Category: Art: Watercolor

Tim Curry Art Show part II

Last week I mentioned the Tim Curry Tribute art show that the Creature Features gallery in Burbank, California, was hosting. I even teased a small portion of my painting that is in the show. Well, the show opened this past Saturday and was a SMASH!

Before I continue about the details of the show, let’s just reveal the full image of my painting called Tim Curry – A Portrait of Villainy. Seems like all the best roles we’ve come to love from this actor are those of villains. He has just been so good at chewing up the scenery with his parts. No one can deliver his lines with more panache and conviction, be over the top about it, and still be so believable as those characters. So, I chose not to focus on a character he played, so much as just portraying him as being a character of himself.

 

This is the full final piece created in watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil measuring 18×24″. The gallery has the original and prints for sale.
I did choose to represent a few of his more memorable characters in the wallpaper – characters from It, Legend, Rocky Horror, Annie, Clue, and Muppet Treasure Island.

 

Word got out a day or two before the show that LA Weekly, a local newspaper that talks about all the hip events going on around Los Angeles, named the Tim Curry show as their “Event of the Week.” The show didn’t open until 6pm, but as I drove past the gallery a little after 4, there were already two lines forming. One line to the left of all the pre-paid customers (it was $10 to get in on opening night), and a line to the right of stand-by. The gallery changed their hours for the show from 6-9pm to be from 6-11pm to try to accommodate everyone. By the time I arrived for the artists’ entrance at 5, there must have been 500-600 people waiting in line. It was crazy insane!

 

This is the pre-sale ticket line from behind the gallery. It wrapped around from the front on the right, and went down the alley. there was another long line out front going down the street just of stand-bys.

 

Of course, the biggest reason folks came to the show was to hopefully get to say hello to Tim Curry who was in the house! Tim had come earlier before the gallery was open to see all the art, which was a good thing. It allowed him freedom to move around, and not be disturbed by everyone wanting a picture with him. He went to dinner, then later came back when everyone was there, and was willing to sit in a roped off area where folks could walk by and greet him.

 

What a treat to get to meet Tim Curry and express appreciation. (Thanks to my pal Kevin MacLean for thinking to snap this shot.)

 

Inside the actual gallery rooms, it wasn’t too crowded. They allowed in enough people to make the show navigable, and as folks left, more could come in. A lot of originals were being sold, as well as lots of prints of some of the art. I didn’t stay the whole night, so I assume that my painting is still available for sale, and if you aren’t into having a huge piece of art hanging in your home, they are selling modestly sized prints that I hand-signed. Feel free to contact the gallery if you are interested in getting one. CLICK HERE to access Creature Features’ website.

 

The gallery at Creature Features.

 

So, without further ado, below are some photos I took of the show to give you a little taste. The show will be on display until March 11, and it is free to attend now after the opening, so if you are local to Burbank, stop on in and check it out!

 

Former Disney and Dreamworks animator Kathy Zielinski, former Dreamworks and current Disney animator Kevin MacLean, and then yours truly.
The pencil drawings are by Kathy Zielinski from her time working on Ferngully: The Last Rainforest for which Tim Curry performed a voice.
A terrific entry celebrating the movie Clue (based on the board game).
I forget which film this is from, but what a great textile piece by Lori Herbst!
Not only was this a felt It sculpture, It animated! So clever.
This is not entirely unrealistic. I did pose my hands for reference when painting the piece.
This Pennywise sculpture actually had light-up eyes!
Long John Silver from Muppet Treasure Island by my friend Frank Dietz.
A parting shot of the gallery with a piece celebrating Rooster Hannigan, Tim’s character from the movie Annie.
Many thanks to Tim Curry for all the inspiration!
Categories
Art: Colored Pencil Art: Painting Art: Watercolor Caricature Chad About Town For Sale Illustrations

Tim Curry Art Show part I

I am pleased to announce that I am participating in a group art show at the Creature Features gallery in Burbank, California, that opens this coming Saturday, February 24. It is not often I have the time to participate in such shows, so I was grateful that there was an opening in my schedule in which to create a piece.

 

Click on the image to see details about the show.

 

Since the show has not opened yet, I thought I would just give a tease as to what my piece looks like. It is okay to reveal that it is a caricature portrait created in watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil (100% real traditional art), and not only will the original be for sale, I just dropped off 15 hand-signed modestly priced prints of the piece at the gallery today.

I call it Tim Curry – A Portrait of Villainy.

 

The wallpaper hints at some of the memorable characters he has portrayed in movies.

 

Below is further information about the show prepared by Creature Features. While the show runs until March 11, Mr. Curry will only be appearing in person at the opening this Saturday.

 

For more than forty years, Tim Curry has been the actor’s model of diversity with a career covering everything from stage to film to television to voice acting.

His roles have defined iconic, from his breakout performance as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW to the villainy of the horned Darkness in Ridley Scott’s LEGEND and Pennywise in the original miniseries of Stephen King’s IT.

Beyond these genre icons, Curry has  been unforgettable in films such as ANNIE, HOME ALONE 2, MUPPET TREASURE ISLAND, and CLUE, not to mention voice work for cult hits like DUCKMAN and GARGOYLES.

With well over 200 credits to his name, Curry has been an indelible presence on the entertainment landscape for decades.

 

This February, Creature Features summons a talented band of artists from all fields of art and culture to pay tribute to this beloved actor.

Our group art show will feature our blazing group of talented artists from every corner of the pop culture universe — comics, animation, visual FX, make-up FX, production design, fine art, and more.

Artists include:

• Darkness designer Miles Teves •

AlohaJenn • Nathan Anderson • Blake Armstrong • Tom Baxa • Jonathan Marks Barravecchia • Ryan Bartlett • Alexandra Beguez • Steven Russell Black • Robert Bowen • William Bronson • Sean Cahill • Tim Cahill • Brenda Chi • Emily Connell • Guy Davis • Amanda Dempsey • Erika Deoudes • Frank Dietz • Tabitha Dietz • Archer Dougherty • Xan Dunn • John Eaves • Robert Elrod • Thom Foolery • Chad Frye • Matthew Gallagher • Enzo Garza • Joy Grierson • Sam Grinberg • Kimber Grobman • Dærick Gross • Luke Harrington • Dori Hartley • Lori Herbst • Josh Hickman • Mary J. Hoffman • Phil Joyce • Megan Kelly • Erik Kling • Serhiy Krykun • Abigail Larson • Ama Lea • Jesse Ledina • Hilary Lile • Dan Litzinger • Ashley Long • Dani Manning • Jordan Monsell • Mr. Mauro • Nick Napolitano • Nesshead • Kaity O’Shea • Eric October • Jeff Rebner • Aleksey Rico • Mireya Romo-Bowen • Mikel Samson • Scott Saslow • Chris Shary • Amber Skowronski • John Sloboda • Todd Spence • Michael Stiles • Eric Swartz • Mark Tavares • Matthew Truex • Tom Valente • Zack Wallenfang • Chad Waters • Woody Welch • Curran Wedner • Bryan E. West • Ryan Wilkins • Trevor Zammit and more!

Artist roster subject to change.

The opening reception will be held on Saturday, February 24th.

Admission is $10 and includes refreshments. Mr. Curry is planning to attend.

Tickets on sale now!

https://creaturefeatures.com/shop/events/tim-curry-admission/

Categories
Art: Colored Pencil Art: Painting Art: Watercolor Caricature Illustrations

Merry Christmas 2017

Merry Christmas to one and all!

As you enjoy time with friends and family today, remember that in the spirit of giving, it isn’t always the gift that matters, but the thought behind it. So even if you are a snowman who is given a pair of swim trunks, remember the wisdom of I Thessalonians 5:18 which says, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

After all, today is the day we celebrate Christ’s coming into the world whose gift to us was His own self-sacrifice in dying for the sins of those who are willing to accept his gift (John 3:16).

 

Despite the musical enthusiasm of Olaf, not every snowman dreams of summer.
Categories
Animals Art: Drawings Art: Inking Art: Watercolor Cartoons Character Designs Illustrations Random Doodles Sketchbook

O Come All Ye Faithful

Here we are a week away from Christmas. I usually make my own Christmas card every year, but the past three months have had my head spinning, which resulted in a lack of a new card for this year. If you saw my last post, you know what has been occupying my drawing time. So, I thought I’d reach into the ol’ archives to share with you one that I like that was created for 2010.

This is a special one. It’s not often that I illustrate tons of people into a piece, but I was able to include a special couple that mean a lot to me. Kind of in the middle top area, you’ll see a portrayal of Evelyn and Carl Boone. They are not related to me by blood, but have been surrogate grandparents to me since I was born. They are Grandma & Grandpa Boone to me. Grandma passed away a few years ago now, and Grandpa is still a blessing to those who know him at the age of 92. He has always been a wonderful purveyor of biblical advice when one needs it most – a man who has put Christ first through many days both joyful and difficult. While I’m sure he had his days, I never once heard him complain over many years of looking after Grandma. He is the very definition of one who has been faithful both to his Lord, and to his wife and family. There are many generations of Boones and Fryes who love and appreciate him.

So, this piece of art has a bit of a personal story to it. Oh, and yes, that’s a self-portrait in the upper right side, too. 🙂

May you and yours have a blessed Christmas, and I pray that if you have not made Christ the focus of your life (John 3:16), that you will do so and join those who can be truly counted as the faithful.

 

O Come All Ye FaithfulO Come All Ye Faithful lyrics

 

And just in case you were wondering, it is drawn with colored pencil, watercolored with a non-permanent ink, and color tinted in Photoshop.

Categories
Art: Colored Pencil Art: Inking Art: Painting Art: Photoshop Art: Watercolor Bible Art Caricature Character Designs Illustrations Self Portrait

40 Years

I came across this piece in my digital files this past weekend and thought I’d share it with you. It has a little bit of sweetness to it, and a lot of sentiment, because I created it for my parents nine years ago for their 40th wedding anniversary. It is hard to believe that next July will be their 50th, should God allow them to make it to that milestone. Time and health are not always kind to those we love.

I admire my folks for the love and faithfulness they’ve shown each other over the years, and only hope that one day I could be so blessed to have such a relationship.

 

 

 

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”  – I Corinthians 13:4-7

Categories
Animals Art: Colored Pencil Art: Painting Art: Watercolor Disney Illustrations

2017 Monster Month: Day 20 – The Job Interview

You know those job interviews where the interviewer can just tell by looking at the applicant that they wouldn’t be a good fit in their office environment? Yeah, this is THAT guy.

It just seemed funny to me that this monster thinks he is being turned down for his tattoo, when really it is likely due to the fact that he won’t be able to fit into a cubical, or control his oral excretions.

There’s also probably several folks whose dander allergies would be set off working side-by-side with Norman. (He just looks like a Norman, doesn’t he?) Anyway, he was accomplished traditionally in ink, watercolor, and gouache paint.

 

Human Resources – HUMAN. Not Monster Resources.
Categories
Art: Drawings Art: Inking Art: Painting Art: Watercolor Cartoons Character Designs Illustrations Monsters

2017 Monster Month: Day 19 – Coffee Monsters

Today you don’t get just one, not two, but THREE monsters for the price of admission!! How about that, huh?!

These are three monsters that I drew in just good ol’ ink for some folks who worked at LA Studios in Hollywood when I worked there on the movie Animal Crackers a couple of years ago (the TRAILER is out now). LA Studios is really a posh recording studio, but our Blue Dream Studios production was in some spare offices on the second floor where we were working on story. Two of the folks these cards went to worked the kitchen and would make drinks for us, as well as for the actors and folks who came in to record in the many studios they have there. Many a time I was made a frothy coffee or a special iced tea. The third was for the valet. While employees like me parked down the street in a lot, I enjoyed the daily conversations with Brandon, and made him a card, too.

Since giving them the cards, I decided to go back this month and do a bit of shading on them. No, I didn’t ask for the cards back. I kept scans of the art, painted the shading on new watercolor paper, then married the two in Photoshop.

And why do I call this post “Coffee Monsters?” The paint was COFFEE! Genuine liquid coffee. Creme Brûlée coffee to be precise (don’t lick your screen). You can actually see some of the grinds in the paint within the characters. A former drawing teacher of mine when I worked at Disney, Walt Stanchfield, sometimes would show us paintings he would do with coffee when he was in diners. He’d illustrate other customers and shade them with his coffee. I never did try it until now. Kind of a fun experiment!

 

Categories
Art: Inking Art: Painting Art: Watercolor Character Designs Monsters

2017 Monster Month: Day 18 – Snot Monster Redux

Again I am revisiting a monster from last year in this new version. Remember the Snot Monster from last year’s Monster Month? He just stood there with a schnoz ready to blow. After I did that drawing, I thought of an fun application to draw him again, though slightly more cartoony.

I was writing a letter to a good friend, and decided to have some fun on the back of the envelope. Yep, that little snot monster seemed like a perfect choice to help seal the envelope shut. Good times.

 

That’s not an envelope you’d want to lick.
Categories
Art: Inking Art: Watercolor Character Designs Monsters Random Doodles