Christmas Misfit & Crazy 4 Cult 7

Well, here it is December, the year is almost over. Good riddance. I hope that 2014 is a lot better to me than this year was. I'll have a couple of things to post before the year is out, and I'm going to force myself to be more productive in the coming year.
I had this idea and decided I'd run with it. It's a sort of mash-up, Hermey the elf from the Rankin/Bass Rudolph special as a member of the band 'The Misfits'. Happy Holidays!

'Red Shaun'

Posca Paint Markers/Acrylic on Wood

8x10

$220

Available from Gallery 1988's website here.

I am also part of Gallery 1988's Crazy 4 Cult 7 art show in New York, for the second year. I originally had intended a Ghostbusters piece, but it wasn't working. So I decided to do a simple Shaun of the Dead piece that I call 'Red Shaun'. This is another piece using Posca markers & acrylic paint. This time a used wood panel and I like it much better than canvas fabric.

The Skull & Miss Skully

With October almost half spirited away, I'm pretty confident that I'm not participating in the Countdown to Halloween this year. My husband & I are actually in the process of moving into a new house, and tonight is the last night we will be in the house we've lived in for the past 7 years. While I'm sorta sad to leave, I'm looking forward to the thrill of a new space. And I really wanted to do one last blog post before the move.

Gallery ZaPow currently has a Dia de Los Muertos show, running to the beginning of December. I did this fun piece with my beloved Posca paint markers & acrylics. I wanted to do a blending of Day of the Dead & old school Halloween, kind of like I did for last year's show.

Hope you all are enjoying your Halloween season so far!

Countdown to Halloween 2013

Well, it's October 1st, and I hate to say that I am NOT countdown ready. No new finished art, no new banner, and haven't even put up this year's badge. I'm not even 100% sure that I'll be participating at all this year. I'm not going to say that I won't be participating, but I guess I'll figure that out in the next day or two. 2013 has been one of the worst years ever for me in a long time. I would like to try to pull up my Halloween pants, like a big girl, and have some fun.
In the meantime, the participants for this year's Countdown to Halloween have been posted. I'm looking forward to going through the list as soon as I can.

Vampire Circus cover

I can't believe I forgot to post this! Earlier in the year, I did this piece for the back cover of Little Shoppe of Horrors Vampire Circus issue. The magazine came out in May, around the same time as Wonderfest, so I guess I was a bit distracted.

You can order this issue, or any back issuses at www.littleshoppeofhorrors.com
If you're a Hammer Horror fan, and you've never picked up an issue of LSoHs, I highly recommend that you check out this amazing magazine.

No More Mr. Nice Guy & I LOVE Posca

'No More Mr. Nice Guy' • Posca Paint Markers & Acrylic on Canvas • 12x24" • $225

I haven't been doing much new art lately, but I did manage to produce this piece for ZaPow's Rock & Roll group art show. This is also officially my first 'painting' that I'm putting up for sale.

This piece was mostly created with Posca paint markers, the new love of my life. This is a pic of my 2nd batch of pens that came last week. My first batch was mostly orange shades, for Halloween art.

They are really awesome! If you're interested, I got mine here at Durable Supply. Also artist Joseph Tubbs has some great videos featuring introduction to Posca markers, along with tips & tricks. One video in particular was super helpful when I was crying that my big black marker seemed to be all dried up. Guess what? You can open the markers up & add water to revive them! Check out his videos here.

Tonight is ZaPow's reception for the Rock & Roll art show, come check it out if you're able!

Hammer's Curse of Frankenstein

Here's a piece that I did back in May, based on the Hammer film 'Curse of Frankenstein', kind of in the same style as my Universal Monsters & Mates pieces.

It's been awhile since I've been on the blog, and you can expect things to be pretty slow until September. I'm going through some major shifts in my life right now, and it's not easy to spend time working on new art. I HOPE that once things are leveling out for me, I'll be able to get back to doing what I love most.

I am beginning to sketch all new Halloween art for the countdown this year, only 3 more months!

Wonderfest Weekend!

Well, tomorrow I'll be hitting the road for Kentucky to attend Wonderfest 2013! Should be a lot of fun. I did the art for the Kid/Crew shirts again this year and it was decided that we would do kid versions of Harryhausen characters. As the design was being finalized, we all learned of Ray Harryhausen's passing, and the shirt has now become a tribute. This is not what the shirts will look like, I just wanted to put the art on a textured background to see how it would look. The shirts will be light blue, if I'm not mistaken. I will TRY to get some photos up when I return.

If you're on Instagram, you can follow me, belledee. I will probably be posting photos of my Wonderfest trip.

Hope to see some of you there!!

Getting Ready to GeekOut!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I'll be appearing at GeekOut this weekend. And when I say appearing, I mean I'll be at a table in Artist's Alley. Should be loads of fun, so if you're in the area, come check it out!!
Go to GeekOut's website for more information and scheduling.

Cut Paper Artist

As I mentioned last week, ZaPow had a group show opening on Friday, April 5. The show is 'Space and Time Trifecta' art inspired by Doctor Who, Star Wars & Star Trek. I did three pieces: One Doctor Who & two Star Trek pieces. I was very thrilled to learn that all of them have sold!

I forgot to scan or take photos before I took them down to the gallery, so I had to get some pics at the show opening. I also wanted to mention that while I was working on these, I was watching 'Star Trek' the animated series on repeat. And I loved it!

And earlier in the year, I was in Gallery 1988's 'Young Adult' show (here's the flyer)

I did this Nancy Drew piece that also sold opening weekend.

I'm very encouraged by the positive response to my cut paper work, and I'd really like to expand and do more. Especially with some of my Halloween art. 

Master Ladies of the Universe and other news

As I've mentioned a time or two before, I'm a Rogue artist over at the super cool website Planet Pulp. It's an online group art show, with a different pop culture theme each month. It's been awhile since I've contributed, and I couldn't pass March's 'Masters of the Universe' theme up. (I am disappointed in myself for not getting something in for February's Hanna Barbara show, there were so many things I wanted to do). So here is my versions of Teela & Evil Lyn from 'Masters of the Universe'.

And speaking of group art shows, there is one coming up at gallery ZaPow this Friday night! The show is 'Space and Time Trifecta' with art inspired by Doctor Who, Star Wars & Star Trek. I have 3 (omg THREE!!) cut paper pieces in this show. One Doctor Who, two Star Trek. And from what I understand, the Doctor Who & one of the Star Trek pieces sold earlier in the week! But the pieces will be on display for the show opening on Friday. And it's a good thing too, because guess who didn't take any photos of the pieces once they were done? That would be me. Way to go, me! I'll post photos when I'm able to get some.

So here's all the official info for the show: Friday, April 5, 2013 from 7pm to 9pm at ZaPow! 21 Battery Park, Suite 101 Asheville, NC
And the flyer:

Uh, here's some other things I've been putting off mentioning. The Rondo Awards are currently accepting votes, but voting ends on April 7, 2013 at midnight. So I'll have to do my voting sometime soon.
Also, in the month of May, I will be appearing at TWO cons!! First I will be at GeekOut on Saturday, May 4 in Asheville, NC. Then I will be at WonderFest again this year on May 18-19 in Louisville, KY.
So much to do in such a short period of time. More stuff from me soon.

Phantom of the Opera

This Chaney Phantom piece is one I've been tinkering around with. There are things I like about it and things I don't, but decided that I needed to wrap it up before I became utterly sick of the sight of it.
So I'm sharing it here and moving on.... Hopefully Nosferatu is not too far behind.

Count Mora & Luna

I've had this piece done for a few weeks, I've just been sitting on it. I'm working on a bunch of different things right now, so I thought I would go ahead and post it before it got lost in the shuffle.

These are 'vampires' are Count Mora & Luna from 1935's 'Mark of the Vampire'. An enjoyable little film, although I'm not really crazy about the turn towards the end (don't want to give anything away if you haven't seen it, if you have seen it, you probably know what I'm talking about.)

This is another piece sort of done in my 'Monsters & Mates' style, but I decided to give it a moodier background than just the solid color. There will be more of these, I've got some sketches I'm really excited to get working on. So look for those to be posted some time in the next month or so.

Phibes & Vulnavia

After at least two to three years of plotting & planning, I FINALLY did a finished Dr. Phibes piece. I had the idea sketched out for awhile but hadn't done anything with it. A year or two went by. Last year Little Shoppe of Horrors was putting together a Phibes isssue, and I thought that I would take that opportunity to do a finished piece. However, due to space limitations in the magazine, I decided to drop out of that issue. It's probably for the best, because I don't think it would have turned out as well as this one did. I was having some problems trying to figure out how to make certain elements work, and it just recently fell into place for me.
I'm also in a mad scramble, as I have soooo much I need to do, and it seems like it's all jammed into the next three months. More new art to come!

The Deadly & Terrifying Chimera

Here's something else I've been thinking about doing. Super cute drawings of mythological creatures/beings. I had been doodling in my sketch book and came up with a cute version of the Chimera. But I thought it could be much cuter, so I re-worked the idea and ended up with this. I'm thinking about doing some more. Another piece I'm working on is 'Lilith', first wife of Adam. I've got some good sketches, it's just that she has bird feet, and I'm trying to get the drawing right. Also I'm working on a Goat of Mendes. Super Cute!!

This piece and my Amy Pond Valentine piece were both made using a new brush technique I learned about while watching this informative YouTube video: 

This is a fairly lengthy video, but if you are interested learning about drawing in Illustrator, it would be worth your time to watch it. It was interesting for me, just to see how other people work. I do not work like the guy making the video, but I understand the how & why. The most useful tip I learned was how to make art brushes. I knew it could be done, I just never bothered with it. But that one brush tip is the best thing I've learned in awhile. And it is probably going to make some of my work a lot faster.

Amy Pond's Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day all! If you're into that kind of thing. I've had this idea for awhile and thought I would make a valentine piece of it. However, I didn't come up with a good Doctor Who Valentine's Day pun for the text.

I know I said I was going to keep up the Vampire of the Week thing, but I'm finding it difficult to stay focused on any one thing right now. I have been drawing A LOT though. It's just becoming increasingly difficult for me to sit at the computer and work on anything. My computer is so dreadfully slow it makes me crazy. Maybe this will be the year that I can finally buy a new one (fingers crossed).

Radu - Vampire of the Week #3

I've been busy preparing a piece for an upcoming art show, but I was determined to stick to this Vampire of the Week thing, even if it kills me. This week I decided to do Radu from the 1991 Full Moon production, 'Subspecies'.

I also wanted to let you all know that I'm on Tumblr now. Actually, I've had the account for about a year, but never posted anything to it. But I'm using it now. You can see the images that I post here, but I'm also uploading photos that I take on Instagram. These photos usually consist of sketches, WIP, cool stuff from around my house & my cats. Follow if you dare.... The Doo Wacka Doodler

Now, I must get back to work...

Countess Bathory - Vampire of the Week #2

With the beginning of the new year, I always get anxious that I should have some small goal. I wanted to do something like a 'challenge' type thing, that would keep me posting new art to the blog more frequently. I looked around online for ideas, but ultimately what I decided to do is a project I've been thinking about for about two years or so. I wanted to do a collection of vampire characters throughout cinema. Sooo, after last weeks post, I started sketching out other screen vampires. I originally had intended to do 'Count Yorga', but my drawing still needs more work. So instead, I present Countess Bathory from 1971's 'Daughters of Darkness'. I caught this film on Netflix a couple of months ago, and really enjoyed it. I hope that I'll be able to do a new vamp each week, but that will all depend on how busy I am, and how successful my sketches are. I want to try to keep them all uniform in this style.

I also wanted to share this link to this really great documentary, 'Horror Europa with Mark Gatiss'. This is a follow up to his other fantastic documentary, 'A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss'. If you have some time (this is a full hour & a half), you should check it out. And one of the first films he talks about is the very one that I have depicted here today.

Blood and Roses

Yesterday I sat down to watch a couple of movies while I was doing some sketching. One of the movies I watched was Roger Vadim's 'Blood & Roses' from 1960. It's been about 20 years or so since the first time I watched it, and at that time, the film didn't really leave much of an impression on me. But watching it again, I decided that I liked it a great deal. The film is loosely based on the Sheridan le Fanu 'Carmilla' story.

While I was sketching I did a simple little doodle of the main character. I decided that I would try to do a final version of it, but that I would try to keep it as simple and clean as possible. I wanted to to kind of have a 1960's graphical style.

Happy New Year! Hello 2013!

Well, here it is the first post of the new year! First on the agenda, take down the Christmas banner, and put up a brand new banner for 2013! I decided to go with a witchy theme. Witches, the year '13, seems like a good idea. Plus for whatever reason, this is the time of year I like to watch the film 'Haxan, Witchcraft through the Ages' from 1922. I have a fancy pants DVD from the Criterion Collection, but it is a copyright free film so you can watch it online. One place you can get it is the Internet Archive (if you are interested).

So here we are into the new year already. Where does the time go? I've got all kinds of plans for the year 2013, and I'm hoping that I'll be able to follow through with them as much as possible. I want to try to re-focus and work on some project that have been buzzing around in my brain for awhile. I think lately I just haven't been interested in sitting in front of my sloooooow computer to work on art. But I have been getting a lot of enjoyment out of sitting down with a sketch pad. This year I really want to try to explore other media, although I will still be doing digital art pieces.

As I've mentioned here on the blog before, I currently have art on display (and for sale) at the gallery ZaPow! in Asheville, NC. The owners of ZaPow recently began doing a podcast called 'Illustration and a Beer', where they sit down with one of their in house artists for a chat. This past Sunday, I was the featured guest. If you are interested in hearing me go on & on, you can find it on itunes or you can listen to it on ZaPow's website.