Tag: Art
Spooky Empire May-Hem Convention
I'm in Florida right now for Spooky Empire's May-Hem Convention in Orlando this weekend and I'm hoping to see some of you there! Halloween Extreme is included this year, which is a Halloween, horror and haunted house extravaganza. There's also a tattoo festival, a zombie paintball shoot, a zombie prom, a pumpkin carving contest, trick-or-treating for kids, artist demos, and a lot more. It's a great time and I'd like to see more familiar faces at this event!
I'll be vending my art as usual, so be sure to come by my booth! Here are a few new charcoal sketches that will be for sale at the show this weekend:
SEE YOU THERE!!!
Mondo Poster Art Sale
Mondo has been releasing some outstanding works of art lately with poster sales to die for. I've always been a fan, but the recent horror prints are flat-out amazing. Three horror-themed prints will drop May 23rd (today) for sale on their site and they are FANTASTIC. I had a table at Texas Frightmare this year and was lucky enough to see these posters in person. Wish I could say that I contributed, but nope. I can only dream about this happening someday. Would kill to work with them!
The three new prints releasing are: WHITE ZOMBIE by Ghoulish Gary Pullin, THE THING by Randy Ortiz, and SON OF FRANKENSTEIN by Rich Kelly. I bought them ALL at Frightmare! You can view close-up teasers HERE and the official announcement of the sale with images is HERE. Pictured below is Gary Pullin's beautiful White Zombie piece that he shared on his artist Facebook page.
Other Mondo posters that blew me away were Jason Edmiston's really sweet EVIL DEAD 2 illustration and Randy Ortiz' killer ARMY OF DARKNESS poster. Check those out HERE. And be sure to visit mondotees.com!
*Update! According to the Mondo Twitter page, all 3 prints sold out within a few MINUTES! Wow. Well, enjoy the artwork anyway! Check the artist's sites for info on how to obtain more prints in the future.
Mad Monster Party Con Exclusive Art
Mad Monster Party Con is this weekend and I've created a few drawings to be sold as limited edition, exclusive prints! The convention season has begun! Last weekend, I went to Chicago to sell my work at a 24-hour sci-fi festival and meet director Frank Henenlotter! More on that in the next blog.
Today, I'd like to show you guys some drawings that will be exclusive for the Mad Monster Party Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina March 22nd-24th.
These are limited edition prints so keep that in mind when at the show! It's a great time and I look forward to seeing everyone again. As always, please stop by my table to say hi or just discuss movies! Check out the crazy list of guests here! Or check out my previous blog about this convention and the guests I'm looking forward to seeing right here! I will also have some copies of my new illustrated book as well!
Mad Monster Party is on Facebook!
Mad Monster Party Website
Hope to see you there!
John Dies at the End with Don Coscarelli
Last weekend, I saw John Dies at the End which was presented by the director himself, Don Coscarelli! My wife and I made a trip into Chicago to see it at the Music Box Theatre. As you can see in the picture below, I was too busy chatting him up to think about posing. It happens! He's really nice and he signed some autographs for me. Cool guy. It was also great to hang out with some of my fantastic Chicago horror friends.
The movie is pretty good. It leans more towards Coscarelli's style in Bubba Ho-Tep than in the Phantasm films. It's just a really fun, trippy horror comedy. He said he didn't put much of the book in it, though there are certain familiarities for sure. The writing reminded me of A Scanner Darkly due to the snappy dialogue. The special effects are great. If I had to criticize anything, the friendship between the lead guys didn't feel very strong compared to the book. That gives some disconnect, but the movie was still damn enjoyable. It also has a Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer tone to it, too. I suppose it has a little bit of everything. Go see it!
Another cool thing about John Dies at the End... Besides fun appearances by Doug Jones, Angus Scrimm, and Daniel Roebuck, one of my favorite modern illustrators worked on it! David Hartman aka “Sideshow Monkey” was the animator and he also acted as one of the spider victims! He's worked with Coscarelli before with Bubba Ho-Tep as an illustrator and the visual effects supervisor. Hartman does magnificent work. Check out his website here: Sideshowmonkey.com
I've done a few Phantasm paintings in the past. Here's a color piece of The Tall Man!
Favorite Movies of 2012
The year 2012 was a great one in many ways, be it movies, art, or events. Art-wise, I had some interviews go to print, most notably with an awesome piece written by fellow artist Ghoulish Gary Pullin for Rue Morgue Magazine. I just released a debut book that is a complete portfolio of all my work, titled In Vivid Red: Horror Art By Chris Kuchta. I also did some concept art for a few projects that can't yet be discussed in case they end up happening! My career flourished as I pushed myself to be on the ball as much as possible. It wasn't easy, but I hit a good twenty or so conventions to display and sell my work, which required busting serious ass to get a new painting ready for each show. I like to offer something new each time. It was hard and stressful in many ways, but totally worth it. I cannot stress enough that hard work ALWAYS pays off. Between all the travel and nights in my studio, teaching, and whatnot, free time was sparse. But when I had it, you can bet your ass I spent it watching movies!!
I enjoyed a lot of the films I caught last year, so I'll list off a few that really knocked it out of the park for me.
THE AVENGERS - What else is there to say besides HELL, YEAH! Everything about it was phenomenal. It was everything I expected to see and more. I liked all the individual Marvel films leading up to this epic battle of all battles, but this just blew me away.
PROMETHEUS - I personally thought Ridley Scott did a great job on this, even if the first half was a bit on the slow side. It was amazing to see in the theater.
THE CABIN IN THE WOODS - Possibly the best horror movie to come out in 2012. It was designed so perfectly. I loved the literal destruction of stereotypes and challenge for others to come up with something new. The creatures making havoc all over the damn place was unbelievably cool.
THE WOMAN IN BLACK - This was a great take on the story and didn't harm the memory of the original film in any way. The gothic scenery and costumes were spot on, and it was damn creepy!
THE DEAD - I thought this was great. It had an old school quality to it, which was probably the lack of CGI regarding the zombies. It reminded me of Fulci's stuff and it had that distinct bleak feel to it. Check it out!
THE RAID - This was just plain AWESOME. The martial arts are unbelievable. It's got a really simple plot, but it doesn't need any more than that, due to the unparalleled explosion of action! The cinematography should win awards. The cameraman literally injects pure kung fu right into your eye sockets!
EXIT HUMANITY - I really enjoyed this, especially for the inclusion of art within the film as used for telling the story. I did a blog post on this HERE.
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES - Just a stellar movie all around. Great way to finalize things.
THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 - Oh, come on. This was so wild, you gotta love it!
V/H/S - Most of this was pretty good. I think it's the only found footage anthology that exists.
FATHER'S DAY - Oh, yeah! As wild as it gets. I love this stuff. It reminded me of Hobo With a Shotgun a lot.
DEAR GOD NO! - Another crazy exploitation horror movie that has to be seen to be believed! Most of the guys in this are not actors, but real bikers!
DEAD WEIGHT - A friend co-directed this Wisconsin-shot, independent film, and I seriously recommend it! It's about survival and the evil of man above all things. That even a zombie apocalypse can be the least of your worries sometimes.
SINISTER - Not extremely original, but it was simply done very well. Creepy!
TUCKER AND DALE - How hilarious was this? I caught this at a festival and was glad I did.
Those were the standouts! I also enjoyed The Moth Diaries, The Innkeepers, The Hole, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, and The Divide. Movies I REGRET watching are: Apollo 18, Red Riding Hood, Monster Brawl, The Devil Inside, Incubus, Underworld: Awakening, the new Resident Evil, and TCM3D royally sucked! These all really missed the mark on so many levels. I try to be pretty open-minded when it comes to movies, but these were just total messes.
2013 films I look forward to: Iron Man 3, Pacific Rim, Mama, Carrie, Lords of Salem, Star Trek, Wolverine, Frankenstein Created Bikers (Dear God No sequel!) and I, Frankenstein!
It's probably pretty obvious what a huge movie fan I am just by looking at my art. Besides for entertainment, movies are great sources of inspiration for me. I may even put a whole damn movie or all the characters in one painting! An example of this would be my BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA piece!
Rue Morgue Interview
I have some cool news! The November issue of Rue Morgue contains an interview with yours truly! The very talented horror artist, Ghoulish Gary Pullin, interviewed me for his “Fright Gallery” column, and I feel extremely honored. The piece is titled, “The Cult of Chris Kuchta.” This magazine is one of the best out there, and this is really exciting for me. It happened at a perfect time. Check out Gary's work here: ghoulishgary.com
Hope you guys get a chance to check it out!
Charcoal Sketches 2012
I've been doing a lot of charcoal sketches lately as raffle art prizes at the conventions I've been set up at this fall. It really helps when you have a set deadline. I know that I've got to get it done by the next show, which has been pretty much every weekend for a few months now. ALMOST every weekend. So, I've got a lot of these! I'm going to talk a bit about the process while posting images along the way. Hope you enjoy.
Charcoal drawings are an exercise in the study of form in light. If you're learning how to paint, it may help to practice drawing a few charcoal sketches to get the hang of it. I like the medium a lot because the classic monsters I draw are already filmed in black and white, so it just feels right. It also makes the modern characters like Leatherface look creepy.
First, I sketch the contours and general shaping of my subject, then I focus on lighting and texture. I use a technique ,called reductive drawing, which matches my under-painting technique. I just pre-tone the board then erase the highlights and strengthen the darks. It's really pretty simple once you get the hang of it. You can switch up your charcoals between hard and soft, and between using pencils, sticks or vines. Vine charcoal is very soft and works wonders when you want clothing or fabric to appear believable.
Working in charcoal is great because of all the variation in tone you can get. You have such a high range of tones that the whole spectrum is there at your fingertips. I use both kneaded erasers and a makeup applicator, or even white charcoal pencil once in a while for adding highlights. To finish your piece, spray it with a fixative to prevent smudging.
There are a handful of ways to use charcoal effectively, so in this case, everything isn't always black and white!
Artist Influences: Jack Kirby
August 28th would've been Jack Kirby's 95th birthday, so I thought this week's blog should be a little tribute to one of my favorite artists since childhood. Gone, but not forgotten. He was an American comic book artist whose illustrations inspired many fans like myself, and his legacy of creativity still influences artists today. He was basically a pioneer in the world of comics. Kirby was part of the creative conception behind Captain America in 1940. He pretty much created the majority of the cast of Marvel characters, despite an ongoing copyright war between his family and Marvel, who owns all of his character creations. Kirby worked for Marvel, DC Comics, and worked with Stan Lee in co-creating characters like The Fantastic Four and X-Men.
Just look at this Captain America illustration. It's pretty obvious why Jack Kirby is known as “The King of Comics!” He was an artistic badass! His exciting visual style and illustrative dynamism made his work stand out compared to other comic artists. The angles and consistent action in each panel makes it feel as if you're right there in the story as it's happening. His work has a lot of movement.
Jack's legacy truly does live on, not only in our hearts, but there's a great place called the Kirby Museum. It's got a huge archive of his work on there, where they're doing a really great job of educating the masses about his career, art, and inspirations. Check it out and enjoy! kirbymuseum.org
On Jack's birthday this year, his granddaughter, Jillian Kirby, ran a campaign called Kirby4Heroes. Funds donated to this on August 28th went to the Hero Initiative organization, a non-profit charity which raises funds for aiding comic book creators, artists, and writers in medical or financial need. It's a unique organization with a noble cause.
Another really cool event revolving around Jack's 95th birthday this year was the “Wake Up and Draw” project. On August 28th, fans could keep up with the art on Twitter using the #WakeUpAndDraw hashtag. The Hero Initiative recruited 100 artists to contribute. Check out their art HERE. Furthermore, just this week on September 18th, an auction has begun for the Wake Up and Draw art contributions! The auction runs four weeks. Wanna bid? Register for free at ComicArtFans.com!
Jack Kirby's work is so relevant today in so many ways, it's astounding. There's a new movie coming out soon called ARGO, directed by Ben Affleck. It's based off of a true story about a CIA rescue attempt to save six Americans hiding out in a Canadian Ambassador's home during the Iran hostage crisis. They convinced Iran that those six people were actually part of a sci-fi film crew, scouting for a movie titled Argo! It gets better. The CIA's fake production company used real designs by JACK KIRBY, stolen from the work he'd submitted for a film! It was Jack's art that helped these hostages successfully escape Iran! Nuts! I have to see this movie!!!
I'll finish this post with my painting of Ash. He's pretty much a superhero in his own right. I wanted to convey a sense of urgency in the action, to get that feeling one gets while looking at a Kirby action piece, with the hero in the foreground and chaos exploding around him.
Lastly, I may or may not have mentioned that I've been working on a comic book this summer! Things still haven't been finalized, so I'm not at legal liberty to make any official announcements, but fans of the macabre will enjoy it if everything pans out as planned. I am extremely excited to be working with the people behind this project. Can't wait to tell you guys about it!
Also I would like to go on record to say that my favorite Kirby comics are as follows: The Demon, Kamandi , New Gods, and Captain America!
HEY! This weekend, I will be in Pittsburgh at HORROR REALM! Hope to meet more fans there!
Artist Influences: Rembrandt
The Artist Influences series is going to be about the top artists who left a great impression on me over the years. I can think of a top ten list right off the top of my head. Let's start with a classic painter.
One of the many artists I took a great deal of inspiration from is Rembrandt. Let me just say that if I had a name like Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, I'd just go by my first name, too! Easier, right? Funny, I have the opposite problem where people have a hard time pronouncing my last name!
Despite being a tortured artist from life dumping endless misfortunes on he and his family, he continually whipped out brilliant stuff. Light, texture, sense of space, and atmosphere are elements he excelled in.
Also it bears mentioning that his process of painting, the dutch -Flemish style, is the one that I have largely adopted to create all of my personal paintings.
With Rembrandt, it's all about the lighting. See how well it works in the Night Watch painting above. Studying his work immediately impressed the notion of how very important it is to capture lighting within a painting. It makes the subjects feel more 3-dimensional and less flat. It's also a great way to highlight your key players in a piece with a lot of characters in it. Shine ’em up to make sure they become the stars of the piece.
Carcass of Beef (Pictured below) is a painting that most closely resembles my style, especially in relation to my sepia paintings. Mmm... Dead ox for dinner!
I haven't really gotten the bug to do a ton of self-portraits like Rembrandt did. I've sketched a few, but for now, I'm more obsessed with painting as many of my favorite monsters as possible. Guess I'm not a monster... Yet!
I'll leave you with a painting I feel expresses my interest in examining light rather well. It's definitely much more colorful, but I'm proud of all the little lighting nuances in my Candyman piece.