How I would describe Alex McVey: fine artist, talented, dark, and elusive.
Why elusive? There is very little information to be gleaned on the Internet when it comes to this illustrator from Texas. Sure, he's famous and many a horror fan starts salivating just at the mention of his name, but the details of the man are hard to track down.
I did find out he has been illustrating since 2004.
His work has been featured on everything from comics, to album covers, to high-end limited edition books.
On his extensive list of clients, you'll see the names of people such as Stephen King and Edward Lee (you can see McVey's cover art for Lee's "Trolley No. 1852" pictured right).
And most importantly, he likes banana shakes (ok, I made that part up. But I felt the post needed more insider information).
Recently, someone asked me where they could find an artist who would transform their family portrait into something more monstrous. I've found a possible candidate.
Rob Sacchetto, a freelance artist living in Sudbury, Ontario, is the mastermind behind www.zombieportraits.com
For the price of $80 per person, you can submit a photograph to Rob and have him turn you and your loved ones into the undead.
Hello my dark little darlings. I'm in the midst of putting the second layers of paint on five of my Underbiters, but this post isn't about them. It's about another project that's been shelved for a while.
It's great that Max (Marmota Monax) and the fur coat experiment turned out well. But now, if I make him any friends, they will also need a touch of realism. I suppose this is why Aucellus, his bird buddy, has been shelved for a while.
I'll have to wait for a really ambitious day before I start trying to apply the feathers.
The world can never have enough monsters. Especially custom made ones.
Today I will be posting about two different sites that focus on finding inspiration from the masses.
First is The Monster Engine. Dave Devries, a comic book and Universal Studio monster artist, made the observation that his niece's drawings of monsters were far more interesting and unique than many of the creatures created by adults. From this, the Monster Engine Book project was born.
On a gloomy, rainy Sunday morning, I can't think of a way to spend my time than playing in the magical world of Coraline.
For weeks I've been planning on posting about Coraline the Musical which runs from May 7 to June 20, 2009 at the MCC Theatre in New York. It kept slipping my mind because I've found so many ghoulish topics to blog about lately.
Luckily, a post from Would You Like to See Something Strange showcasing Coraline collector cards also mentioned the Coraline Website. It prompted me to stop and finally blog about it (right after I created my picture of Ghoul Friday with buttons for eyes. You can make your own on the website).
Other highlights include free desktop wallpapers, movie poster postcards and of course watching the circus mice perform. Speaking of which...
No time to chat about it, but really there's not much I can say about the sculptures of Saúl Hernández besides stunning, breath taking and truly amazing.
Gather round, my little ghouligans, and watch the equivalent of an online artist sideshow.
I've recently discovered a website called Sketch Theatre where you can watch some of your favourite artists create a sketch from start to finish.
A camera is positioned above the artist as they draw. The video is then played back at high speed for all to watch.
I was happy to see Greg Craola Simkins is the newest addition to their featured artist list. I've blogged about Greg in the past. Worth a look for anyone who isn't familiar with his work.
But don't stop there. Check out their whole catalogue of artists. You'll find people like Travis Louie and Michael Broom as well.
I love zombies. I love zombie walks. I love being tongue-in-cheek when it comes to Jesus (I expect he has a wonderful sense of humour). With that in mind, you might think I would automatically support the Boston Zombie Outbreak scheduled to take place on Easter. But let's talk about this.
A little birdie by the name of zombiehorde tweeted today about the Boston event and I thought I'd check out what the hubbub was all about.
According to a couple of sources online, 2 years ago the zombie lovers had their march on a Saturday. Crowds of people dressed in zombie gear took to the streets in all their reanimated glory, converging at a main square in the evening hours. On that occasion, organizer Alli Auldridge pointed out there was no meaning behind the zombie walk except to have fun.
So what's changed?
It seems they decided 'with the mythology of the holiday in mind' to have this year's march on Easter Sunday between 12 pm and 4 pm. I would think a time slot like that increases their chance to cross paths with church goers and little Easter egg hunters. Was this intentional as well?
Glenn Liddell who is an organizer behind this year's event had this to say in a statement to a local news source:
Yesterday afternoon I did some experimenting with Super Sculpey. I've only used Sculpey once before, so most of my time yesterday was spent getting to know the medium. As I experimented, a new face appeared in front of me, and I couldn't bare to squish him back into oblivion.
This pattern repeated itself until I had a small army of unfinished mini-monsters. I call them The Underbiters.
I haven't given them hands yet (I kind of like them without hands, but I think they need some) and the bodies need some touch ups, but I'm pretty happy with how my first real session went.
I'll be adding a tutorial as I learn more about this product.
Recently, someone asked me where they could find an artist who would transform their family portrait into something more monstrous. I've found a possible candidate.
Hello my dark little darlings. I'm in the midst of putting the second layers of paint on five of my 
Diane, a faithful visitor and friend to this website, has started a new blog called
Recent Moans from the Minions...