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Long Lost Friend Studio is my self-publishing imprint, the studio space where we work, and a YouTube channel featuring videos about art and creativity. This blog covers everything happening with me and Long Lost Friend Studio.
Carving Out Monsters In The Laboratory
Recently I conducted a new, frightening experiment: Releasing a monster from a dead tree using electricity and a handheld grindstone. Did it twice, in fact. And the experience truly sunk its teeth into me.
The Inking of the Review of the Revenge of the Creature
If your idea of romance involves two marine biologists engaged in an unending liplock while the fish-monster they unleashed upon the world mounts a bloody campaign of mayhem and murder up and down the Florida seacoast, then I’ve got the movie for you.
Three Bags Full
Michelle’s needle felted figures have been part of our diorama builds for a while. Wool is a great material for depicting creatures who are furry, fuzzy, or felted like monsters or Muppets.
Quickie Mickey (Times Two)
April 17th is a lot of things. National Haiku Poetry Day. National Crawfish Day. And, of course, as everyone knows, National Yellow Pig Day. But it’s also Quickie Mickey Day and this year I doubled my output.
Dipping A Toe In The Inkwell
Having never used a dip pen, I headed into this experiment assuming it would be expensive, messy, and mildly annoying. But I assume that about a lot of things, so I pressed on hoping for the best.
The Plumber, Triumphant
Michelle and I put together a piece for Gallery1988’s latest show, Back To 1985. In a show that celebrates notable pop culture events and media from 1985, there’s a lot to choose from: Breakfast Club, Back to the Future, Return to Oz, Teen Wolf. All iconic. But we went with the US release of Super Mario Bros on the Nintendo game system.
A Needle For Doctor Bunny: Essential Tools for Needle Felting
I recently worked on this simple needle felted figure, and I thought it was a good opportunity to do a rundown of my go-to tools, materials, and techniques. Vince and I put together an accompanying video (bottom of the post) and I’m dropping a list of my supplies here with links for anyone interested in trying needle felting.
Cursed Objects and Comic Art
I had to handle this decades-old used paperback as if I were suspending a cat’s cradle made from a spider’s web between my fingers, but I managed to thumb through the short story, The Monkey, very gingerly, and hacked out a partial script for a horror comic.
If These Walls Could Talk, They’d Scream ‘Meddling Kids!”
Once again we creep through the cobweb-covered secret passageways in the old mansion, emerging in the hidden, haunted art studio to work on four more Scooby Doo monster paintings for our client.
Who Nears My Mountain?!
In 1970, Rankin/Bass released Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town, a stop-motion holiday special that not only gave us the origin of Santa Claus, but two top-shelf villains — The Burgermeister Meisterburger, and The Winter Warlock.
Which Way to Sleepy Hollow?
It’s the 1700s and you’re traveling on horseback through the mysterious, foreboding woods of the Hudson Valley. Night is falling and you need to reach your destination, but the rambling route you’ve taken has you turned around.
Running The Show: A Muppet Show Diorama for Gallery1988
Kermit is focused. He pores over the running order for the show. Big celebrity host tonight, he hopes the dressing room is prepped. He may have to cut an act or two for time, maybe talk to Fozzie about some of his weaker material.
Climbing Over The Garden Wall For Halloween
Ten years ago, Patrick McHale and a host of talented artists and performers created an animated mini-series called Over The Garden Wall exploring life, death, and everything in the unknown autumnal expanse in between. To help celebrate that groundbreaking show, Michelle and I designed a fun Halloween card for our Patreon supporters inspired by that cartoon.
Beware The Fly!
It’s October, and Gallery 1988 is hosting a horror exhibit called Cover Your Eyes, celebrating horror films of the classic and modern eras. Michelle and I contributed Beware The Fly! — a piece inspired by a couple of our favorite monster bug movies of the 1950s.
What Happens When The Dog STOPS Talking?
Two lawyers, a bank president, a farmer, and a hypnotist were sitting in a jail cell, passing the time with idle chat.
“We had it all worked out,” said one of the lawyers. “Gather the family for the reading of the will, inform them they had to spend the night in that creepy old mansion to get their share of the money, then scare them off one by one until the money was all ours.”
“It was a perfect plan,” said the second lawyer.
“Almost perfect,” the first lawyer sighed. “Those kids really threw a monkey wrench into the works.”
Usagi Yojimbo: Commission and Conflict
The endless battle between Miyamoto Usagi and his arch nemesis Jei is legendary. But it’s nothing compared to the idiotic rivalry that burns between Michelle and I whenever one of us challenges the other to a sculpt off.
It’s Alive! And Multifunctional!
Zipping through YouTube reviews of tools Michelle and I were thinking about purchasing for the shop, we noticed a lot of gear reviews on a multitool marketed towards outdoorsmen, woodworkers, plumbers, contractors, and do-it-yourselfers. Nothing about artists or craftspeople. But the tool seemed interesting enough for us to buck the system, pick one up, and see if we could make a monster.
Inque and Bat in Ink Combat
I know it’s a clunky title but if you say it fast three times in a row it creates a weird, homophonous echo of itself. Anyway, this week’s monster is a slippery villain from the Batman Beyond cartoon named Inque who often shapeshifts her way into deadly conflict with our hero. But this isn’t just an Inque battle. It’s an ink battle. See? Homophonous.
In Memory of Max (Milo from The Mask)
I recently learned of the apparent passing of one of my favorite movie animals, Max, the Jack Russel terrier who played “Milo” in Jim Carrey’s The Mask. I say ‘apparent’ because the details are sketchy, as are the specifics of Max’s very short career. Despite the mystery surrounding Max, or maybe because of it, I created a sculpture of his Milo character for an art show at Gallery1988.
Giving Monsters A Bad Name
The ghosts and monsters in the early seasons of Scooby Doo sent chills up my childhood spine. They still do if I’m being completely honest. Who could listen to the maniacal laughter of the Space Kook without tensing up? But those ghouls, as creepy as they could be, were infinitely more endearing — and enduring — than the criminal goons inside those spooky costumes.