A True Blood companion

Recently, I was contacted by a lovely woman named Rebecca Wilcott who is not only a fan of the True Blood television series, but also the author of an upcoming companion guide to the series called "Truly, Madly, Deadly: The Unofficial True Blood Companion" (June 2010, ECW Press). From what I understand so far, the book contains a series of sidebars and short interviews with a wide variety of people responding to True Blood and/or the vampire genre. The point is to show how pervasive the genre is/has always been in society. Each sidebar is unique in that each person's contribution is different.

The best part of all this (in my opinion) is that Becca asked me and my dolls to be a part of it, too! I even did up a portrait of myself just for her book in "True Blood" style. Oh, I suppose I should mention my better half, Brian (the genius behind Campblood.org and the ever fabulous Blood Work vlog) is also featured. Yeah!

For more about Rebecca and her work, visit her wordpress web page:
http://rebeccawilcott.wordpress.com/about/

I'll post more news about the book when I hear it. For now, you'll have to just play with my paper dolls and wait.

Happy New Decade!

Finished assisting the display team at Barnys in NYC this week, and it was fun. I never realized all the people involved in such things. There were easily a dozen or so people involved, lighting, styling, choosing accessories, taking inventory, etc.

Another thing I learned is that being inside a store window is (I imagine) not unlike being an animal at the zoo. Hundreds of people pass by giving you strange looks, stopping briefly and pointing, etc. The funniest thing however, was how on a couple different occasions several women dressed head to toe in fur (wish it was faux) tapped on the window and give me an enthusiastic "thumbs up" as their eyes twinkled with excitement. LOL

Here are a few pics I snapped from INSIDE the window: Enjoy!



As I was painting out the floor around mannequins in priceless couture on my last day, I noticed a older gentleman hanging out snapping photos. I came to find out that man is none other than Bill Cunningham from the New York Times. I will admit I don't read the Times but I am going to start checking out Bill Cunningham's online video commentary installments called "On the Street" because I think he's got an interesting perspective and something to say. I've only watched a few of his videos thus far, but I got a kick out of his stories and seeing his unique pics scroll by as he talks about street life in NYC. I'm going to take careful note of his column in the next two weeks and see if yours truly makes a brief appearance (fingers crossed)!

If you're unfamiliar with Mr. Cunningham's work I suggest you pop over to the Times website and look for his series "On the Street" (in the style section):
http://video.nytimes.com/video/playlist/style/on-the-street/1247463985977/index.html.

Barney's Newest Addition

I've been hard at work these past couple of weeks preparing things for the new windows at Barneys Department Store in NYC. Today was my first day at the Madison Ave store, and got to help take down the Christmas windows. Did anyone see them? It was all based on Saturday Night Live skits! (Photos: Pamela Skillings)

It was kind of bizarre holding a giant-sized Christmas ornament shaped like heads of characters like "Pat", and "Mango". There was even some very nice and appreciative people there from SNL to take what they could of the displays which was a nice gesture.

Well, then it was time to install the new ones based on designs by Simon Doonan for the New Year. All I can say right now is that it involves LOTS of fortune cookies. It's a lot of fun, and I'll try to snap a few pics to share for any curious folks out there. I'll be there until about Wednesday this week and if you pass by in the daytime, chances are you'll see me gluing my heart out. Barney's stores across the country are in the process of doing the same, so if you have one near you check it out.

Happy Holidays....

Christmas is only a few days away, and then it's New Years! Of course, let's not forget Chanukah, Kwanzaa, and who knows what else. It's like the Holiday Olympics this time of year and I just hope everyone is enjoying themselves a little more, and experiencing a little less of the stress from it all.
I'm doing alright myself (thanks for asking), and thought that it would be a good time to share with you a little drawing I made recently on a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. I haven't been there in years, and I forgot what an amazing place it is... and I didn't even get to the second floor! I spent the entire afternoon gawking at the ginormous Christmas tree they have set up. There were hundreds of angels covering the tree and all around it (what looked to me like) Victorian figurines of various shepherds, kings, commoners, more angels and what-nots everywhere. It was a bit of a cluster-fcuk actually, but in a beautiful way. You could pick a different spot and view an entirely different scene. In the dead center there was the classic "Birth of Jesus" creche scene, and I tried sketching that, but there was just way too much going on that all I could manage to do was capture the layout and positioning of the characters. The highlight of it for me was the donkey and a cow peeking around a corner thru the brush at the baby. Awwww... I would have also put a couple of kittens in the scene, but that's just me.
Here are some pics of the (what they are calling "Neapolitan Baroque") tree that I stole from various online sources. Funny how there are all these pictures when there's a huge "NO NOT TAKE PHOTOS" sign in front of your face. Hmmmm...






























Anyways, there was also this lovely statue not far from the tree of "The Holy Family" and I sketched that, too. I was able to get pretty close, and got lots of good detail. I figured it made a nice Christmas card, too... so I scanned it in and digitally added a watercolor background to give it a more "umph". Here is the final product:

Clash with my TItans

OK... I have to post about this cuz it makes me mad.

I heard the Clash of the Titans was being re-made... but haven't seen anything (or heard too much about it) until just now. I just saw the poster campaign and teaser trailer online... and I'm NOT happy. WTF happened? It's all super dark and serious... hard edged and raw. I know we're in a recession/ depression, fighting a war, everything sucks, (blah, blah, blah) but does it have to seep into one of my most beloved fantasy films of all time?

ex #1: Why is pegasus BLACK? Is it just to be different, or perhaps better match the bleak movie poster campaign (see #3 below)? Well, fine. The myth says Pegasus was born from Medusa's blood, so maybe Pegasus should be deep red, or a dark, ruddy brown and not that lovely white stallion we all know. I'll accept the color change, but why not make it glistening and beautiful? After all, it's a known fact now that even vampires sparkle in the sunlight.

ex #2: Why do the Stygian Witches look like something from Hellboy/ Pans Labyrinth/ Alien? Here is a picture of what I'm talking about (left).

If you're going to make a crazy monster, then make it unique and amazing. Why bother if it just reminds you of another movie. ....zzzzzzzz

ex #3: Myths are supposed to be a source of wonder and inspiration. The movie teaser and posters just make me think of kicking someone's ass while the world around me is at an end. Everything is bleak and dark, and gigantic monsters are just waiting to crush everything in sight. That just makes me scared and tense.

Now look at the original movie poster campaign. (below) Right away you know who the hero is and even though there are some terrible monsters about, the heavens are shining on him and you just know he's gonna make it through it all somehow. Heck, there's even a beautiful woman *gasp* that hints at perhaps a love story or human connection. It's not all about fighting and looking tough at all. There's a whole lot more going on. Poster artist Dan Gouzee did a hell of a job, but also note an equally amazing alternate poster by celebrated fantasy artists (the Hildebrandt brothers) which further enhances the fantasy genre! How amazing is THAT! Yeah!!

So ... whatever. I'm NOT looking forward to this movie as I had originally hoped for. I actually jumped up and down and clapped my hands at the thought of seeing this story reinterpreted.

Now I'm just covering my eyes and moaning. *sigh*

They casted Alcide!?

Yes! While reading one of my favorite blogs, Loving True Blood in Dallas, I saw that the role of Alcide Herveaux was given to actor Joe Manganiello. He was on some show called "One Tree Hill" which I never watched (but heard of), but I've otherwise never heard of this guy before. Oh wait... just read he was "Flash Tompson" in that terrible Spiderman 3 movie. Well, that doesn't help as I can't remember anything about that movie anyways (like a bad dream). So I googled him, and saw lots of dark, Italian looking mugshots.

Hmmm... looks like he can be scruffy and has looks like he could bulk up with some serious muscle:
But I hope he's got some chest hair! I will start a boycott ...I mean MANcott... against smooth werewolves. Those twinks from New Moon need to stop shaving their chests. Heck, they probably shave their pubes off, too. That's OK (I know it takes all types), but Werewolves need to be hairy! And no "Manscaping" werewolves either: Werewolves are not metrosexual!

Well, I won't judge. I'll wait and see what happens next season. All I know is that when I read the books, Alcide could easily be the hottest guy in the series.

I sort of imagined him something like:
Jason Stathom





Ryan Reynolds





or (the obvious) "Huge Jackedman"





Do you think I'm right? Will you join my fight to bring hairy werewoves back in style? Please leave a comment and tell me... so I know who I can and cannot sacrifice. ;)

Hire Me!

Do you know anyone that needs an Illustrator or Graphic Designer? I'm ready, willing, and able to help!

I am also here for anyone who wants to commission me for a sketch, too. It makes for a unique and fun gift idea, too. I can do pet portraits, a sketch of your favorite super hero, villain, or anything else you can dream up.

Right now (for a limited time) you can donate $20+ and I'll make a "digital portrait" of any photo you email to me. Just click on the "donate" button at the right to make the donation, and send me a picture. It's that easy! Note the digital image I create will be a 4x4 inch square jpeg file.
Here's one of me: