[00] COUNTDOWN to HALLOWEEN: Zombie Walk of Fame

HAPPY HALLOWEEN from DREGstudios!

I have another sample for you today fresh off the Zombie Walk of Fame. Your preview is a real front-runner for my own personal favorite zombification from this new series. I had a delightfully good time sketching her out. I had to make myself stop laughing to hold the pen steady (a few times.) This is why I do what I do- the pure pleasure is the reward of it all. To share my reward with you, here's Miss Shirley Temple...

Shirley Temple starred in her first motion picture at the age of 3 in 1932 and received an Academy Award just three years later at the age of 6. The young girl was also turned into one of the first marketing icons of the 20th century. By the age of 9 she was making over $200,000 a year from merchandising (opposed to her $50K/YR from acting.) Sales of the Shirley Temple doll reached $45 million by 1941. These were astronomical numbers for the time. Her films and image itself were very important because of their social impact during the great depression. They provided a much-needed injection of optimism into a bruised, broken, and starving lower and middle class America.

"It is a splendid thing that for just fifteen cents an American can go to a movie and look at the smiling face of a baby and forget his troubles."

-Franklin D. Roosevelt

I don't know about you but I get a warm feeling inside seeing her like this. I see a bright future and all my burdens have washed away. I've got about 12 more outlines to do and 101 portraits to color. I may begin getting dark around the eyes and if you catch me licking my lips as I stare at your hairline the next time we meet, well... you may be the next to get a star on The Zombie Walk of Fame.

P.S.
Watch the Facebook fan page on Election Day to vote for who I do for the 101st celebrity zombie. I goofed up my Sandra Bullock (no big loss... now YOU get to choose... and why? because I love you and none of my friends care about Sandra Bullock.)

UPDATE:

The votes are in and tallied and the winner is Lassie! I'll be sketching her out in the coming weeks to round out the 101 Walk of Fame Zombies. The nominees which she beat out for the last spot were Wesley Snipes, David Spade, Chuck Norris, and Elizabeth Taylor.

[01] COUNTDOWN to HALLOWEEN: Zombie Walk of Fame

One more day until Halloween! I'll be getting my devil on soon and have a special post for you tomorrow if I survive the party Saturday night with all the creeps, goblins, and weirdos I know (which quite frankly makes me scared to death of the holiday.) If you're just joining in, we've been counting down for the past two weeks to Halloween 2010 with sketches and in-progress drawings from my upcoming Zombie Walk of Fame series. I'm taking stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and zombifying them for your amusement.

May I present to you a preview of one of the crown jewels of this collection of illustrations, Winnie the Pooh. This cuddly Pooh bear was created by A. A. Milne in the 1920's. Disney eventually turned the character into their own little empire of animation and licensing. The cartoon has become a world-wide phenomenon and Milne's books have been translated into many different languages (weird factoid: the Latin version is the only Latin-language book to ever be on the New York Times Best Seller list). The stories of this series are literally drawn from real life based on Milne's son Christopher Robin and his toy Pooh bear named Winnie. Pooh was given his signature red shirt in color in the 30's and by the 1940's the stuffed Pooh bear was a popular and widely marketed children's toy. My Pooh is stuffed all right... he has an uncontrollable appetite for brains and I think his eyes got bigger than his belly so to speak.

Winnie the Pooh Zombie sketch and line work (finished this evening)

[02] COUNTDOWN to HALLOWEEN: Zombie Walk of Fame

Here is your promised treat to end up your work week... these are just some of my Zombie Walk of Fame Divas! Get a good long gander boys... don't they look enticing? They'll look even better blown out in full color over the next few months. From the 101 Zombies featured in this series, I had a hard time narrowing it down for this post tonight. Among those that didn't even make the cut were Marilyn Monroe, Winona Ryder, Betty Grable, and others. I envy your fresh eyes, enjoy...

Audrey Hepburn
Zombie line work

Audrey Hepburn was THE starlet of Hollywood in the 1950's and early 60's. She starred along side literally every leading man in the film industry in her day. Hepburn's last motion picture role, a cameo appearance, was as an angel in a Steven Spielberg's Always, filmed in 1988. She dedicated most of her latter life to humanitarianism in the world abroad. Marilyn is famous for singing Happy Birthday, Mr. President to JFK but Audrey sang at what turned out to be his last birthday one year later in 1953. She sang Happy Birthday, Dear Jack... a creeepy fact to start you down the Zombie Walk of Fame tonight.

[03] COUNTDOWN to HALLOWEEN: Zombie Walk of Fame

I have one more team-up for you tonight before I get to our divas of the 101 stars I've chosen to get my own special brain-biting treatment down here in Dreg Town on the Zombie Walk of Fame. I'll be looking to schedule my exhibit for this series sometime in 2011-2012 to coincide with a book release of the entire series. For now, your sneak peak tonight is frakin' awesome if I do say so myself...

My zombie sketches for Edward James Olmos and Dean Stockwell, who starred together in Ronald D. Moore's re-visioning of Battlestar Galactica.

[04] COUNTDOWN to HALLOWEEN: Zombie Walk of Fame

Tonight's stars from the Zombie Walk of Fame are the classic comedy duo of Abbott and Costello. Originally burlesque comics (both married burlesque performers also), Bud Abbott and Lou Costello became the most popular comedy act in show biz in the 1940's and 1950's. Check out the preview of this work in progress...

Abbott and Costello Zombies Sketch and Outlines (Line work completed this evening)

[05] COUNTDOWN to HALLOWEEN: Zombie Walk of Fame

Tonight the Zombie Walk of Fame features Anthony Perkins. Alfred Hitchock made Perkins famous in the role of Norman Bates for his 1960 shocking thriller, Psycho.

(Initial Sketch and Linework of my Anthony Perkins Zombie)

[06] COUNTDOWN to HALLOWEEN: Zombie Walk of Fame

Theodor Geisel wrote and illustrated some of the most famous children's books of all time under the pseudonyms Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone. Geisel's work as Dr. Seuss has been adapted into broadway musicals, television specials, and more recently, feature films. The Dr. Seuss name appears on Geisel's star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame.

As we keep down our dark path tonight, I present you with my Dr. Seuss Zombie sketch and linework from my upcoming Zombie Walk of Fame series (in progress.) This was one of the first names that popped out at me when I initially browsed through the list of stars who have the honor (or dishonor) of having a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Geisel was one of the first celebrities I sketched. And yes, those WILL be green eggs and brains pouring out of the hat!

Zombie Dr Seuss Sketch and Lines (2010)

"Kids can see a moral coming a mile off." -Dr. Seuss

[07] COUNTDOWN to HALLOWEEN: Zombie Walk of Fame

One week to go until Halloween and we keep our journey afloat down the river of filth and gore that is The Zombie Walk of Fame...

Tonight's featured guest from my who's who of celebrity zombiedom is none other than Vincent Price. My newest pick for your previewing pleasure has a long history of lending his talents to the horror genre of the film industy. My personal favorite is The Last Man on Earth (1964), the original film adaptation of the Richard Matheson novel, I Am Legend.

[08] COUNTDOWN to HALLOWEEN: Zombie Walk of Fame

Since I catered to the Treksters last night, tonight we'll check out two actors from the original trilogy, Star Wars as we count down eight more days to finish your costumes and get your pumpkins carved. Both the Star Trek and Star Wars universes are licensing titans which make money with or without new on-screen material via toys, comics, novels, games, and you guessed it, costumes.

[09] COUNTDOWN to HALLOWEEN: Zombie Walk of Fame

Tonight's post is a Trekkie's wet zombie dream. We keep truckin' down the Zombie Walk of Fame with my sketches of both William Shatner and Patrick Stewart. I've teamed them up tonight in their zombie forms for your previewing pleasure. Sci-fi geeks world-wide have been dressing up as Star Trek characters since the shows inception in the 60's (and now not just for Halloween with the convention scenes).

[10] COUNTDOWN to HALLOWEEN: Zombie Walk of Fame

10 days until Halloween and I have a another preview for you from my new project, Zombie Walk of Fame: 101 Celebrity Zombie Portraits. Tonight's selection for our countdown is Sir Anthony Hopkins.




Anthony Hopkins Zombie Sketch

[11] COUNTDOWN to HALLOWEEN: Zombie Walk of Fame

On October 30, 1938, Mercury Theater on the Air caused a national panic with their production of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds for their Halloween broadcast directed and narrated by Orson Welles. More than the first half of their show was presented as a news bulletin that aliens had landed and were invading the United States.




Orson Welles Zombie Sketch
from my upcoming Zombie Walk of Fame series.

[12] COUNTDOWN to HALLOWEEN: Zombie Walk of Fame

The featured sketch of tonight's countdown is everyone's favorite prime time animated family, The Simpsons. Homer, Marge, Maggie, Bart, and Lisa are just a few of several cartoon characters I had the pleasure of zombifying including Kermit the Frog, Woody Woodpecker, Winnie the Pooh, and Donald Duck (which rounded out my Disney works from the 5 Themes/15 Artists show earlier this year.) Here is the initial sketch and the outline I finished up just a moment ago...

[13] COUNTDOWN to HALLOWEEN: Zombie Walk of Fame

We're going to countdown to Halloween 2010 here at DREGstudios with a sneak peak at what's literally on the drawing table right now... ZOMBIE WALK OF FAME! I've done my preliminary sketches for 101 celebrities from the Hollywood Walk of Fame and dismembered, shot, gored, seared, and otherwise zombiefied each and every one of them for a book I plan on making next year.

Nooooow I have 101 zombies to outline and color and lose sleep over via zombie-inspired nightmares over the next few months. My long torturous road ahead does not however hinder you from enjoying my progress. I'm going to feature a zombie (or zombies) each day until the 31st! Now keep in mind, these are just my rough sketches. They'll be blown out with my colors very very soon...



[13] Every zombie has to start somewhere right? I mean you don't just get fame and fortune and everything that goes over night. Your first sampling of the sketches from my new series tonight involve celebrities whom started their film career in some of the most classic horror movies of our time.

Kevin Bacon is one of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood today (hence the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon). His first motion picture role was in 1980 in the original Friday the 13th.

Presenting Mr. and Mrs. Landry...

I had the honor of being a guest at my dear friends' wedding last night. I've known Olivia for several years now as a friend and fellow artist. I wanted to do something special for her and her groom. Here is their wedding present which I drew up a few weeks back and got framed for them. Olivia's constant companion, Scrappy is posed in her arms and Luke with his guitar.

The newlyweds also got another gift of art as there were four easels with canvases set up at the reception for guests to paint and fill in what was a four panel Day of the Dead style wedding portrait for them to take home! Here are some pics of the process...

This is one of the neatest things I've ever seen at a wedding! It's the details that make something like this really fun. Pictures of the bride and groom were pasted on the paints...



Aurora and Academic Elite Brad Reagan filling in some colors...



Marathon Village provided an intimate atmosphere for their reception with a gorgeous view of the Nashville skyline. Joe Davidson touching things up (this guy is all class)...



Here is the final product after several hours and dozens of artists worked the canvases. What a cool gift to mark the occasion. Congrats guys! We love you both!

Young Blood Gallery's Day of the Dead Exhibit

This month, Young Blood Gallery and Boutique in Atlanta will be hosting a Day of the Dead themed group exhibit where over 70 artists will be painting and working with miniature coffins crafted by the gallery for their exhibit.


When I read about this exhibit a few months back, I knew I had to get in on the action. What a neat concept! Tracy at the gallery was nice enough to work with me and get a coffin shipped out several weeks back. I did my coffin up DREGstudios! style over this past weekend. Here are some pics of the process start to finish...


The coffin was completely raw when it arrived. I used some wood filler to smooth things out before I got to painting...






After getting my coffin prepped, I laid my base colors down and accented my roses for the inside with spray paint...




And now to work on the center-piece for the coffin which is a 2"x3" illustration to go inside a frame I got to hang inside!


Now to get everything together and decorated! Aurora lent some beads from her jewelry-making stash and we dissected some flowers I got...






Let the candle burn for a minute for effect...




Sketching the pattern of skulls and hearts for the outside of my coffin in pastel. I painted these on tonight when I got home from work to finish things up!



What a great show and concept. My coffin will be in back in route to Atlanta this week for the exhibit which opens Saturday night, October 30th at Young Blood. Make sure to check out this unique exhibit if you're in the area! You can get all the details here on the poster including how to drop by the gallery that afternoon for a lesson on making your own sugar skulls before the show!

I'll also have work in the upcoming Day of the Dead exhibit at Kustom Thrills in Nashville! Leave a comment and let me know what you think of my coffin for the Atlanta show!

In Their Boots on PBS

Almost two years ago, I had the honor of being interviewed along with local artist Charles Bennett as well as political activist and artist Debbie Boen for PBS's documentary series, In Their Boots, which focuses on the struggles and lives of our military and their families.

I owe a thanks to Debbie for roping us in on this project. Debbie and I were acquainted as artists through a political exhibit and open-mic event I curated with Gikuyu Wamuiru back in 2006, entitled Tour of Wurdz: Let's Get Political. Debbie really set the show off since most of her work is politically themed. You can read more about Debbie's work and efforts as an activist in an article posted today by Business Clarksville. She has a fabulous life-size cutout of George W. Bush with a voice bubble where you can choose from dozens of famous blooper Bush quotes. After choosing your quote, we would take pictures of patrons of the exhibit posing with Bush. Debbie and I went on to work together on a few more political exhibits I curated including "How I Learned to Stop Worrying..." and "We the People" (both at The Icehouse Cafe.)

The episode of In Their Boots we were interviewed for which was simply entitled "Clarksville" aired recently and is available to view online. My hometown of Clarksville, TN borders Fort Campbell, KY which has been home to the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army since World War II. Clarksville is considered a military town rich with such heritage. Countless military families have made a permanent home here after serving in the armed forces. This show takes on many aspects of being a military town including artists and how they interpret their feelings about and toward the war and our troops. While Charles and I are in the documentary with Debbie, our verbiage ended up on the editing room floor. Debbie had some wonderful things to say about the artistic process in regards to their subject and I hope you all take a chance to see the show...

DRACULA: opening this week!

Blacula (inks on bristol / 2010)

A few weeks back, I gave you a sneak peek at some sketches of my vampires for the upcoming DRACULA exhibit featuring new works from myself and Charles Bennett. Here is your glimpse at the books we had made for the show as well as some of my framed illustrations ready for the walls of The Roxy Regional Theater!

The exhibit will run through the month of October along with the theater's production of a musical version of Dracula. Here are a few of the works I framed today including a collaborative piece I did with Charles of Count Orlok, Blacula, and Grandpa Munster and many more...






We'll have a limited edition of 25 books available at the opening reception on Thursday, October 7th during Clarksville's Downtown Art Walk! The books will each be $25 (48 FULL color pages, magazine sized, with artist statements explaining the history of our subjects and how they influenced as well as inspired each piece of artwork.

Personalized Signature!