I wanted to be loose with the drawing, it ends up being a fine balance. Or, I sketch the hell out of the lines and hope something recognizable comes out of the whole mess. I actually did this while on the phone with a friend, which may explain why it turned out relatively well- by not concentrating on the drawing, I didn't overthink it.

As you can probably/hopefully see, this is the wolfman. No particular version in mind here, though it's not hard to see Chaney's influence (the buckle is also a direct homage to the original Wolf Man movie). I was thinking of a more traditional wolfman, rather than An American Werewolf in London style, or even the greyhound-like Lupin from the third Harry Potter movie (to which my friends rejoice...). Marvel Comic's "The Beast" must have interjected himself into the drawing at some point, hence the much bulkier figure. And, as I can't directly recall what Victorian-era clothing (referencing the upcoming Wolf Man remake), I just made something up. Like usual. Then, to mess with the whole thing, I inverted the coloring. Not sure why, as it's not a true inversion, but it lends a certain look to it that I like. So that's that.

The Wolf Man is one of my earliest 'favorite' monster movies. It was also my sister's favorite (and I think still is), and is well-known amongst the general public. The look of the Wolf Man himself, along with those of Frankenstein's Monster and Dracula, is completely iconic. Unlike those two movies, however, The Wolf Man had no literary background, and so is one of the first "original" movie monsters to stand the test of time. The story is a mish-mash of different legends and myths from around the world. The movie itself is a mish-mash, much like the creation of the movie's mythology: it's an interesting, if not always agreeable, juxtaposition of (then) modern-day America with Old-World Europe, modern sensibilities with long-standing tradition, even science and superstition. One of the visual cues that let's you know you're watching a Universal Monsters movie is that the town it takes place in has modern conveniences, not to mention cars, but is populated with villagers right out of the 18th century. Rather than pin themselves down to one era, Universal went for a 'timeless' country, and ended up with a crazy-looking retro-modern-historic town.

The Wolf Man is a great movie of its time, in my opinion. As a straight-up scarefest, obviously it doesn't hold up against today's storytelling. But in its day, it was something to see. Its oblique references to "the beast in us all", particularly men when around women, is certainly a timeless theme worth revisiting. Plus, it gave the world one of the best quotes from a movie:

Even a man who is pure in Heart
And says his prayers by night
May become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms
And the moon is full and bright.

Interestingly, The Wolf Man is the only of the "big three" monsters to not feature a direct sequel. Dracula had a sequel called Dracula's Daughter, and Frankenstein begat a number of sequels. The next time The Wolf Man appeared on screen was in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, but that's more of a mash-up than direct sequel (though there's a thin ongoing story with poor Larry Talbot; much like David Banner from The Hulk TV series, he wandered around looking for a cure to his problem). As a co-star of the monster movies, Wolf Man appeared a number of times in various "House Of" movies... and met Abbott and Costello.

Here Endeth the Lesson.

Music: "Woke Up This Morning" - Alabama Three

If Lovecraftian Horror Has a Name...

...it must be Indiana Jones. And Hellboy.

Just another of those goofy ideas that bounce around in my head from time to time. I always thought it would be fun to put these two characters together. They're both very much "everyman" type characters (red skin and tail notwithstanding), and they often(always) face some manner of supernature. And, since they were technically operating in about the same time period, I figured, 'eh, why not?'

I figured this would be in the mid-50's at some point, when Indy was the well-seasoned pro and HB was just getting started. HB's dad would've brought in plenty of experts to talk to him and teach what they know, so how could they not call in Dr. Henry Jones, Jr.? And, son of the devil or not, Hellboy is just a kid at this point, and not the bravest of souls.

It only now occurs to me that both of these movie series have sequels coming out this summer. Jeez! Woulda been a good excuse to put this out then instead...

Anyway- the picture itself- scanned directly from pencils, then tweaked and colored in photoshop.

Music: "The Way" - Fastball

Holding Out for a Hero, One

Remember way back when (the Monster Squad posts), I was talking about 'world-building'? Essentially, the idea of taking pre-existing characters and situations and putting your own spin on them? Well, far be it from me to limit my mental meanderings to just the biggies like Star Wars and Monster Squad. Here we have the first part of my quest to resurrect one of my favorite mediocre movies from the 80's, Flash Gordon.

I'm not going to go into all the gory details just yet- I'll save that for when we get there. But, to give you an idea of where I'm coming from, there was a lot about the original movie that I loved. The production design; the costumes; the sense of fun it brought to the character. And there was some stuff I didn't like. Though I enjoyed that it brought humor to it, there were plenty of times I felt like it was veering too far into camp. But, one thing I loved above all- the music. Whoever the hell came up with the idea of having Queen score the movie deserves an Oscar. Though the music is as crazy and fun as the best parts of the movie, I think it still holds up pretty well. Find a group of 30-somethings and say "FLASH!" to them and (provided they're not drunk) they'll probably shout back "AAAAAAaaaaHHHH!" because we've all either seen or heard the movie or song. Practically everyone's familiar with the damn song.

And there's the secret. That's how to remake the movie. Yep, the song. But more on that later.

Okay, the sketch. This was the first pass I took at the update of the movie; as you can see, it's pretty much just an updating of the original outfit. The red and black sleeveless shirt, long pants and boots. I added the piping to the shirt, fancified the boots, added gloves, and the lightning motif (the idea being that the outfit is probably taken from some guard of Ming's, or a soldier- "the Lightning Legion" or something like that). Even though the lightning bolt has nothing to do with the original incarnations of Flash Gordon (and is famously the symbol of a different Flash entirely), it's become pretty well-associated with the character due to the movie. This almost didn't make it up in color form, but I thought the colors were a fairly central component of this particular look.

Sorry there's not more today, and that the picture's not cleaned up like normal, but I've spent most of my Photoshop time this week working on my Christmas card (yes, I know what day it is; I can't help that my muse does not check her calendar). But, fortune favoring the foolish, I'll be back Tuesday with another picture. Later!

Music: "Jukebox Hero" - Foreigner

Coppola's Dracula

Bram Stoker's Dracula was a pretty big deal to me, movie-wise, when I was younger. I've been a huge fan of Dracula for many a year already, and this movie promised to be unlike any other before it. Well, it was. Visually, it was just insane. I mean, look at this guy! While charting a completely new course for the Dracula movies visually, it actually did a fairly impressive job of adhering to the original novel more closely than any adaptation had previously. Well, except for the whole bit about reincarnated love. No one's perfect. But Francis Ford Coppola's version of the Dracula story obviously had an impact on how we view the old vampire. If nothing else, this elderly version of Vlad was neatly impersonated by one Montgomery Burns in "The Simpsons". I mean, that's gotta count.

Not a whole lot to say on this one. It's not a leftover from Halloween; it's an idea I've had rolling around for a while now, and it finally got put to paper a little while ago. I had an idea for the elderly Dracula here to be doing something nasty, and to render him in a very stylized fashion- the long flowing gown and that crazy hair just lent themselves to lots of curves and sharp angles. Had I the skill, I could probably have rendered an even better take just by using french curves. As it is, I'm pleased with the results; the sketch itself went by pretty fast, and the Photoshopping took about 90 minutes or so.

Have a good weekend- next week, a look at my attempts at tackling another classic character. Not a monster, but he is often associated with royalty.

Music: "something i can never have" - nine inch nails

I! AM! DRAWING!

No, this isn't some manner of NyQuill-driven delirium; it's just the result of watching 300, which may have been inspired by a NyQuill-driven delirium.

300 is a great movie. Not a great historical epic, but a great popcorn movie. Stylized to the N-th degree, packed with action and general bad-ass behavior, it's a great way to kill 2 hours (so to speak). It's shot so beautifully, and the look is so stylized, it's not hard to pick up on little touches that appear throughout the movie. For instance, this whole picture above came from looking at Xerxes headgear in the movie- none of it made sense; gold just went all over his face and somehow didn't fall off, and there were jewels all around and all kinds of craziness. So, I thought I'd see if I could imagine what a princess (or concubine, or slave, or whatever) might look like decorated in this fashion. So, here you go. Don't blame me- it's the media's influence ;) Oh- the ear-to-nose chain is totally inspired by Jane Child -that early 90's girl singer with the crazy punk hair, but who wasn't punk... bonus points if you remember the song she sang. And maybe a cookie.

okay, I'm off to do a couple shots of NyQuill- have a good weekend. New poll to the right- also, it seems as though those of you who voted last round would rather be vamp-bait than anything else. Good call, but 'well done!' to whoever wanted to get taken out while in flagrante delicto. If you're gonna go, go happy.

Music: "Demolition Man" - Sting

Once Upon a Time

The Guy works part-time helping his father, who runs a small, vacuum cleaner repair business, but dreams of having his songs recorded and landing a record deal. His girlfriend has recently left him and gone to London, and he is still coming to grips with that loss and is emotionally vulnerable.

One day while busking on Dublin's Grafton Street, he meets the Girl, an East European immigrant who has moved to Dublin to start a new life for herself and currently works as a house cleaner in an upper-class residence. She is struggling financially, and cannot afford the piano she yearns for, while also being in the process of making crucial decisions about her personal life.

In a Dublin that has grown increasingly affluent and materialistic during Ireland's unprecedented economic boom, they are both outsiders, struggling with their art and their hearts. Through music, they find a common bond that brings them effortlessly together.

As the Guy and the Girl get to know each other over the course of an intense few days, their relationship blossoms as they share their music, put together a band to rehearse songs and record some demos, all of which results in them both bringing some much-needed impetus to their artistic and personal lives.

A few months ago I mentioned this song, "Falling Slowly". I first heard this song on VH1 (the one that still plays music videos) and was completely taken not only with the music, but also the video. I did some searching and found that it is the main song for a movie called Once, which has apparently been getting some amazing reviews (98% fresh from rottentomatoes.com). Anyway, you might be wondering why I'm so crazy about this movie... and I honestly can't tell you. It might be the music (which I've enjoyed), it might be the look of it (it has a very simple style), it might be the story (as quoted above from the website), it might be all the great things I've heard about it (the words "Oscar contender" have been used repeatedly)... it could be anything. The one thing it probably isn't though is the movie itself; I've never seen it. So you can now see that it's REALLY strange that I'm so taken with this movie. But, there you go. Can't help the things I like. It comes out on DVD next month, so I'll find out if the movie matches the hype. I somehow think it will.

The picture itself- This image is taken from a frame capture of the video (which is itself almost a paraphrasing of the movie). This image, of what looks like one of those rare and perfect, golden moments in your life- when everything just seems... right- really struck me, and reminded me of such a moment in my own life (which might make it to a posting), so I really wanted to try to get it onto paper. So there you go. The sketch itself went amazingly well; non-photo blue to pencils with nary an eraser in sight. I actually went back and copied the original drawing to go back and add shading- a chance to practice without messing up the original. I have at least 2 other versions rolling around somewhere, and will probably revisit this again to take another pass at it.

Anyway, there you go. more 'real' life drawings.

Music: "(Are You) The One That I've Been Waiting For?" - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Posts of Halloween, Eight

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Who better to celebrate the holiday with than three of the biggest 'names' in Hollywood horror: the Wolfman, Frankenstein's Monster, and Dracula! Three of my favorite movie characters, to be sure. I hope you like this latest addition to my Halloween lineup.

This picture has been the most difficult of every one I've worked on. Not the drawing itself, but to bring it from the sketch initially done to what you see above. It took me about 6 hours to get it to this point. And that, kids, is why I'm inking my drawings from now on. But don't get me wrong- I loved putting the picture together, especially since I could put the old Universal Studios logo in the background. Oh- as to why they don't look so much like the movie characters? Eh- I just wanted to have some fun with them.

I hope everyone has a wonderfully haunted Halloween, and come on back tomorrow (yes, tomorrow!) for some extra Halloween images. Why?

BECAUSE HALLOWEEN ISN'T OVER UNTIL I SAY IT IS!

(I mean, seriously, if 'The Simpsons' can run their treehouse of horror episode on November 4th, i can post more Halloween pictures.)

Music: "The Monster Mash" - Bobby 'Boris' Pickett

Posts of Halloween, Six (six six)

"We have such sights to show you..."

I decided to show some affection for a newer generation of horror movie with this outing. This is Pinhead, one of the Cenobites from Clive Barker's movie Hellraiser, which I believe is based on his short story "The Hell-bound Heart", though I could be wrong. Pinhead's one of the newer 'name' monsters out there, alongside Jason, Freddy, and Michael Myers. In many ways, he's actually a lot more of a 'mature' monster than the others. Whereas they are mostly just about killing and killing, the Cenobites are about pain, and the... let's say darker aspects of human nature. The true terror of the Cenobites is that there's some small part of their victims who don't mind being the victims... or something along those lines. It's been easily a decade since I've seen the movies, and longer still since I've read the stories. Still, it goes to show they have some lasting power, if I'm still this familiar with them after all this time. I remember the movies being fun, but freaky. Perhaps unsurprisingly. Though the Hellraiser movies also led to one of the funniest images ever, but it's really something you needed to be there to appreciate.

Anyway, this was meant to be a quick post of a sketch, but once I decided to lay down a background, it was all over. This was actually a pretty quick run through Photoshop- mostly a matter of layering and finding an appropriate image of the box (the Lament Configuration or LeMarchand's box, to those in the know) to put in. The drawing itself also went along pretty quickly, once I found decent reference for his costume. I'm pretty pleased with the outcome, considering it didn't take a great deal of time.

That's all for today, but I'll have something to post again tomorrow, and again on Wednesday. Woo Hoo! Oh, there's also a new poll up- the last Halloween-themed one.

Later!

Music: "In Your Room" - Depeche Mode

Posts of Halloween, Four

Well, once again, things are not going according to plan. But that's okay, I always keep my feathers numbered for just such an emergency.

Today I've posted a sketch of one of the most recognized faces in cinema history. This is Dracula, as portrayed by Bela Lugosi in a career-defining (and career-destroying) performance. Everyone, and I mean, EVERYONE, when asked to describe Dracula, will almost immediately say something along the lines of "I vant to suck your blood". why? Lugosi. Every actor who's ever performed as the count has had to measure up against Lugosi's portrayal. And honestly, it's not the acting so much as it is his presence. We're still talking about his role today, 76 years later, so there must be something to it.

I did this sketch a little over a year ago, in a sketchbook that was a gift from my brother. The idea had been to make it a cool sketchbook, and then exchange them so we could see what havoc the other had wrought. I started out with some "important" sketches, but I couldn't stay away from one of my great loves, and so I had to draw something monster-related. Dracula seemed a natural choice. Or unnatural, as the case may be. The drawing was done based off a small statue I have, and so I tried to give it more depth than what one of my drawings would normally have. I think it worked well, and holds up pretty well still. Hope you like it.

In other news, I went to a Halloween parade tonight with my friends Jason and April. A good time was had by all, though it seems as though the paraders are reluctant to throw candy to adults. Also, Michael Jackson music was very popular amongst the parade people. Mixed messages, I tell you. Additionally, I discovered there is such a thing as Library Cart Drill Teams. If only I had known...

Lastly, there's a very good chance that I will be posting more than thrice next week, and maybe even over this weekend coming. I was afraid I wouldn't have enough Halloween sketches, but it now appears that I might have too many. Which is a good thing. But we'll see.

Go now. Y'all come back and visit, ya hear?

Music: "Swan Lake" - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Posts of Halloween, One

Since Halloween is coming up quickly, and it's one of my favorite holidays, I thought I'd start posting some Halloween-themed pictures.

This one is a quick sketch of Ray, a character from one of my favorite movies, Ghostbusters. This movie is one of the most quotable movies ever- I've long argued that it's possible to hold an entire conversation using only quotes from the movie (admittedly though, I've never tried). It's hardly an accurate picture, but everyone can look at it and get the idea of who the character is supposed to be. As I said, it's a quick sketch, but one that turned into about an hour's worth of tinkering in Photoshop. I'm pleased with it, especially considering its roots.

Next- more Halloween goodness!

Music: "Ghostbusters" - Ray Parker, Jr. (duh...)

Revisionist Pop Culture

Allow me to let you in on a secret: the more a geek picks apart a movie, chances are the more he likes it. If he complains about the minutiae of 'errors' he's seen in a movie (like the color of a helmet is wrong, for example), the more he loved the rest of it. We geeks live in the realm of imagination- and really, can anything compare to our imaginations? So often, what reality presents us is often far inferior to that which our imaginations prepared us for. But, if the only thing we can complain about is the most minor of details, then we love beyond reason the item as a whole (be it movie, book, TV series, etc.), and consider it sacred.

But, here's the rub: no matter how much we love some genre gem, no matter how often we sing its praises, no matter how fiercely we defend it against its many critics and detractors, I think we all secretly know how to make it better. Filmmakers, writers, and artists have all opened our eyes to these new realms; our own passions for them have taken them into our hearts; our own egos have made us believe we understand them better than everyone else. If you look around the internet, you will find thousands of websites dedicated to TV shows, movies, books, and so on. A great many of these sites will often contain what's known as 'fanfic'- fan-created fiction starring the characters and settings of these well-known movies and books and TV shows. (And lest you think this is limited to geek-friendly stuff like Star Wars and Star Trek, think of a favorite TV show. Pick two characters on it you think should be a couple. If you've ever imagined what that episode would look like, you've just 'written' fanfic. See, we're all geeks in our own way.) The best of these stories will feel like they fit seamlessly into the 'official' reality. But, they're no more valid than your average Yankee fan's daydreams of another World Series win. However, that doesn't mean they aren't valid. It's one way to give fans a deeper connection to the things they love- it makes them feel like they've contributed to their beloved movie (or book, or whatever) and in a way, given them a kind of ownership over some small part of that fictional reality.

This whole idea goes back towards my earlier posts about world-building. In this case, though, it's building upon the works of others. Or to put it simply, it's playing in someone else's sandbox. Sure, you can use their toys, and maybe make some fun stuff with them, but at the end of the day, it's still their sandbox. The beauty of this type of playing is that there's an instant common ground for you and anyone else familiar with the subject. You can use a shorthand to describe the circumstances of your story, because your audience is already familiar with the groundwork. This makes your stories/art/whatever that much easier to approach as well, since you didn't have to create everything in it from whole cloth. It's kinda like creativity for lazy people. Which I'm okay with.

WHICH, in a big roundabout way of approaching it, intros this picture. See, back in the later part of the 80's, this awesome little movie came out called The Monster Squad. It was a group of kids versus the Universal Monsters- what's not to love? It instantly endeared itself to me, making me smile and laugh every time I saw it- it even had a prime piece of real estate on a videotape, right next to Big Trouble in Little China and Buckaroo Banzai. Not to mention quotability (a true barometer of a film's geek cred- how many quotes can you get from a movie?)- many lines from this movie are still heard today... when I'm speaking, at least. The film itself went out of print years ago, but I remember it fondly, and often thought how cool it would be to see it again. Recently it came out on DVD and I had the chance to watch it again. It hardly had the same appeal for me as it did back in the day (though it's still plenty fun in its way), but there was plenty there to get my mental gears moving again. I thought to myself, 'hey, this would be great to remake this movie- but here's a bunch of stuff I'd change! You know why I'd change it? Because I know how to make it better.' Sure, it was fun back then, but boy, it would be awesome now!... I think you get the picture.

Basically, the idea to reimagine The Monster Squad would be to bring it current- use kids who behaved like kids in today's world (no Fonzie-looking punk kids looking bad-ass on a bicycle, sorry) and to make the plot a little more logical. Or at least as logical as a bunch of monsters getting together to smash a magical amulet and taking over the world. Hey, it's not my world, I just spend time in it.

This picture is of Rudy, the ex-Fonzie-looking punk. I'm not sure where this idea for this new look came from, other than it was fully-formed when it came to mind. It would probably look kinda nice if it were colored; maybe next time around. My original thought for this fictional remake was to make the kids older teenagers. But, since teens these days are a lot more savvy to the ways of the world, I don't really see a need to do that. Rudy'd probably be about 16 though.

Okay, seriously, that was a hell of a lot of writing for one sketch.

Still no list of influences though. Sorry.

I'm almost out of already-scanned sketches, which means I've got a lot of work to do- but all good work, especially as I'm getting more proficient with Photoshop. It's getting harder to NOT post something that's been colored and messed-with. That's good, though.

That's all for now. Speak at you later!

Music: "Stronger" - Kanye West

... Or I Could Post This and Go to Sleep

Greetings, after your hopefully extra-long weekend. Mine, as you know, was especially-extra-long. A great wedding, and a great chance to see friends again (some thought lost), but I'm happy to be back sleeping in my own bed again.

This was originally going to be a post talking about some artists whose work I've come to admire (along with some other ramblings, I'm sure), but that got completely derailed when I saw the time. I really wish I knew why my body decided to reset it's clock to keep me up late, but oh well. If' I'm to be awake, I might as well do something creative. However, as I'm actually tired now, I'll make this relatively brief.

So, what we have here is a take off of the poster for Smokin' Aces, an early 2007 movie cast in the mold of a Quentin Tarantino movie. I was really psyched to see it when it was first released in the theaters. I remember walking out having enjoyed it, but still being vaguely disappointed in it. It wasn't enough of any one thing; in trying to be all types of movies, it succeeded in being none of them.

Cut to August 2007ish- having a few hours to kill, my roommate Dave and I sat re-watching the movie in the luxury of our own place. Having let go of any expectations for it this time around, I found myself enjoying it a bit more. Mostly enjoying it for the performances of the actors rather than the plot necessarily. And as these things will happen, we were watching one of the scenes in the movie involving a rabbit costume head, and either Dave or I said something about it being funnier if the Easter Bunny were involved. From there it was a short trip to the picture you see above. Something along the lines of Pulp Fiction by way of Hallmark Cards, with a healthy dose of poor taste, most likely. The original image was used very heavily to promote the film, and is very striking visually (like Lord of War, I think the poster was more successful than the movie itself). You can see the original poster here.

Though I'm posting this now, this was my first attempt at large-scale image manipulation using Photoshop. Hence the drawings dropping off the page (or not making it to the end of the page), along with the shaky coloring. Also, I can't draw a rectangle to save my freakin' life. All trapezoids, that's me.

So, there you go. Lessons learned here will hopefully be applied to projects further down the road.

That's about it for now. I'll be back Wednesday with some more movie goodness. Or at least, my idea of movie goodness. And maybe that bit about the artists. Or not.

Music: "Paralyzer" - Finger Eleven

We're Coming to Get You, Barbara!

Yes, it's one of the most famous lines in Zombie Theater (okay, you probably can't name any other famous lines in zombie theater, but you know what I mean). But it's also a line in that most wonderful of romzomcoms, Shaun of the Dead. And it's uttered by this fellow, Ed. Um, of the dead.

Ed's the result of the 5-minute sketch- in fact, he's the original sketch, which I believe I did immediately after the original 'Bradstreet' drawing. The drawing was pretty much a snap- and it was totally inspired by my roommate Dave yawning. That look on Ed's face? Totally Dave. The rest of the drawing comes from the gang's attempts to infiltrate the zombie hordes by imitating them. I'm pleased by the picture overall, as it was pretty much exactly what I was thinking of initially. I again went through it with Photoshop, correcting some of the lines, and coloring it, obviously.

Alright, that's enough. I'm freakin' tired, and I have a long drive ahead of me tomorrow morning.

Cheers!

The ghost returns next Monday night...

Music: "When in Rome" - Nickel Creek

The Zed Word

Hi everyone, and welcome back. I'm back from my mini-vacation, the annual trip to Chincoteague Island, VA. This makes our 9th(?) trip down- always a good time, always relaxing, and always making me want more vacations. Somewhere down the line, I might post some pictures from the trip- some of them turned out surprisingly well. Others... not so much.

Regardless, I'm back. This week is going to be an abbreviated one as well- I'm only in town for two days before I'm off again- this time, back to the home territories to attend my friends' wedding. I'll try to post tomorrow and Wednesday night, but no promises.

Anyway, to the good stuff. Above is the title character of one of my favorite movies of recent memory- Shaun, as in "...of the Dead". Shaun of the Dead is a fantastic movie on a number of levels: it is a hilariously funny comedy, a genuinely scary zombie movie, a clever satire of... oh, let's say modern society, and a glorious (and gory) homage to probably a dozen different movies. And, it's also an immensely enjoyable movie in its own right. Go check out imdb.com for more. But Shaun here, as I said, is the main character.

This sketch is actually the second sketch I've done for this movie, and also my second effort at a "5-minute drawing". But, chaos being the order of the day, this gets posted first. Essentially, these 5-minute drawings were meant as palette cleansers, so to speak, after I spent a long time working on particularly detailed sketches. Instead of taking a long time to agonize over every pencil line (easily done), I decided to take less than a minute to sketch out the figure, then a couple minutes more to flesh out the drawing, hopefully coming out with a finished picture in about 5 minutes. This forces me to 1) be decisive, 2)not second-guess and 3)commit to what I'm doing. And I'm just talking about drawings- if you think these are rules for living, you're crazy. So- the main advantage to drawing like this is the spontaneity- the pictures almost always look more "lively" if I don't spend a lot of time on trying to massage the lines into a more technically correct look. Also, this gives me a chance to work on a less "sketchy" look and use more solid lines. My natural instinct is to use many short lines to finish a drawing, rather than long flowing lines. For a master of the flowing lines, see Adam Hughes. Also by using fewer lines, it gives me a chance to work on conveying likenesses and expressions with less work- which, really, is what I'm all about.

Then, once I had the picture scanned in, I decided to go in and attempt to give it some color. In keeping with the cartoony nature of the picture, I opted for basic coloring (also because I'm still learning how to use the program). The coloring was NOT done in 5 minutes...

So, there's Shaun. Were you a fan, you might guess what's coming next. Whether or not it's colored depends on how lazy I am tomorrow. Place your bets now.

I'll be back on Wednesday.

Music: "Pet Sematary" - The Ramones