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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.
Mailbox Monsters
When I was a child, there were certain cultural touchstones associated with Halloween that I considered sacrosanct; jack-o-lanterns, trick-or-treating, and halloween specials. Most people agree on those. But there’s one arcane practice that most folks have relegated to the past, one that I have always genuinely looked forward to at this time of year: sending and receiving Halloween cards in the mail.
Forget It, Vince. It’s Halloweentown.
Back in the 1990s, before DisneyPlus was streaming endless content into people’s homes, folks looking for family entertainment from the House of the Mouse would have to rely on The Disney Channel Original Movies. One of the more popular films from this era was 1998’s Halloweentown. It starred Debbie Reynolds as an old school witch who lived in a bustling village of monsters, spooks, and other oddballs. This week, Michelle and I did some research on this magical town, and sculpted a diorama of one of its oddballs.
Just An Old Fashioned Muppet Song
Today is Paul Williams’ birthday. If you don’t know who he is, you’re missing out. Musician, composer, actor…Paul Williams has had a dazzling and diverse career in show business for over five decades. But for me, the most impressive achievement he ever racked up was working with The Muppets.
Revisiting Lady In White with a Frankie Scarlatti Sculpture
If you’ve been following this blog and our YouTube channel (sincere thanks to all nine of you) then you might have caught on to the fact that Frank LaLoggia’s Lady In White is one of my favorite Halloween movies. We’ve done an ink and watercolor illustration of the movie’s protagonist, Frankie Scarlatti. But this week we decided to enter the third dimension and sculpt Frankie in polymer clay.
Pitting My New Brushes Against Spider-Man’s Deadliest Enemies
Much like Peter Parker is always tweaking his web shooters so they respond efficiently during life-threatening battles with his super-powered foes, I, too, am constantly tweaking my art tools in an effort to produce better results. Not quite as life-threatening, but important nonetheless.
Mary Blair Haunted My Mansion
Admittedly, “mansion” is a monstrous overstatement when discussing my dank, spider-infested, subterranean art studio, but I needed a hook for the title. Speaking of notable titles, a book we brought into the studio the other day — Magic Color Flair: The World of Mary Blair — is something Michelle and I pored over for an hour, becoming more enchanted with every turned page, only stopping when the webs being spun around our immobile forms indicated we were in danger of being exsanguinated.
Brushing Off Work With Spider-Man
After weeks of what felt like putting on major production numbers in the workshop to create elaborate dioramas, I decided this week would be a low-pressure stroll through some illustration fundamentals. Specifically, brush inking and watercolor work using Spider-Man and Kraven as inspiration. Nice to have a lazy week now and then.
Green Sky At Morning, Dioramist Take Warning
There are people who can quote every line from Godfather 2; Cinephiles who deliver dialogue from memory with a conviction only achieved through multiple viewings, burning holes in you with that Pacino-stare, so you know they mean business. That’s not me. As this week’s project suggests, my Godfather 2 is Joe Dante’s The ‘Burbs, which means nobody knocks off an old man in my neighborhood and gets away with it!
The Red Death: Party Like It’s 1399!
Remember that time a deadly plague swept through the land, and many cynics felt they were untouchable? And remember how death, arbitrary and brutal, took even those that mocked it in its cold embrace? That’s the kind of poetic justice Edgar Allan Poe reveled (and excelled) in. You knew I was talking about Poe, right?
Muppets Diorama: Tribute To An Underrated Gem
I don’t know what we were all doing In 2015 that was so darned important, but a good portion of us decided to not watch The Muppets, and thus we’re to blame for its cancellation after only one year. This week’s Muppet diorama is our attempt to make up for our part in that.
The Mothman Cometh, As Prophesied
A few weeks ago I ham-fistedly constructed my first needle felted sculpture, a cryptid that haunted my childhood, a chimera known as The Jersey Devil. This week, Michelle answered my Monster Sculpt-Off Challenge with her own cryptid, West Virginia’s famed and feared Mothman.
Rocket Had Come Equipped With A Gun
If you’ve seen the latest Guardians of the Galaxy flick, you understand that raccoons don’t like being in cages. And while anyone would assume that to be true, I’d faced that very situation not too long ago and the experience still stresses me out. So I thought I’d work through my issues by doing a quick ink and watercolor sketch of my favorite Guardian, Rocket Raccoon.
The Jersey Devil Made Me Do It
Toss another skill onto the pile. I just tried needle felting for the first time and, contrary to my worst fears, it didn’t turn out too bad. And as long as we’re discussing fears, I employed a childhood terror as inspiration. The Jersey Devil, a beast I heard countless tales about during my youth in New Jersey, served as the spark for this sculpt.
The Immortal Elephant in the Room
As a member of the Long Lost Friend Studio Patreon, after a year at the BFF tier, a supporter can request either an illustration from me, or a felted sculpture from Michelle. This time, my ticket got punched and I was tasked to draw Manmoth, an elephantine immortal in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe.
The Monster Walks: Another Gallery1988 Exhibit
Frankenstein’s monster has risen from the slab once again, and Michelle and I have only ourselves to blame. Well, maybe Gallery1988 should shoulder some of the blame, because this mixed-media Son of Frankenstein diorama is part of their current show, The Golden Age of Hollywood.
Excited About The Afterlife?
If the afterlife is anything like it’s portrayed in Disney/Pixar’s Coco, I can’t wait! Scratch that. I can wait. I can wait a long time. But if it’s truly as colorful and full of adventure as the Land of the Dead in the movie, I’m gonna have a blast when I get there.
The Things They Call ‘Art’ These Days
When I was a kid, toys were toys, cartoons were cartoons, and monsters were monsters. Simple childhood concepts. But, as it turns out, you can now make a posable action figure of a Scooby Doo monster, call it an art doll, and hardly anybody looks at you sideways.
Monster Terrorizes Disney!
In 1995, Disney released the theatrical short, Runaway Brain. It was a 7 minute Mickey Mouse cartoon intended to run before a few of their upcoming features. The plot is a classic brain switch horror-comedy where a mad scientist puts Mickey’s brain into a giant monster, and the monster’s less-than-refined brain goes into Mickey. As expected, chaos ensues.
Our First Gallery1988 Group Show: 25 Years Later
A few months ago, I told Michelle that I’d like the opportunity to show work at Gallery 1988, one of the most talked about pop culture galleries in California. Michelle looked at me like I was nuts. Full disclosure, she always looks at me that way. Maybe she’s right. Doesn’t matter. We managed to get a spot in Gallery 1988’s current show, so who’s crazy now?
Commissioned to Build a TMNT / Universal Monsters Diorama
Sometimes a job’s just a job. Other times, it’s so much fun you feel guilty cashing the paycheck. Such was the case when, recently, a client commissioned Michelle and me to build a diorama that’s a cross between the Mutant Turtles’ sewer lair and Dr. Frankenstein’s lab.