In early March, I spent a weekend in Chicago to show my work at the Sci-Fi Spectacular and to meet director Frank Henenlotter. The Spectacular is an annual movie marathon that was 24 hours this year, screening mostly 35mm prints of classic horror and sci-fi movies. These festivals are great for meeting a lot of different people who love this weird stuff and it's always nice to meet fans in person. Not to mention seeing all my Chicago buddies!! I displayed my monster paintings new and old, art prints, shirts, knickknacks, and my new illustrated book.
Firstly, I came to the Portage Theater on Friday night as a fan. Spent time with my wife and friends watching the Basket Case trilogy with an introduction by Frank Henenlotter. How cool is that for a Friday night? Frank's also made some fun body horror flicks like Frankenhooker and Brain Damage!
Frank discussed how he really didn't have plans or ideas for Basket Case 4 until very recently. The ideas seem to be brewing in his head now, so maybe this could very well happen someday. Independent projects are really hard to get off the ground, which is something he's struggled with a lot. Of course, any horror fan will say his work is amazing, disturbingly gross and hilarious all in one, so he's definitely got our support!
On Saturday, Henenlotter was around for quite a while throughout the day meeting fans at the Spectacular and introduced Brain Damage early in the evening with a hilarious Q&A! He stressed how important absurdity in horror is for making you laugh. He uses very loose outlines of scripts and mostly wings it. He's totally into handmade horror, which is hard to do properly without at least a decent-sized budget. His movies are visceral, gross, and wildly comical. He said he got tired and bored when doing stop motion, so he'd just kick the props! But it works for him. I love no matter what he does. It was extremely cool meeting him!
Here's my BASKET CASE painting!
Tags: Basket Case,
Chicago,
Chicago Film Fest,
Frank Henenlotter,
horror,
Horror 35mm,
Horror Art,
Portage Theater,
sci fi fest,
Sci-Fi Spectacular,
science fiction 
Step 2: I sketch in all the main character elements that are important to the composition. Here is the time I think about size and eye flow in a painting. Still working monochromatic at this point.
Step 3: This is the final stage in the underpainting. The background elements go in and the final shading occurs. Once dry, I begin color application.
Step 4: The final color stage as well as painting the really small details and highlights comes in here. This is the fun part, when you get to see a painting come together.
And that is generally the basic structure for how my painting process works each time. It may seem difficult to others, but it works very well for me. If you have any other questions, always feel free to ask! I love what I do and wouldn't change a thing. The most important thing for each artist is to find one's own style. What works for you may not work for others. Whatever process feels most comfortable is the right one for you.
You can find me on Facebook at Horror Artist Chris Kuchta's Gallery of the Macabre and on Twitter at @Bloodedemon. Also DeviantART as bloodedemon and I'm now on Pinterest.
