Late Saturday Night

Hallows Eve Property of the Mercs
Copyright 2010

June 26, 2010 might be the most eventful night I've lived since I've been back in East L.A.

Three events, all completely unrelated, but all typical for a late Saturday night.

Deep Down

Q. If you managed to escape an uncharted cave with mutated albino cave creatures, why would you go back?



Image Property of Celador Films
Copyright 2009

A. For more blood, guts and gore.

The Descent: Part 2 is not all that the first film was, but it's worth your time. It's a decent attempt at extending the story of cave divers and all around bad ass women, Sarah and Juno, respectively.

Gentle

An unkempt nail is bad enough down there.



Images Property of New Line Cinema
Copyright 1984 and 2010

Sunday I visited Michelle in Pasadena.

After leaving the Sierra Madre Villa station we met for lunch, a trip to the mall and a movie.

A Nightmare on Elm St. was not at all the disappointment I assumed it would be. It provided some much needed scares.

Aggression

Micron Drawing
5" x 4.5"

Not since November have I had the opportunity to sit down and make a new illustration. Definitely picking up where I left off, but revisiting an old tradition seems like a good way to transition into some new territory. The next series of illustrations will see a new light.

No Return

Image Property of Neil McAllister
Copyright 1997

During the mid-'90s the Misfits made their return from the dead, with new lead singer Michael Graves and drummer Dr. Chud. As a tribute to the resurrection of the band, fan Neil McAllister produced the artwork seen above. They loved the illustration so much they actually used it on their first European tour.

It's funny actually, this image seems to represent the transformation the band underwent not only musically, but visually. Imagery for album covers and the like never really felt as gritty as they did during the band's inception. Everything seemed a little soft around the edges or over produced.



Video Property of the Misfits
Copyright 1997

Death Comes Ripping

Images Property of Kristian Hammerstad
Copyright 2009

Months ago when I first got my blog up and running I discovered this amazing illustrator on BEAUTIFUL/DECAY and was really inspired by his work. Great technique surged by blazing color, while decidedly staying in a very comic book sort of area.

The aesthetic is obviously retro, but the sense of humor is clearly contemporary, and while most people would say it's nostalgic, it's very clearly a voice of today. Even if the work follows in the footsteps of artists like Raymond Pettibon or Pushead; using youthful energy to drive the image.

Never Sleep

Video Property of Nike
Copyright 2010

Recently Nike put out an ad with Dwyane Wade for their Air Jordan 2010 series sneakers. This ad is great, and Nike consistently puts out great campaigns for their products. They are definitely one of those corporations that knows, good design sells.

This makes me want to buy a pair of Air Jordans. If it would make me bigger, badder and scarier, then yes, I would like these shoes.

This or That

Images Property of Toby Ng
Copyright 2010

During my search for the Creep poster set I came cross another set of posters for the London Horror Film Festival.

Now, while I like the idea, I will say that I don't think they're the most amazing pieces of design.

Basically the posters were meant to show the dichotomy of a horror movie viewing experience; a dichotomy of extreme opposites.

Creep

Images Property of Face37
Copyright 2010

Recently while visiting Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra I came across the book Design: Play and discovered in it a set of posters that I just absolutely fell in love with. The set were for a Horror Film Festival in Manchester, England called Creep. The festival featured all the usual fare, but the posters were just a little bit more than what you would expect for the genre.

Done in the Swiss style, it's not exactly what you would expect for a horror festival, but they're effective. Not necessarily for their typography but their simple gimmick of revealing an image of any particular film's iconic killer. When the lights go out, the glow in the dark screen printing ink reveals a glowing menacing face peering back at you. Very cinematic if I do say so, although it's not exactly where the designer was looking to connote the idea. His hope was that cropped type at the top and bottom would help you refer to scrolling credits at the end of a movie, but it turns out that the image appearing after turning down the lights comes off more as the opening of any movie experience.

...a Vampire

Digital Illustration
7.25" x 7.25"

Like the wolfman, vampires are also guilty of taking your woman and making her lunch or their sex slave. Whatever the circumstance, I'm sure this is not going to fly, but with these simple steps you'll have her back at your place in no time. So get out your baptismal gift set and get ready to take care of that alluring man that comes at night, in just two quick and easy steps.

STEP 1 - Take the stake from your gift set.
STEP 2 - Pierce the vampire's heart.

It's that simple, of course, I'm assuming you have found the secret location of the vampire's coffin, you have without a doubt made sure he is a vampire and you have the courage to carry out this task.

...a Werewolf

Digital Illustration
7.25" x 7.25"

Ever wonder how to get rid of that pesky wolfman that is constantly eating up your dates?

Well, if you have, here are four easy steps to getting rid of your wolf problem, while at the same time making use of that handgun and silver bullet gift set.

STEP 1 - Load the gun with a silver bullet.
STEP 2 - Find the wolf, he may seem scared, he's not.
STEP 3 - Engage your target and take aim.
STEP 4 - Shoot him through the heart. Don't worry about your aim, if you're hero enough it'll be a perfect shot.

There you have it. In four easy steps you have just put yourself that much closer to rounding third and heading for home. No more girl snatching wolf.

Post Halloween

This Halloween was a chance for me to do what I had done every year before. Pull an outfit out of the old closet, add a new piece and make it work. Although I was completely unsuccessful in the past, I was determined to do it right this time.

With a little bit of make-up, fake blood and a prosthetic nose I transformed into a werewolf. By far my best attempt at a Halloween costume. Gone are the Waynes, Alex the Larges and B-Movie Aliens of years past, now it was time to make it work. The result it seemed was effective and makes me hopeful for next year's Halloween and plans for a bigger, better costume are in the works.

An explanation - Werewolves are supposed to either maul their victim or bite them, leaving them forever cursed to be as their attacker. Michelle and I changed it up and she was my victim turned zombie. It's not like she was just going to lay around dead the whole night.

Serial Silence

Micron Drawing
5" x 5"

This is the last image in a set of three with Ed Gein in common.

Silence of the Lambs, although it made Hannibal a pop-culture icon, it was Buffalo Bill who was the real culprit in this film. It's debatable on how much Hannibal is modeled after Ed Gein, but there's no doubt that Bill definitely was.

Like the two other movies in this series, Silence of the Lambs built a franchise that never quite lived up to the original. Although I personally feel that the sequels here are far more tolerable than those of the other franchises, with the exception of Hannibal. Wow that was not so good.

It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.

*Note: This image has been manipulated.

Serial Psycho

Micron Drawing
4" x 6"

This is the second of three sets with the common Ed Gein thread.

What can I really say about this film? Psycho speaks for itself. It's Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece and not only a horror movie icon, but an American classic. Too bad this franchise was made into films that eventually put Norman confessing his sins to a late night talk radio show. Seriously, it seems a little absurd. That's like putting Leatherface in a situation where he's talking to Dr. Phil.

*Note: This image has been manipulated.

Serial Massacre

Micron Drawing
4" x 6"

When I started the Saw series I wanted to continue doing sets of drawings that depicted famous horror movie franchises, but I was finding it difficult to find anything I really wanted to do. Solely due to the fact that I haven't seen many complete franchises. Why? Most franchises ride on the success of the original and, sadly for horror, produce an immense amount of crap. Never more has the terrible sequel(s) been true.

This is the first of three sets that will have a common thread running throughout. The three sets are going to use the three films loosely based on American serial killer Ed Gein. The other commonality, they all spawned terrible franchises, not just a sequel or two. Funny too, cause all three of these films are classics.

*Note: This image has been manipulated.

Pennywise

Color Pencil Drawing
8.5" x 11"

Recently I was shuffling through an old folder of mine with some drawings I had done for Art in high school. I would like to take this time to say, holy s**t that was 8 years ago, it was 2001, but I digress. What I found was the image you see up above, an illustration of Pennywise the dancing clown from the TV miniseries It. Personally I've never had a real fear of clowns, but it is definitely the exception.

It is quite possibly one of my favorite things to watch as a kid. I attempted to read Stephen King's novel, but just holding the 1,000 plus page book was intimidating.

This drawing might be my best use of color pencil. I don't typically do anything like this, solely because I just love simple line drawings. Above all else, I don't have a strong grip on shading. This isn't too bad, is it?

*Note: This image has been manipulated.

Isolation

Image Property of Blumhouse Productions
Copyright 2007

This past Sunday Michelle and I went to the movies to see the new film Paranormal Activity. Similar to The Blair Witch Project the movie was done on an almost non existent budget, but looks to make a whole lot more. Also, like The Blair Witch Project the film is shot in that shaky cam style that films like Cloverfield tried to cash in on. Unlike Cloverfield though, this film convincingly uses less as a whole lot more.

The story basically picks up on Micah's recent camcorder purchase to capture his girlfriend Katie's recent unexplained occurrences. Occurrences that we learn have haunted her since her early childhood. These strange phenomena don't just jump out the first minute we begin watching, but roll out slowly as you get to know the characters and their haunting story.

This is what I think the film does nicely, establishing mood. Everything seems relatable and authentic. The cuts of home footage don't seem unlike something you and your family might have shot yourself. The environment is also to my knowledge very authentic and not a Hollywood set. You feel like you've been there or could have lived there. The last thing the film uses extremely well and to its advantage is isolation and claustrophobia. The couple is pretty much alone the entire film, only once or twice does a friend stop in and make a visit and aside from the paranormal investigator no one is ever in the house with them. Except for one shot early on, you never see the rest of the neighborhood or any of the neighbors. Not only are you isolated from what you see, but what you hear. There is no ambient sound, which you don't realize at first, but notice once you begin to analyze the film. It's just the couple and the entity who provide the audio.

With a very relatable and authentic set up you then get very simple and terrifying scares. The intensity raises a few levels every progressing night of the experience. Some nights it's not as bad as the last, but it's definitely not any better and eventually it just gets worse. All the events take place at night, but eventually move into the day. Making things just that much more scary. The experiences are subtle and effective. Never over the top and never too elaborate. Without giving anything away, the haunting or demonic infestation or possession or whatever you want to call it is very real. The sights and sounds are what you come to expect of such an event. It's what you hear from accounts of any paranormal activity. The phenomenon
escalates from mundane to very supernatural, but with a natural progression. As you watch you begin to feel this impending doom and that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Sunday's viewing was the first time I had a unified audience experience. If someone jumped we all did. We all held our breath together and eventually let go with relief. It was like being around a camp fire and hearing a spooky story, you know, where you jump at the end. Although I never experienced that being from LA. This movie may be the closest I come to being led around like a Cub Scout.

Dead

Micron Drawing & Digital Color
5" x 7"

Recently I watched Shaun of the Dead again. Michelle had yet to see it, so I thought it would be nice for her to check it out. She really enjoyed it.

During this maybe third or fourth viewing I began to realize just how clever the social commentary is, on a few levels. One of which is simply, through routine and repetition in our daily lives we kind of already are zombies. Secondly, the fact that we are all kind of oblivious to the goings on in our world. If there were some zombie infestation, just how many of us would know it right away? The last thing I feel a personal connection to is Shaun's need to have to break out of his routine. This happens but only under extreme circumstances, and that shouldn't have to be the case. Just realize the need for change.

Saw

Micron Drawing & Digital Color
5" x 7"

The other day I began thinking to myself how can I make things a little different? I came to the conclusion that maybe instead of one drawing I make a series of drawings for any particular film franchise. The first franchise I decided to focus on was Saw.

Above are just traps from the first five films, Billy and the antagonist Jigsaw.

To be perfectly honest I really do enjoy the Saw series, but at this point I haven't been able to keep up with the ever evolving story. As a pure horror film it's fun and entertaining. How the plot grows from movie to movie I couldn't tell you. There are too many constant twists and surprises to keep track of.

And to be honest, I think seeing all the traps in a sequence at the Hollywood Horror Nights' maze might have had something to do with my decision to do this.

Tricks

Pen Drawing & Digital Illustration
11" x 17"

An anthology of horror.

Halloween has many tricks 'n treats for everyone.

Sometimes things aren't quite what they seem.