Oliver Reed's Werewolf - An Artist's Dream

For classic horror artists, there are certain characters that just beg to be rendered. Lon Chaney's PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, Boris Karloff's FRANKENSTEIN monster and Vincent Price's ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES are three that immediately come to mind. Oliver Reed's lycanthrope is another, because of Roy Ashton's unique makeup and the torn, romantic costume he wears. How can an artist resist a werewolf in a red cumberbund?

The proof is below, which two recent pieces from myself and the Mozart of monster sculpture Mike Hill. Mine is done in watercolors, his done in all sorts of materials. Both capture the essence of the character, who only is seen in the final 20 minutes of the Hammer film.

Mike's sculpture is built upon actor Oliver Reed's actual features, which is why is it so spectacular. Without a doubt, you can see Ollie in the eyes.

I liked the idea of making this watercolor look kind of like a tarot card. Werewolves in cinema have been linked to gypsies and fortune tellers since Curt Soidmak's screenplay for THE WOLF MAN in 1941.

A Quasiwatercolor!

After a year of almost continuous professional work, as both an artist and screenwriter, it's nice to have a few days to just kick back and do some artwork for myself. Today I broke out the watercolors and dove into yet another Lon Chaney Sr. piece. As I've said before, watercolor is probably the most challenging of mediums, as there is little room for error. But today I was relaxed, and the colors flowed peacefully. I know that after the New Year I'll be back in full work mode, so I really appreciated the opportunity to just do what I love to do.

Keep Watching The Skies!

Bill Warren's newly revised, 2009 edition of his highly respected guide to 1950's sci-fi movies has a new face and some nifty Sketchy Things within!

Tor Johnson and Bela Lugosi plan a
BRIDE OF THE MONSTER.

Now available from McFarland is Bill's third redux of KEEP WATCHING THE SKIES, and it is seven pounds of sci-fi geek heaven. Filled with in-depth analysis' of hundreds of fantastic films, from the sublime to the ridiculous. Thankfully, Bill asked me to contribute some sublimely ridiculous sketches to this terrific volume, and even allowed me to pick the films I wanted to illustrate. The results are some of my favorite Sketchy Things caricatures ever.

Michael Gough contemplates the

HORRORS OF THE BLACK MUSEUM.

KEEP WATCHING THE SKIES! is available through Barnes and Noble, Overstock.com and many other book outlets. It also has a Rondo-worthy dust jacket cover by my friend, the super-talented Kerry Gammill. See how many of the cover beasties you can recognize!

Kudos to Bill for a fantastic and necessary reference for all students of classic sci-fi and horror films. Klaatu Barrada Nikto!

The Almost Last Painting Of The Decade

As the decade draws (yes, pun intended) to a close, I want to thank all my friends and fans for continuing to support my work. Without you folks, all this artwork would be for my eyes only, and that would be not nearly as fun.

I still have a few days before the ball drops (uncomfortable expression, isn't it?), so I may have time to finish one more oil painting...but in the meantime, here's one that I finished yesterday. I wanted to capture that moment, just after Mary Philbin snatches Lon Chaney's mask from his twisted face, and he turns and glares at her in accusational rage. The shot in the film is slightly out of focus, which somehow makes it more nightmarish.

The "soft focus" effect here is easily accomplished. While the oils are still wet on the canvas, I take a fan brush and very lightly drag the brush over the paint. I dry-wipe the brush clean after each stroke. I work in one diagonal direction, and then the other. The key is not to put any pressure on the brush as it sweeps over the paint, just let gravity do it's thing. The result is an eerie, soft glow, which is a pretty cool effect.

I use this technique on almost all my oil paintings, usually after the tones have been laid down. It helps me see that the general shapes of the tones are correct. In most paintings, however, I continue to refine after that. This PHANTOM OF THE OPERA didn't need much else, except a little tweaking in the eyes.

Happy Holidays!

Happy Birthday to Me, 2009!

So amidst all of the craziness this last three months hath wraught, I happened to hit the half-century mark. I turned 50 years old in October, which is still hard for me to believe. But my friends did their best to make my transition to a pentagenarian a smooth and painless one.

Below are a few of the treasured gifts I received from my rather notable friends.

From Bernie Wrightson and his lovely wife, Liz - an original birthday sketch:

From LOST SKELETON director Larry Blamire - my LOST SKELETON RETURNS AGAIN character gets his own vintage comic book! Or at least the cover...

From my other pal, David J. Schow - the limited edition hardcover of REYNOLD BROWN, by Daniel Zimmer and David J. Hornung, which showcases the artistry of the man who created all of the cool sci-fi posters of the 1950's.

Great gifts from great friends.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 Interview

Shout Factory's recent release of MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 Volume XV features a rather special extra...an interview with me and my co-star Thor on our feelings about our cult classic ZOMBIE NIGHTMARE, which is one of the episodes included in this set.

ZOMBIE NIGHTMARE has been regarded as one of the very best episodes of this terrific series, and I was more than happy to share my recollections of the experience, and my insight as to why our bad movie works so well in the MST3K format. All the reviews of this new collection have been glowing, so join the Satellite Of Love and pick up your copy before Dr. Forrester and TV's Frank find a way to sabotage its wonder...

"Who put the 12-year-old in charge of the investigation?"

Unmasking Dr. Phibes Part 2

Okay, so now it's time to let the lights shine. I squint at the reference photos to determine where the light areas really stand out. Squinting makes it easier to recognize the tones as either light, middle or dark. Using an electric eraser, I begin by blocking out the areas that are going to be lighter. You'll notice that these are mostly small areas. In the following step, these will be softened to create a real sense of depth.

Now a kneaded eraser is used to gently soften the edges of the highlights, and lighten up larger areas. This often requires a good amount of push-and-pull, but the end result creates the illusion of depth that is vital to a pencil or charcoal sketch such as this...

Finally, some last minutes rendering of the darkest darks...and a fair amount of erasing to clean up the areas surrounding the character(s), and the sketch is complete. Oh, except for the signature, of course...

...and the notorious Dr. Phibes rises again, to be matted and framed in the den of a very happy client! Thanks again to Sketchy Things fan John Lee for his wonderful taste in subject matter!