DAVE LOWE DESIGN the Blog

Giant Deck of Cards

2012-02-14T00:12:00.000-08:00

One fun interstitial I art directed for GSN's SNAP had host Sara Tiana and the contestants playing the board game LOGO. But they were actually tiny, as if on the board itself.

My approved concept sketch.

All the games were filmed against a green screen. I made the podium of cards with foam core.

Later, I staged and photographed all the background images.

Here's one of the finished segments that aired via host Sara Tiana's Vimeo page.

Making a Tree Prop: Part Four (or The Spinal Tap Stonehenge Incident)

2012-02-12T11:42:00.000-08:00

There were 3 days left until the Craft show. The tree was only a full day's work away from being done. I just had to add bark texture, paint and leaves. If you need to catch up, see Part One, Two and Three.

I sent Vickie a picture of where the tree was at.

She e-mailed back concerned it looked much bigger than she thought it would.

Then we discovered...

I was building using measurements as width, she was knitting pieces using measurements as circumference. A huge difference. I felt awful, it was a few typos in my drawings and e-mails that messed this up (although she was very sweet and shared the blame). We got on the phone and carefully went over all the dimensions again. I thought it quicker and easier for me to make a whole new smaller tree than for her to have spend time knitting more pieces. I sent a picture of a rough mock up showing what the size differences were.

She decided that bigger was better for the show, but some retooling was needed. We met in the middle. She'd knit more to accommodate the larger trunk and I'd re-make the branches thinner to accommodate her knits.

Next in Part Five... new branches, fresh leaves and my first time using MONSTER MUD!

An Art Department I Do

2012-02-10T22:29:00.000-08:00

I was feeling grumpy tonight and created this after seeing numerous other job specific "I do" images shared by friends on Facebook.

Making a Tree Prop: Part Three

2012-02-10T18:27:00.000-08:00

The tree creation epic continues with branch making.

I wanted the five branches of the tree to be sturdy, but also as light as possible. I used 1" PVC pipes as a "bone" for each branch. They needed to be bent into the right shape.

First, I traced the previously made foam core branch pattern/mock up onto a wood board.

Starting at the thinnest part of the branch outline, I placed one end of PVC pipe between two large nails. I softened the PVC with a heat gun and began to bend it, conforming to the curve. I added nails where needed, cradling the pipe in place as I went along heating and bending. Once done, I had a completed jig to make the other four branch "bones" on.

I trimmed the tip of each pipe to size but left an extra 12" length at the base and bent it at a right angle. That portion was used to attach the branches on the trunk by screwing into the furring strip ribs.

Once all the bone pipes were on, I began to build them up. Since each branch had to match keeping to the measurements Vickie was knitting by, I used five Styrofoam balls per pipe as a "template of circumference" (for lack of better words to describe). Each ball was an increment of width in the design plan (5", 4", etc.). I skewered the largest first, ending with the smallest. Each were glued at the appropriate points. Now I had to fill in the gaps.

As I said, I wanted each branch to be a light as possible, so I bridged the spaces between the balls (and helped build up) with cut pieces of pipe insulating foam tubes.

Then I used expanding foam to fill gaps and rough in a more natural shape to the tree. It also created a light weight, but stronger support were the PVC pipe bones were just screwed in. At the base, the foam instantly hid the shelf brackets used to attach the trunk there. I was not concerned about how it looked right now. Building up the empty spaces and fusing parts together was the most important thing at this point. I let it expand away, drips and all.

Once dry, the foam was easily carved into truer branch shapes.

I left about a 1/2" of exposed PVC on the ends. There I added a 4-way pipe joint and curved pieces of pipe as extending branches. Next I started to base coat the tree in paper mache. I used sheets of heavy duty paper "shop" towels dipped in a thin mix of Fix-It-All.

I stopped at this point before I went any further and e-mailed pictures to Vickie so she could get a sense of what the finished tree will look like. It was a very good thing that I did. We discovered there was some miscommunication.

Next in Part Four... remember that Stonehenge scene from the movie Spinal Tap? Kind of like that in reverse.

Making a Tree Prop: Part Two

2012-02-09T12:59:00.000-08:00

The 10 foot tree build began with the trunk. I was able to get most of what I needed from my local OSH Hardware.

I decided it would be 7 feet high, leaving room for another 3 feet or so of branches. I used 12 inch wide concrete form tubes. The ones in stock were only 4 feet high so I needed two (cutting one down to 3 feet high). I glued and screwed four 1x2 furring strips inside the first tube. These act as ribs reinforcing the trunk and also became where I added shelf brackets securing it to a 36 inch plywood round base. Seeing the brackets was okay since they'll eventually be hidden. At this point, I was planning to create bark texture over everything with a few coats of quick drying Fix-It-All compound (that idea changes down the line).

Some advice if you ever buy concrete tubes from the average hardware store... bring a tape measure. The labeled width size is never true. Some are dead on, some a bit larger, some a bit smaller and often impossible to find matching pairs. I wanted smaller widths allowing for the extra thickness the final texture coating would add (making it the true 12" noted on the plan that Vickie was knitting her pieces by). The next available size down was 10 inch wide, a little too small.

Having said that, one tube was the perfect size (111/4 inches), the other too wide (a hair over 12 inches). I split the larger one and cut 3/4 inches off an edge.

I needed to seam it together again along one of the furring strip ribs. Placing on top, I centered the split along one of the ribs and screwed the opposite solid side to a rib there holding it in place. To suture it up, I added thick bead of wood glue along the supporting rib and started staple gunning the seam together from the bottom up.

I discovered that the tube was warping a bit being split and the tension created squeezing the edges together for a tight fit was enough to pull the staples out as I went along. It was like some old slapstick comedy routine. I'd add one staple and two below would pop out. I'd re-staple those and one above would pop out. The glue was drying so I had to work fast before it got worse. I ended up using countless screws and a few washers.

Not my finest example of craftsmanship (the Frankenstein monster had more appealing stitches), but it did the trick and was nice and secure. Besides the scar will never be seen once finished.

Next in Part Three... making branches!

CVS Game Set

2012-02-08T13:38:00.000-08:00

I was procrastinating the other night exploring Google Street View maps. Of course I visited my own neighborhood and discovered my old beat up car parked across the street from our house. As usual it was packed full of props and junk.

The fun part is, I know exactly what day this picture was taken recognizing the project it was all for - a CVS Pharmacy sponsored game from GSN's SNAP.

CVS has a few of the interstitials on their YouTube channel. Who knew they even had a YouTube channel?

Making a Tree Prop: Part One

2012-02-07T11:37:00.000-08:00

Back in mid January Vickie Howell asked me to create a 10 foot tree prop for her to "yarn bomb" at the CHA trade show in Anaheim at the end of the month. Yarn bombing objects has been a indie knitting scene trend for a number of years and thought a fun way to showcase her Sheep(ish) line of Caron Yarns doing it in real time at the craft show.

At first, I was tempted to create a twisting, old growth tree, full of character right out of Middle Earth. But there was only a couple of weeks until it was needed. I decided the shape and design should be fairly simple avoiding any surprises a more elaborate concept might bring (a good thing too, because in the end, it was never "simple"). My hope was that the leafy thinner branch ends would be random looking enough to add a more natural looking canopy.

Keeping the trunk uniform in shape and all the branches relatively the same size also helped Vickie's short knitting deadline being able to assembly line most of it not having to make each piece with unique measurements different from the other.

The basic concept and size was approved. I then locked in a standard branch design that could be repeated 5 times. I gridded out my sketch to get a rough size (1/2 inch square = 1 foot). From that, a down and dirty, foam core board mock up branch was made to get a sense of real world scale.

I took measurements off the mock up and sent to Vickie so she could start knitting in Austin while I started building the tree here in Los Angeles. By the way, this plan below will cause a very long night down the line needing to redo days of work. More on that later.

Next in Part Two... the build begins!

Creative Inspiration: John Wolfe

2012-02-04T11:07:00.000-08:00

John is a well known Halloween prop artist and haunter.

I was introduced to his work years ago when my October decorating started to become an obsession. My old friend Rene e-mailed me that I should check out John's Seasons of Shadows website.

John's work intimidated me. I was blown away by his dedication to creating things of such quality and style that were only seen once a year. Beyond his own props, John often showcased other people's work and helped open the door to a larger world of talented Halloween creatives who, like him, elevate decorating to true art installations. I became a regular reader.

John unselfishly shared prop making techniques and even streamed live video feeds as he worked. This lead me to add more "how-to" posts on my blog.

When Para Abnormal was less than a year old, John wrote a wonderful and complimentary post about my silly webcomic. It was one of Para Ab's first shout-outs on the Internet and it kept me doodling when I thought no one was seeing the cartoons.

Sadly John has become extremely ill and has written a last and thoughtful post.

I wanted to take a moment and express my sincerest thanks to him for the all inspiration he has given.

Sunday Sketchbook - Fishiness

2012-01-29T17:00:00.000-08:00

Nothing sketched during the past week. This page was doodled weeks ago. The fish theme was inspired by a fin looking ink blob that seeped through the paper from a previous page.

Tree Prop Yarn Bombing - LIVE From CHA

2012-01-29T10:13:00.001-08:00

Just discovered I could embed the LIVE stream of Vickie Howell yarn bombing the tree prop at the craft convention here on the 'ol blog. So far so good, and by that I mean, it hasn't fallen apart yet!

UPDATE 1:48pm - Vickie's been working 3 plus hours now and it's looking amazing. I'm a bit worried though. I put a squirrel inside the trunk yesterday to surprise her, but it hasn't jumped out yet. Maybe I should of poked out more air holes.

UPDATE 5:54pm - Vickie's yarn bombing is long over but it was recorded. Hitting the play button below will take you back to the beginning of the LIVE stream. It's not until the 09:40 mark that she describes the project and really gets going. Up until then, be patient, she's her own camera crew getting ready.

It's worth watching, especially the moment when she falls off the ladder harpooning a baby seal with a knitting needle. I don't blame Vickie. Accidents happen. I blame it's owner who had so much disregard for animal rights that they'd walk a baby seal around a craft convention full of sharp tools.

Streaming Live by Ustream

Tree Prop Finished

2012-01-28T21:39:00.000-08:00

The tree prop I mentioned awhile back is finally finished and can reveal it was for knitting guru Vickie Howell and Caron Yarns at this week's CHA trade show (the Craft and Hobby Association) in Anaheim.

Actually, it's not really finished. Vickie will be "yarn bombing" it tomorrow in real time from the Caron booth. I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

You can even watch her transform the tree LIVE via her Ustream channel beginning at 10am pacific Sunday.

I'll share the actual tree making process soon. It was full of many twists and turns (and I'm not talking about the branches). Here's a hint... remember the Stonehenge prop miscommunication in Spinal Tap?

Unmade 1976 KING KONG Model Kits?

2012-01-25T23:43:00.000-08:00

As a kid, whenever the original 1933 King Kong aired, it was must see TV. Still being a kid in 1976, I also loved the remake.

I just stumbled upon this commercial for model kits from the '76 version I don't recall seeing back then...

Am I crazy? Where they ever for sale anywhere. I was eleven in those days and at the peak of my monster and dinosaur model building phase. I'm sure they would of been on my radar and begged my parents for the money to buy them. Especially being based on the cool promotional poster art from the movie.

Creative Inspiration: Close Encounters of the Third Kind

2012-01-23T19:55:00.000-08:00

Back in 1977, there was one scene in Spielberg's Close Encounters that helped influence who I am today... outside of all the UFO, alien and conspiracy theories that I now believe in that is.

I know when Richard Dreyfuss is seen having completely destroyed the inside of his home working on a model of Devil's Tower it was meant to make the audience gasp at his lunacy, but I felt inspired to create something.

Ironically 35 plus years later, my career did let me live that scene a hundred times over. Many apartment security deposits were forfeited in my younger days after landlords discovered paint and glue splotched walls and floors from making stuff while I lived there. I'll even miss Days of our Lives since it's been cancelled. Whenever it came on TV while working on some crazy project, I always smiled recalling this Close Encounters scene.

I've also been known to sculpt my mashed potatoes at dinner. But only while waiting for the gravy to be passed around. Not by alien influence... unfortunately.

While on the subject of Close Encounters, this moment from the movie is one of the scariest I've ever seen in any movie but nothing is actually seen. I miss this Spielberg.

Happy National Squirrel Appreciation Day!

2012-01-21T18:04:00.000-08:00

Finished Little Mermaid Poster Illustration

2012-01-20T21:13:00.000-08:00

Here's the finished art for the Little Mermaid theater production. You can see the initial sketches here. Keen eyed Indiana Jones fans might notice something familiar on the ocean floor (too perfect in theme not to add).

The Sci Fi Buzz-bot

2012-01-18T18:20:00.000-08:00

Sadly there are many past TV props I created in my younger days that only exist in my memory. For one reason or another, numerous projects I was proud of were never photographed. Digital cameras make it so easy and cheap now, there's no excuse not to document your work.

A seven foot tall robot I created as set dressing for SCI FI Buzz on the SyFy Channel back in the early '90s was just such a case. I affectionately named him the Sci Fi Buzz-bot. Over the years I've often thought of him and regret not taking pictures of. There's an epic, but funny, tale to tell of his journey from idea to being on set that I will share one day.

Thanks to YouTube'er Nanoforge, I now have screen grabs of the Buzz-bot via a posted clip from the show. Although the segment was about Oliver Stones' 1993 mini-series Wild Palms, he's seen in host Mike Jerrick's wraparounds and really showcased at the end.

Here's the entire clip.

A bit of trivia for those who follow this blog... remember the Captain Hook prop I made several year's ago? Well, the dummy arm Mike Jerrick holds during the beginning of the clip is the one I used to create it with. It was a prop often kept handy (pun intended) on set for silly impromptu moments that it might work for.

Yep, my stash of collected junk I often make stuff from is that old and another reason why the fiancee has the TV show Hoarders phone number written down.

Sunday Morning Sketchbook: Beastly Buccaneers

2012-01-15T09:16:00.000-08:00

Thar be no real reason to sketch these. Just fun to draw. Savvy?

My Re-imagined Jason Sketch

2012-01-13T19:56:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday the 13th everyone. Years ago, sometime around when the re-boot of the Friday the 13th franchise was announced I sketched my own re-imagined Jason Voorhees.

Since he never really died in any of the movies I saw him more of a true zombie. He was still tall and imposing but thinner from constant decomposition. Quick, self performed surgery using materials from Camp Crystal Lake's tool shed would make him appear cobbled together like Frankenstein's monster. His rotting flesh is held together by bailing wire. Broken bones are crudely fused with nails and screws. A weathered rope sash keeps his guts from spilling out. His infamous hockey mask has a practical purpose keeping what's left of his face from sliding off his skull. The most extreme design change was a machete blade lashed to the stump of his forearm replacing the hand he lost at some point years before.

Latest Project: Tree Prop

2012-01-13T16:42:00.000-08:00

I've recently been commissioned to create a 10' tall tree prop. I can't reveal what it's for yet, but I'll be taking plenty of process pics and notes as I build it. It will be made in sections that are easily transported and assembled on site, so I think that might make a useful "how-to" to share down the line. Especially for any Halloween creatives wanting a large haunted tree for their display that can be broken down and stored away. Stay tuned.

Santa Silhouette

2012-01-06T12:48:00.000-08:00

A belated Happy New Year everyone.

I think one of the best elements created in niece Devin's Christmas yard display was also one of the simplest and quickest to make - the window silhouette. My sister Megan, bro in law Paul and niece Devin's front lawn is off the side of their garage and had the perfect window for it.

After we established the workshop theme, Devin thought it would be fun to see Santa and an elf inside making toys. She drew the initial design idea.

Then we worked together revising her drawing so it fit the window better.

In this daylight picture, you can see, it was just sketched out on black foamcore board, cut out and simply double stick taped to the window. Inside the garage, a short "under the cabinet" style fluorescent strip was placed along the bottom to back light it.

We were lucky that the window was already frosted glass, but in a window that isn't, taping large sheets of tissue wrapping paper or trace paper on the inside would create the same effect.

Devin and I have decided changing the silhouette every year, would be a fun new tradition.

The Christmas Lawn Display

2011-12-27T19:37:00.000-08:00

I was honored to be hired by designer niece Devin to help decorate her front yard this year and bring her holiday vision to life. It made Christmas 2011 a memorable and fun one. I'm already thinking about ideas for her house next year.

Creative Inspiration: Saks 5th Avenue Holiday Windows 2011

2011-12-19T15:38:00.000-08:00

I love this video. It goes from the display's being fabricated in the shop to the installer's POV inside the windows to seeing the finished creation as a passerby. I'm not sure what the holiday message is actually. Toucans spinning on an oil well rig this time of year aren't particularly magical or heartwarming, but what do I know? Nevertheless it's creativity inspiring, especially the hand drawn pen and ink design on all the set pieces (and the video creator's choice of montage music).

Sign of Abominable Snowmen: Part Four

2011-12-17T15:20:00.000-08:00

The finished sign for the Abominable Snowman footprint. Due to time and budget, it was made really down and dirty, but it's done and fun for this Christmas. I consider it a decent prototype for a improved-on version next year that can then be used annually.

To create it as big as possible from a regular home printer, I made "BEWARE" and "ABOMINABLE SNOWMEN" in Photoshop as two separate legal sized images (8 1/2" x 14"). Once printed out they were spray glued onto a piece of black foamcore. The board was trimmed into a wonky shape and had cartoony notches and grooves cut out with an X-Acto to look like old weathered wood. The black board under the white paper instantly added contrast and shadow.

Next I gave the whole board a wash of watered down, brown craft paint. The grooves and edges had a few more washes added here and there to blend in better. When foamcore is wet on one side it tends to curl as it dries. Easily fixed just wetting the opposite side and it curls back again. The glued on paper naturally wrinkled a bit, but didn't bug me too much. It helped the antiqued look.

The sign post itself is just a 1" wood dowel painted white and mounted on a 12" plywood round base. The candy stripe is red tape. It was topped with a glued on wood finial and round ornament my stash (a change in the design from the original candy cane in the sketch) and painted gold. The base was covered with spray glued on blobs of batting for snow.

Because of recent high winds here, I secured the sign with black zip ties in addition to gluing on the post. Threading the ties through the recessed black grooves helps makes them not too obvious... at first glance at least.

Creative Inspiration: Puppets of the Addams Family

2011-12-14T15:13:00.001-08:00

The creature puppets in the Broadway musical of The Addams Family are ingeniously and fantastically low tech.

More about their creator Basil Twist here.

Sign of Abominable Snowmen: Part Three

2011-12-11T19:37:00.000-08:00

The making of the giant Abominable Snowman footprint holiday lawn decoration continues.

When we last left off, the foot print was built up with expanding foam. I wanted to keep the blobby disturbed snow look the foam creates but make a bit cleaner without obvious gaps or holes between the blobs. Using what I have at hand, I decided to decoupage it with heavy duty paper towels (Scott brand "Rags in a Box") and a watery thin mix of patching plaster (DAP Presto Patch). Because of the foot's large size I was able to use full sheets of paper towels for most of it, so it went pretty quick.

Once dry I painted it with a thick coat of white latex house paint. Being all white and a shallow depth, the imprint was blown out and hard to see in daylight. It needed a faux shadow line to sell it. I spray painted the recessed areas in a cornflower-ish blue color and then knocked it back with white spray paint softening the blue overall but keeping darker areas along the imprint walls. The contrast let the print stand out and gave it a fun cartoony look.

From here (because I live in Los Angeles and real snow does not seem likely) once on the lawn, I'm going to add tufts of batting and a coat of canned artificial snow along the prop's edges so it looks more like a natural patch of snow on the grass. Next in Part Four... making the "Beware of Abominable Snowmen" sign post.

Creative Inspriration: Ring Out Solstice Bells

2011-12-10T21:51:00.000-08:00

I know I posted this great animated Jethro Tull video last December, but consider it a blog equivalent to a favorite ornament you hang on the tree every Christmas.

Little Mermaid Sketches

2011-12-09T19:29:00.000-08:00

I'm working on another poster illustration for Singapore's I-theater newest production, Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid. The first sketch was just getting an initial idea on paper. The show will have a unique take being re-imagined with an Asian aesthetic. The approved second sketch plays off that idea. The final art will also include the treasure and coral reef from the first.

Sign of Abominable Snowmen: Part Two

2011-12-07T18:15:00.000-08:00

The basic construction of the Abominable Snowman footprint for the lawn is really super simple (and as usual cheap). I drew out it's shape on an old scrap piece of foam board which was a decent monster size (about 3 1/2 feet long x 2 feet wide). Hard to see the pencil lines in this picture but they're there.

Then I outlined it with layers of canned spray foam (left over from Halloween projects) to build up what will be snow. And yes, in my world... Abominable Snowmen only have four toes.

Once hardened, I cut away the visible foam board edges and carved some of the overly blobby spray foam in the imprint shaping it better.

From here I'll finish it up with plaster and paint and move on to the "Beware" sign. Details on that in Part Three soon. I've been hit with a cold the past few days, so all my projects right now are slow to finish.

Sign of Abominable Snowmen: Part One

2011-12-04T09:56:00.000-08:00

It was bound to happen eventually. Christmas decorating this year is going over the top like Halloween. Here's a sketch of a fun prop I'm working on now that was actually niece Devin's idea!

NOT Creative Inspiration: The 2011 CBS Holiday Promo

2011-11-30T01:31:00.000-08:00

The thoughtful and warm CBS holiday message long ago...

The thoughtful and warm CBS holiday message today...

Creative Inspiration: Making a Macy's Parade Float and Balloon

2011-11-24T01:11:00.000-08:00

High Concept Set Idea + Small Budget + Limited Time = Lots of Foamcore Board

2011-11-19T10:11:00.000-08:00

I've been creating a Dickens' village Christmas themed set for work this week. To save time and money, I made the entire store front facade out of foamcore. I do love that stuff. Finishing the set this weekend. More about it later.

The Best Halloween Night Compliment Ever.

2011-11-14T12:19:00.000-08:00

Witnessed by the fiancee. After getting a scare from the Monster and some candy from Dr. Frankenstein a little seven or eight year old Trick 'r Treater walked away, stopped at the driveway's edge, looked back and said...

"That's effed up!"

Necessity is the Mad Scientist of Laboratory Invention

2011-11-13T13:46:00.000-08:00

This Halloween, I really wanted to transform the front porch into Frankenstein's laboratory more than any other year. It's always looked fairy empty compared to other parts of the yard. Foolishly I had hopes of making or acquiring more lab equipment, props and dressing for it, but like so many other ideas, just couldn't make it happen due to time and budget. I did what I could though... adding hanging chains, a few extra lanterns, my old caged spider and of course the (still not really finished) rocker switch tower from last year. Although not what I hoped it would be, it looked fuller and more in theme than any other year and that made me happy.

So Halloween day arrives and I forgot we needed something to place the candy bowl on (or in this case cauldron). I first grabbed an old metal stool from the garage and tried to dress it up somehow, but it looked lame. Then it hit me, there were great old wine crates in the stash. I stacked up and taped on fun body part inventory labels (easily made via computer, printed out and aged with coffee). I also happened to have a rubber foot and hand which added some creepy detail.

The crates not only worked great as a candy cauldron stand, but turned out to be a incredibly simple way to fill the empty spaces on the porch and help tell a story. They became a well liked detail too, pointed out with a smile by more than a few visitors that night.

I'm going to use these again next year and improve on with better labels or real stenciling. Be fun to have one labeled Assorted Severed Heads with several pairs of eyes looking at you from inside through a broken off panel.

Numerous Gravestones In Under An Hour

2011-11-13T03:21:00.000-08:00

I had mentioned awhile back that this Halloween was full of last minute ideas and projects. Here's one of 'em.

I wanted to hide several lights on the lawn and thought making a few Fed Ex box tombstones posted about in the past would work. I didn't have too much time to spend creating nameplates or adding embellishments on them though. A random trip to Walgreens for the fiancee saved me. While there I found a 4-pack of small tombstones for only $4.99. Each was hot glued to a box and the box was hot glued to a piece of wood. Once painted, they had a pretty decent look and heavy feel. Several were made easily in under an hour.

A few were also used to create a more defined path leading Trick 'r Treaters up to the porch. As an extra detail I placed faux stone busts I had on top of them. They were an extra cheap scare as well being motion sensor triggered talking ones.

1985's Niece of Frankenstein

2011-11-11T23:24:00.000-08:00

I'm not ashamed to say I'm a fan of the old 1985 TV series Niece of Frankenstein. Sure it was campy and stupid, but that's what made it great. How could you not enjoy the implausible premise of a trendy, lovable orphan from the big city being raised by her two old world uncles in Transylvania?

I was in a vintage book and poster shop the other day and discovered a bunch of old magazines and publicity stills featuring the show. I just had to buy them. Thought I'd scan and share for those who remember the series or just love 80's nostalgia.

TV Guide from Oct. 1985. The cover features the original cast: Neecy Devdell as Goofy D, Teddy Edwards III as Uncle Frank(enstein) and David Lowenthal as Uncle Monstro. In the final 1989 season Lowenthal was unceremoniously replaced by the network with a puppet to compete with ALF in a failed effort to improve ratings.

Show Star Neecy Devdell became a huge pop culture sensation, especially among kids and tweens. The shows success made Neecy indistinguishable from her character Goofy D. She faded into acting obscurity after Niece of Frankenstein was cancelled. According to a recent People magazine Where Are They Now article, Neecy is in her late thirties working as a bowling shoe cleaner and runs an injured squirrel sanctuary out of her kitchen somewhere in Toronto.

A bit of trivia. Director Kenneth Branagh was also a huge fan of the show! The left ear of Robert DeNiro's prosthetic monster make up in the 1994 Frankenstein film was sculpted to resemble Goofy D's left ear in homage.

A classic publicity shot. How many times did we see this shtick from Uncle Monstro exasperated by Goofy D's wacky shenanigans?

Here's a similar publicity photo from the '89 season with the new puppet Uncle Monstro. Lifeless. No wonder the show was cancelled that year.

Episode 407: Rum Tum Raven! Goofy D goes on a trip with Uncle Frank to the Fringe Science Con in New York. While there they see CATS on Broadway. Goofy is inspired to write, produce and direct her own musical... RAVENS, based on the Edgar Allan Poe story.

Show 107: What's Wrong With Cousin Jason? Typical of many sitcoms at the time, the Just Say No campaign was worked into the storyline in a not too subtle, heavy cleaver handed way.

Episode 201: Cross Walk Conundrum. The new overly strict crossing guard at school, Patrick O'Treaty, makes life difficult for Goofy D and her friends.

Episode 410: This Really Sucks! Goofy D befriends a vampire boy named Orlock, who is afraid that his undead-ism will get in the way of making friends. With a little patience and effort, Goofy helps the other kids at school learn to accept Orlock for who he is.

Episode 113: Grave Matters. To get out of a test she never studied for, Goofy D fakes an illness but the scheme backfires and escalates. Needing to cover the lie, she's forced to stage her own funeral. Goofy learns her lesson though having to pretend to be a zombie for the rest of the school year.

Episode 111: Auntie Elsa's World. When Uncle Monstro's glamorous and globetrotting pop star ex-wife comes to visit, Goofy D soon finds her usual haunted castle life boring. Zaniness ensues as the Uncles go overboard trying to make themselves just as hip and cool in Goofy D's eyes.

Episode 109: Arm I want For Christmas. This heart warming holiday themed episode featuring cousin Mikey needing a new arm never aired. It was preempted by the Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton 'Ol Fashioned Country Christmas Live in Las Vegas Spectacular TV special.

Episode 302: Bow Wow What Tha?! Uncle Frank's experiments to create a winning breed at the Transylvania Dog Show are hilariously disastrous!

Here are a few rarely seen backstage pictures...

The original photo of the Uncles later made famous by urban artist Shepard Fairey.

Like the well known Andre the Giant OBEY and Obama HOPE posters, Fairey's stylized image of the Uncles can still be found papered on many city walls.

Rehearsing the RAVENS musical episode.

Legendary stuntman Yacky Kanutmous doubling for Cousin Mikey from the un-aired Holiday episode. The saddest thing about this show being preempted was that the public never saw Kanutmous perform his final gag falling two stories into a moat filled with piranha (Photo by James Goethals).

Teddy Edwards III and Neecy Devdell rehearsing on set. Many credit the shows success to Edwards' improvisation channeling his grandfather, famous vaudeville comedian Teddy "Jim Jam" Edwards Sr.

The rarest of all sights... Uncle Monstro unmasked! David Lowenthal, an actor with no ego, wanted the public to believe the character was real. He waived his own credit letting it read "Uncle Monstro as Himself" to help keep the illusion. Even on set Lowenthal only took the the mask off in extreme circumstances. There where veteran crew members who, for years, never knew what he really looked like.

After being replaced by the puppet Uncle Monstro, a brokenhearted Lowenthal returned to England and his acting roots. He performed in numerous Royal Shakespeare Company productions until his tragic death in 1997. Ironically, he was run over by a speeding delivery truck from a marionette and puppet supply company.

Halloween Display 2011 - Portfolio Two

2011-11-05T00:10:00.000-07:00

On Halloween night family friends, Sara Pine and her boyfriend James Goethals, stopped by. Both are photographers. To my happy surprise James brought his camera along. These are not just photos. James took time later manipulating the colors, the light and the shadows on each later creating a distinct mood.

These terrific images are how he saw Halloween at my house. I'm happy he captured a few details and props in the display I didn't in the yard photos from Portfolio One.

What also makes these really special is they were taken when the evening was in full swing. Just beyond the picture's edges, Trick or Treaters were coming and going. The sounds of screams followed by laughter filled the air.

James allowed me to share these with everyone.

He even captured my brother Ted as Dr. Frankenstein in fun moments mugging and playing it up for the kids.

There will be more of James' photos posted here in the future. There were too many from the night to include in one post and too many great images not to share later.

Halloween Display 2011 - Portfolio One

2011-11-03T07:10:00.000-07:00

Images of this year's display will actually be two separate portfolios. This first one are photos I took of the yard. The second, which will be posted tomorrow, is a wonderfully different point of view taken by a photographer friend visiting Halloween night.

Click on any image to enlarge.

Post Halloween - Cheap, Easy, Good Scare Prop

2011-11-02T17:18:00.000-07:00

A portfolio/gallery of my entire display is in the works. In the meantime, I thought I'd post some specific prop related things tonight that I wanted to last week before my camera got lost.

I hoped to entice the trick or treaters who shy away from going under the guillotine arch leading to the front porch with a sign offering extra treats to those who do (as seen in the previous post).

I used an old store bought, motion sensor talking skull from my stash. I kept the look and feel of the Beware of Monster sign and glued a large spike made out of foam board to the forehead (plus painted a few cracks on it). Once hung up, it had the fun illusion of being nailed to the arch.

Not only did it add a nice detail to the guillotine, but was a really cheap, quick, easy and effective scare. Folks already nervous about crossing under the blade triggered the skull giving them an extra startle.

Halloween... To Be Continued

2011-11-01T00:07:00.000-07:00

The day went by so fast, but so much fun. Hope everyone's was as well. I finally found my camera late this afternoon, just in time. More pictures and post Halloween tales soon.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

2011-10-31T02:22:00.000-07:00

Regularly scheduled blogging has been interrupted for a special holiday presentation.

Tonight... a heart warming Halloween episode of True Tales of Scary Horror Mysteriousness starring Niece Devin with special surprise guest star Uncle Ted.

1 Day 'til Halloween: So Little To Do, So Much Time!

2011-10-30T19:59:00.000-07:00

Scratch that, reverse it.

The big night is almost here. I hoped to update more on the display the past couple of days, but I lost my camera the other afternoon when my brother was here helping. It's not really lost forever lost, just buried under piles of foam board debris, Spanish moss scraps and Samhain knows what else. Cleaning tonight so should find soon and get lots of pictures.

Overall, it's been the year of last minute ideas and projects. Much of what I had planned fell through, for numerous reasons. However the yard is filled to almost capacity with more decor than any year before from making unplanned stuff.

On a sad note, despite a valiant effort, the roof UFO again did not happen. Finding the time to finish with a late start was one factor, but the main reason is we actually discovered a serious roof leak when it rained last week. I decided while getting estimates to fix as roofers come and go, it was not the best time to play around trying to install something up there. Besides, I also discovered the base needed to secure it on the slope safely needed extra time to engineer. Bailing wire and hot glue wasn't going to work.

I really found my Halloween spirit today and in a great mood. Lot's to do still but will try and post often in the next 24 hours.

3 Days 'til Halloween: Number Three House

2011-10-28T23:35:00.000-07:00

One of my family's ghost stories.

Many fun filled summers were spent in the rural Catskill mountain area of upstate NY. This included some good spooky tales. Often as kids we were driven past and told the story of #3 house. So named because it was the third house my mother's family had lived in over many decades spent in the country.

It was a small, simple, two story home along a dirt road. Every night as all went up to bed, being an old drafty place, they would close the living room door in the hallway by the staircase to keep the cold air out.

The door would always creek open at some point forcing someone to go downstairs and close it again. The old lock on it was broken and of no use, so when this happened over and over again for days, they tied the door shut to a chair. But it still would open later and the rope was found lying on the floor.

Guessing the rope and chair not strong enough, they added an eye hook latch. The door still managed to open on it's own. Now it was strange and bizarre, so they gave up trying and bought more blankets.

Later, they learned a bit of the home's history.

Years earlier one late night, a woman was stoking the old wood burning stove inside the living room for heat. Her dress caught fire. She tried to run out of the room seeking help from her husband sleeping upstairs, but the door was locked close and in her panic could not find the key quick enough. Her husband hearing her screams could not reach her through the locked door in time.

It seemed her spirit would never let that door stay closed again.

3 Days 'til Halloween: Let's Get (Creepy) Crafty!

2011-10-28T18:32:00.000-07:00

The Halloween themed segment of GSN's SNAP I made that haunted house prop for is now online. Scroll down to the clip menu on the site and click on Let's Get Crafty. Any physical similarity between me and Steve the crafter is purely coincidental (yeah it's me).

Click here to visit the site.

4 Days 'til Halloween: My Adolescent Eye Hiding Worthy Monster List - Part Four

2011-10-27T11:48:00.000-07:00

Here are the final three in my list of movie/TV creeps who were guaranteed to make me hide my eyes as a kid. Here are links to the previous entries so far - part one, part two and part three.

The Living Zuni Doll

I first saw this guy in a commercial or in a clip on some talk show for the 1975 TV movie Trilogy of Terror. I just remember a quick image of him running while swinging a big kitchen knife before my eyes closed tight.

For a long time, whenever I imagined something under my bed, it was him. What made him so scary, outside of razor sharp teeth, was it being a doll/puppet/toy wanting to kill you. I never had fear of that until I saw him.

Count Orlock

Hand's down, one of the scariest monsters ever seen on film. Every scene or still picture of him from the 1922 silent classic Nosferatu is creepy.

Not only did he make me hide my eyes whenever he popped up on TV for some reason, but he kept me terrified of one particular bookshelf in my grade school's library.

The picture to the left was in a book about movies. When I first discovered it flipping pages, I slammed the cover closed. I then thought all the books on that one shelf had things in it as scary as him.

And now, my number one, all-time eye hiding worthy monster...

The Hand From Chiller Theater

Unfortunately, I think only folks from the New York tri-state area who grew up in 70's would know this one. The WPIX channel 11 weekend horror movie show was called Chiller Theater. The opening had a six fingered hand in claymation emerge from a bloody swamp. For years it freaked me out. I was always afraid the monster connected to the arm might rise up and be seen as well.

The worst part was, I knew to avoid seeing it on Friday and Saturday nights, but sometimes it would show up unexpectedly early or on random weekdays. I think WPIX just used it whenever they aired a horror movie no matter what day or what time it was.

A still picture is not enough to illustrate it. Here's a clip of the actual opening. Imagine being a real little kid and seeing this. Wouldn't you hide your eyes too?

5 Days 'til Halloween: Witch Post

2011-10-26T18:42:00.000-07:00

I created a witch post to stand near Grool in the cauldron. Perched on top, keeping watch, is the witch's familiar, an old crow I've named Nefarious. This was a really quick prop I knocked out in a couple of hours as a last minute idea. It was fun to make and will definitely get re-done for next year with extra TLC when I have more time. The post itself is just a tree branch I held onto from some summer pruning. It was going to be used for the cauldron's fire pit until I changed my mind and made it coal.

Nefarious the crow is a old, beat up store bought one from my stash. I gave him some personality with large eyes and heavy brows. They are glued on painted marbles with Model Magic sculpted around them. I heated and bent his claws so they'd grip the post top a bit more naturally.

The lantern is one from my sister Monica's outdoor wedding reception years ago. I've kept it as a souvenir for a long time hanging in the backyard. I thought fun to use as it's gotten very rusty and fits the prop really well. I'm going to put a real candle in it Halloween night. A few odd foam bones hung together are one totem and an ordinary cheap rubber bat tied up is the other. Spray gluing dirt over it and cutting a few holes in the wings as if tears give it a surprisingly realistic look (at first glance at least).

Since the post stands next to the brewing cauldron, a couple of ingredient bottles hang at the ready. This recipe calls for one cup of Ghoul Gore and Guts cooking oil and a tablespoon of Yeti Mucus. The oozing contents are blobs of white glue that I dribbled some craft paint on while still wet. As gravity took hold and it dried, it created a nice transparent look with crusty opaque bits.

The label art was done quickly in Photoshop and aged with coffee. Nothing fancy but here they are if you want to grab and use on your own prop bottles. Click on the images to enlarge.

5 Days 'til Halloween: Tales of Scary Horror Mysteriousness - Episode Three

2011-10-26T00:22:00.000-07:00

Having shared my personal paranormal encounter yesterday, I thought an apropos time to hear niece Devin's unique telling of the ghostly sibling story in tonight's new episode of True Tales of Scary Horror Mysterious!

6 Days 'Til Halloween: Ghostly Siblings

2011-10-25T13:10:00.000-07:00

My family has some really good ghost stories. I thought I'd share a few this week before Halloween. To begin, here's my own true ghost encounter with a particularly hair raising epilogue.

Back in the mid 90's I was living in a rented house in Burbank, CA. My dog at the time, Flannery, would sometimes just stop and stare at a wall or empty space giving a whiny small growl. I never thought anything of it. Being a dog I assumed she was reacting to some distant sound or maybe a mouse in the wall. I was wrong.

Late one night I dozed off while stretched out on the couch reading a book. Flannery's whining woke me up. She was on the floor between me and the coffee table. I reached over to pet and comfort her wondering what was wrong. She was fixated on one side of the room. I was still lying down so my view of what she was looking at was blocked by the arm of the couch.

I lifted my head. Standing there were two children holding hands. A boy and a smaller girl. Both were looking down at Flannery. They were physically real, but their clothing and features were only implied and undefined like a roughed in clay sculpture. Their coloring was washed out like an antique hand tinted photo.

The little girl looked in my direction and seemed surprised to see me. She grabbed the boy's arm tighter. At that instant I felt they were siblings. I lowered my head back behind the arm of the couch spooked and scared by what I saw. I got my courage up to look again. They were gone.

I shook it off believing it was just a half awake/half asleep still dreaming kind of thing.

Until months later that is.

I was propmaster on a talk show. One guest that week was an animal psychic. The segment producer had arranged for several people to bring their pets in for readings. The day before the show it looked like one person and their pet might drop out. The producer knew I had a dog and asked if I'd bring her in as a replacement if needed. I did. As it turned out though, they did make it after all. The producer and psychic graciously offered to give Flannery a reading after the show in thanks for having her there just in case.

During the reading the psychic asked me "Do you have children?"

"No." I answered.

The psychic looked puzzled, then said "Odd because Flannery does NOT like the little girl and boy living in your house."

A chill went down my back.

7 Days 'til Halloween: Guess who Shatner dressed as one Halloween?

2011-10-24T23:43:00.000-07:00

I love telling good thrifty prop making tales, so I shared with my sister and Devin today how the origin of the infamous Michael Myer's mask in Halloween was just a painted and customized, off the store shelf Captain Kirk mask sold in the 70's.

Found a fun video of William Shatner describing how he took his kids trick or treating one year dressed as Michael Myers.

7 Days 'til Halloween: Halloween Heros!

2011-10-24T18:17:00.000-07:00

Niece Devin and sister Megan stopped by today and surprised me with a new Michael Myers mask! Yep, the much nicer one I almost bought yesterday. Halloween is saved!

This one's been nailed down.

I'm still going to dress up like Donald Pleasence and search the streets every night this week anyway, just because it seems too much fun not to.

8 Days 'til Halloween: One Robbery, One Attempted and Neil Patrick Harris

2011-10-23T15:59:00.000-07:00

I was robbed today. Walked out to the lawn this afternoon and Michael Myers' mask was gone.

Michael's true face under the mask revealed.

Although it's a small theft, it really hurts because my display is for the whole neighborhood to enjoy. This selfish act ruins everyone's fun. Worse, no little kid did this as a child prank or dare. Only a grown up could reach it.

The old mask

I tried to get over it knowing stuff like this happens and headed over to a nearby Halloween store to get another mask. The place was packed and a real mess. Stuff thrown everywhere. I found a version of the mask I once had (which was cheap to begin with). I knew I'd pay through the nose shopping in this type of store, but nearly passed out seeing a price tag of $49.99.

I went ahead to the register, justifying the purchase as needed since Mike has become a traditional lawn presence. Plus I saw another person walk out with a mask they bought still on the foam head stand, so I'd at least get that thrown in. I was wrong.

The woman said the stand was an extra $3.99. That's when I began to steam. Both the mask and stand were pretty beat up and dirty already. Probably from being tried on and played with by hundreds of folks in the store over the past few weeks.

I snapped and just walked out. I was not going to be robbed twice in a day. I saw actor Neil Patrick Harris shopping in there and thought he was the only one who could afford their prices.

The sad new mask

I did find a sad, super cheap-o mask at Walgreens for $15.00. More within my budget but not as decent looking as the older one. Maybe I can fix it up somehow.

The morning started out great full of Halloween enthusiasm. Now I'm as depressed as my new Micheal Myers looks.

The conspiracy theorist in me thinks the crooked management at the Halloween store hires thugs to go around stealing lawn decorations they offer forcing folks like me to go buy new ones from them.

I gotta get the good mood back. I feel like taking the whole display down already out of bitterness. I won't of course.

Would it be odd if I spent the next 8 days living, eating and sleeping on the lawn protecting it?

UPDATE: I'm in a much better head space about this since I first posted... I'm just going to dress up as Donald Pleasence and spent my nights this week hunting for the mask's thief!

8 Days 'til Halloween: The Old Cow Excuse.

2011-10-23T09:20:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks at work have been a doozy designing and making five sets including one featuring a real dairy cow.

Outside of occasional help, I'm pretty much a one man art dept. on this show and many of the props and set dressings have to be custom made. So needless to say, it's been keeping me from working on the Halloween display and getting daily cartoons posted on Para Abnormal.

It's all okay though, I'm off all this week including the big day, next Monday. It's like a little Halloween vacation to have fun finishing the yard, cartoon and just plain enjoy the season! So expect more countdown updates than usual.

Unfortunately, I think a few of the planned new zombies and prop ideas may have to be pushed back to next Halloween. At least I have a real good excuse this year and it's not just procrastination.

I blame the cow.

12 Days 'til Halloween: Eddie Izzard

2011-10-19T13:06:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm sure your thinking... how is Eddie Izzard Halloween related? But bear with me.

As I've mentioned in numerous posts before, I'm an Eddie Izzard fan. So is the fiancee and as a gift for her birthday last week I was able to get tickets to his midnight show at the Largo/Coronet theater here in Los Angeles last night.

First he joked about it being a midnight show and how midnight, when you were younger, was the spooky and scary time of night when witches would come out. If you saw a witch you'd say...

"Look a witch! Is it that late already? What time is it?"

Later, he was joking about ninja-like sheep versus wolves. If you know his humor, a subject like that is not odd. Describing the ninja-sheep facing off against the wolves showed his horror movie loving side...

"They'd be lined up next to each other, silhouetted in a fog.
Like the pirates in the John Carpenter movie."

Here's a very funny clip from an older Izzard tour riffing on horror movies...

For the record, the quotes above are as best as I can remember them.

14 Days 'til Halloween: Legend of the Guillotine

2011-10-17T19:16:00.000-07:00

Quotes from neighbors and passersby over the past few days...

"Where's the guillotine?"

"Will the guillotine be back?"

"I keep hearing about this guillotine."

"When I was a little kid, I was too scared to walk under the guillotine."

"Mommy! Look it. They got a choppy thing!"

I love this time of year.

16 Days 'til Halloween: My Adolescent Eye Hiding Worthy Monster List - Part Three

2011-10-15T06:23:00.000-07:00

Only two creepy creeps make this post of the list. Both scared me enough to never forget them, yet I could not remember what they actually were or where from. After some detective work, these once nameless eye hiding fears have been identified.

Mrs. Bowen
My grandmother was babysitting one night. I woke up and walked downstairs. She was watching TV and let me sit with her for a bit. I remember seeing a man stumble into a room. There was a woman in a chair singing a song. Her feet had vines growing out of them. The camera slowly moved upwards.

That was all I needed to see. My eyes closed tight fearing her face being revealed.

I've since learned it was a segment titled Green Fingers from Rod Serling's 1972 series Night Gallery. It starred Elsa Lancaster as Mrs. Bowen. Watch the entire episode for free via HULU.

Devil in a Mason Jar
I only remember a mason jar on a barn shelf that was glowing red and pulsating. I also knew it had the devil trapped inside.

That's it. No memory of where I was or what came before. I know I saw it on TV. I not only hid my eyes, but ran out of the room in terror. This one's haunted me for a long, long time.

Thanks to the memory of an old friend though, I've discovered it's from a TV movie directed by a young Steven Spielberg in 1972 titled Something Evil.

I found it posted in several parts here. There are numerous Spielbergian touches before they became quintessential Spielbergian touches which makes it fun to watch.

Part Four soon.

17 Days 'til Halloween: Tales of Scary Horror Mysteriousness - Episode Two

2011-10-14T00:18:00.000-07:00

Tonight's Episode: The Girl Scout Troop Terror!

18 Days 'til Halloween: Living with Lovecraft

2011-10-13T08:10:00.000-07:00

"Do we have rats?"

"Not exactly."

This creepy fun short film written and directed by Todd Doldersum, could very well be the best (at least the funniest) part of your day.

19 Days 'til Halloween: Meet the Herbs... Rosemary and Basil

2011-10-12T14:17:00.000-07:00

No one really knows what happened to the former owners of our home... Rosemary and Basil Herb. They left the house abandoned. Just disappeared some say. Or did they?

Mrs. Scaryweather's garden is coming together with these new prop additions. They're also yesterday and today's Para Abnormal cartoons. Not sure which came first, the prop idea or the cartoon. Both hit me at the same time seeing a pile of random mannequin parts I have in my stash.

Since I've titled my haunt Para Abnormal also, it's fun to actually tie the comic and display together. Plus I'm still hoping to create a little comic book telling the backstory and give away as a treat to kids, so now I've got a page or two done.

21 Days 'til Halloween: My 1000th Post!

2011-10-10T17:00:00.000-07:00

I like the timing that my 1000th post since starting this blog has happened in October. To mark the occasion I present Episode One in a series of videos I made for Halloween this month hosted by a regular character on this blog (and in my life)...

Niece Devin's True Tales of Scary Horror Mysteriousness!

22 Days 'til Halloween: A Sign Of The Monster

2011-10-09T18:02:00.000-07:00

I started to decorate the yard this weekend and began with a warning sign on the tree for the neighbors. A detail to compliment the new Aurora model inspired gravestone and tease the monster's annual front porch appearance.

It was a simple Photoshop creation (11"x17") printed out in sections then spray glued to poster board. I cut it to size and curled the corners. I also cut out stylized torn edges giving it some character. It was aged with craft paint and black coffee. Once dry it was thickened and stiffened with several coats of clear acrylic (brush on).

The large hanging nail is made from foamcore and faux rust painted. It's not actually holding the sign up. It was glued to a another piece foamcore mounted on the back of the sign. Wire was then glued to the back and twisted around the tree trunk to hang.

Here's the original art if you want to print out and make your own sign (click to enlarge).

Here's a night shot. Everything on the lawn will lit in orange and amber this year as if illuminated by lanterns.

23 Days 'til Halloween: My Adolescent Eye Hiding Worthy Monster List - Part Two

2011-10-08T02:29:00.000-07:00

This list is growing. As I've been thinking about it and remembering things, I'm discovering what a real scaredy cat I was (Who am I kidding? I still am). There may be numerous posts on this subject beyond this month.

Here's Part Two.

Lon Chaney's Phantom

I was really young and remember watching some TV special with clips featuring old movies. Then the famous scene of Lon Chaney's Phantom being unmasked was shown. It damaged me.

For a long time, whenever any silent movie came on TV, I would hide my eyes in fear it was the Phantom of the Opera.

Jacob Marley

Animator Richard William's 1971 version of A Christmas Carol aired often during the holidays when I was a kid.

But once I saw his Jacob Marley, I no longer stayed awake Christmas Eve excited for Santa but in terror of Scrooge's old partner coming through my bedroom wall.

Sadly, it was not the first Christmas special that made me cover my eyes.

Believe it or not, there was a time I feared...

The Bumble

I know it sounds crazy, but listen, when you're 3 or 4 years old and see this giant, sharp toothed beast climb up over the North Pole mountains for the first time, yeah, you hide your eyes.

Vizier

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad is a film I have great affection for and memory of. When it was released, I was only 8 or 9 but already knew who Ray Harryhausen was from watching his creature movies on Saturday or Sunday TV.

It's the first movie I can remember being really excited to go and see. It's the first movie I can remember seeing with my dad in the theater. It's the first movie I can remember thinking "I like girls" seeing beautiful Caroline Munro in it.

I enjoyed every single moment, except for one... when the mysterious Visier removed his gold mask. His face scared the cavemen attacking our heroes and me too.

My dad had to tell me when I could look again.

Part Three soon.

24 Days 'til Halloween: My Adolescent Eye Hiding Worthy Monster List - Part One

2011-10-07T10:14:00.000-07:00

As a kid, I'd unblinkingly watch every horror and sci-fi movie or TV show I could, but there'd be that one monster, creep or creature that I'd instinctively lower my head and cover my eyes afraid to look at. They just plain scared the living hell out of me.

Thought be fun during this Halloween month to compile my personal monster list of monsters who always made me hide my eyes.

Balock

My earliest memories of Star Trek were sitting with my dad watching reruns every Sunday afternoon on WPIX channel 11 in NY.

I really enjoyed the show, but always dreaded the moment when a still of this evil green alien showed up in the end credits.

Because I could never turn the channel or run out of the room quick enough before his appearance. I'd often just hide my eyes in preparation.

Forbidden Zone Mutants

Oh how I loved Planet of the Apes movies and still do. Never missed any TV airing of any of the films. Truth is though, it was years before I actually knew what the mutants from Beneath the Planet of the Apes looked like.

The moment they began to peel their faces off saying

"Let us reveal our true selves..."

I knew something horrible was coming and I'd bury my head.

Body Snatchers' Man-Headed Dog

Near the end of the 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers when this freakish dog showed up with it's man head my brain melted.

I slammed my hand up over my eyes so hard I hurt myself.

I was 13 years old... not my proudest moment.

Ben Gardner's Head

JAWS scared me before I even saw the movie. The summer it opened everyone was talking about it. I heard descriptions of it's scariest moments from other kids in the neighborhood. The one that freaked me out the most was

"... then a rotting head pops out of the boat!"

The thought of seeing that haunted me. I built it up in my imagination so much that I refused to see the movie although my little brother really wanted to and my Dad was willing to take us. It wasn't until a couple of years later that I finally did. It became one of my favorite movies but yeah, I ending up hiding my eyes when the head popped out because it was as scary as I imagined it.

To be continued another day in Part Two. I'm saving my all time personal eye hiding movie/TV monster for last.

25 Days 'til Halloween: Game Board Haunted House Craft

2011-10-06T08:56:00.000-07:00

For work this week we filmed a funny interstitial parodying craft TV shows with a Halloween theme. I don't what to give away too much until it airs in a couple of weeks, but I had to design and make a haunted house decoration as a prop with old board game pieces.

28 Days 'til Halloween: Lawn Prop Homage to the Aurora Frankenstein Model Kit

2011-10-03T01:30:00.000-07:00

As a kid in the 70's I grew up building all the classic Aurora Monster kits, not to mention their snap together Prehistoric Scene models too.

I have a very clear memory from the day I finished making the Frankenstein model. That night I placed it on my bedside table and drifted off to sleep thinking how cool he looked silhouetted by the hallway light.

This weekend, I made a life sized version of that kit's gravestone base for the Halloween display. It's fun to incorporate it, not just as a fond memory, but because the Frankenstein Monster has become the main character greeting Trick or Treaters on our front porch every year.

It was actually easier to make than I thought it would be. Thankfully, although the kit itself is a very old one, it's never really been discontinued. Revell now sells it and I bought one to use a reference (and yeah, maybe recapture some of my youth making it again one of these October evenings).

First thing I did, after feeling nostalgic just seeing all the pieces, was to scan the gravestone parts. I scaled the images up to the size I wanted the prop to be (30" wide) in Photoshop. This gave me an instant blueprint with measurements to build from.

I decided to make it out of foamcore board because I had some and like working with. I needed a template for the name. I created one with a similar font seen on the grave. I printed it out and spray glued in place on board. Then cut out the letters.

Next I made the whole gravestone. I added the cracks and damage seen in the model last. The larger chunks removed were refilled with expanding foam and carved away once dry to look like broken stone.

From there I coated with patching plaster and painted. There are a few imperfections in the craftsmanship I still have to fix, like some seams and plaster blobs (I found myself excited to see it finished and rushed things a bit here or there). But overall I'm pretty happy with it and look forward to putting in the display. If I get time, I'm also hoping to make the two small pillar pieces seen in the model.

Here's a pic of the finished prop with the original tiny model kit tombstone.

30 Days 'til Halloween - Rock, Paper, Horror Icon!

2011-10-01T20:55:00.000-07:00

Thought be fun to begin the October countdown posting this ever expanding series of cartoons from Para Abnormal.

Not very spooky seasonal, but what the heck... some nerdy ones too.

The 31 Days of Halloween Countdown Begins Tomorrow!

2011-09-30T20:23:00.000-07:00

In just a few short hours October arrives and 31 days of daily Halloween posts begin here and over on my web comic Para Abnormal (both are also apart of the official Countdown to Halloween blog ring).

No plans to post about anything super special. I'll of course be updating the yard display progress. Beyond that, it'll be whatever Halloweeny thing strikes my macabre fancy that day (or night).

I'm hoping to start the dressing yard next Friday the 7th and have most of it completed by Saturday evening. As I still have many props to finish and a few to fix, it's going to be a really busy week.

As usual though, I'll be adding many props and things to the display right up to the big night. Which I've discovered has been fun for neighbors and passersby over the years looking for something new every other day or so.

This year I've got it somewhat planned out that the new things added throughout the month fit a spooky timeline and make sense. Nothing really clever, but something like all the gravestones and background elements in place first, then zombies and other ghoulish characters begin to show up day after day to join the party.

32 days 'til Halloween: Rooftop U.F.O - A Team Build

2011-09-29T04:03:00.000-07:00

I meant to post this on Monday, but it's turned out to be one busy week.

As I mentioned the U.F.O has been something I wanted to make for years. As a matter of fact it's the one idea I've had for Halloween that my mom has often mentioned hoping to see become a reality. And just recently my brother's girlfriend Leia also voiced her enthusiasm for it and offered her help if it moved the project up on the list.

So I thought about it and realized there was no good reason not give it a shot this year. I took Leia up on her offer. She and my seasoned Halloween helper niece Devin stopped by the the grim garage Sunday making the U.F.O. a real team build.

I decided to just have fun creating it by cobbling together stuff in the stash and not stress trying to make a perfect saucer shape or other elements. If this one turns out pretty good, there's always next year to improve on it.

Ideally it would be great to make it 10' wide, but I figured being a first time rooftop prop, better to play it safe and keep fairly small and lightweight so it's easily secured from sliding or blowing off. Besides, the phrase is "little green men from Mars" isn't it?

The main saucer body is a 36" plywood round with an edge cut off to give the illusion it's slammed into the roof. I made a simple frame to stand it at an angle which will be beefed up more later when screwed into a separate larger base dressed to look like an impact hole of splintered wood and ripped up shingles. Since the main saucer body is small, making other ship components exposed like the main engine (made from plastic bowls) instantly adds a larger scale to it.

The cockpit is an overturned large plastic planter/pot with the bottom cut off. Here Leia is detailing and disguising the edges by gluing on tubing all the way around.

As in my sketch, I'm planning to have the cockpit dome open. So the interior will be seen and needs all sorts of cool control boards, alien tech and futuristic gizmo's.

I put niece Devin to work making them. No restrictions. I just gave her a bunch of odd junk, a hot glue gun and a loose description of what was wanted.

She created some pretty cool and fun things.

The initial test fitting and placement looked great. Devin noted it needed a chair for the alien to sit in and suggested a radar like in a submarine to watch out for meteors. Really good ideas and now on the to-do list.

Okay, before anyone even asks, the reason there are hundreds of little plastic compasses on everything is just because I had them. Why I do and where they came from is a long story, but it's just one reason the fiancee keeps an application for the show Hoarders at the ready. Once the saucer shell is painted they'll look like giant rivets and bolts. I'll leave a few unpainted on Devin's gizmos as they actually seem to have function.

Day one of the U.F.O build went terrific with a great team. We have loose plans to get together again this Sunday and finish the ship. In the meantime I'll get back to other projects in progress.

36 Days 'til Halloween: Rooftop U.F.O

2011-09-25T20:54:00.000-07:00

Over the past several Halloweens, I've often mentioned wanting to make a crashed alien ship on the roof. Well, it's finally happening. More details about tomorrow.

Creative Inspiration: Katharine Hepburn

2011-09-22T23:04:00.000-07:00

Great actress and... propmaster, set dresser, scenic painter, art director.

41 Days 'Til Halloween: Meet Grool the Cauldron Zombie

2011-09-20T02:27:00.000-07:00

Grool is done and the first new prop ready for the lawn this year. I'll share details about how he and the green stew were made later in October. In the meantime here are links to Grool's journey from sketch to cauldron:

Zombie a Month: November
Building A Better Cauldron: Part One
Building A Better Cauldron: Part Two
Making The Cauldron Pyre: Part One
Making The Cauldron Pyre: Part Two
Making The Cauldron Pyre: Part Three

Go Riptides!

2011-09-18T11:32:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've been distracted from Halloween prop making and doodling new Para Abnormal cartoons by the day job and other unrelated projects.

One such project request I just couldn't pass on though was illustrating a logo/banner for niece Devin's fall season softball team. Devin turns out to be a tough, but very good Art Director. She's not at all timid with critique and notes on ideas and sketches knowing exactly what she wants with a clear vision. No time was wasted in the creative approval process. I'll work for her anytime.

48 Days 'Til Halloween - A Scarecrow For Work: SPOOKY BUDDIES!

2011-09-13T16:21:00.000-07:00

Remember that scarecrow prop and pumpkin patch set created and posted about a few times last month? I can now reveal they were for an interstitial on GSN promoting Disney's Spooky Buddies.

Several were filmed featuring various kids talking about spooky Halloween things. Look for them this month if watching GSN or you can see a couple right now via the GSN SNAP website.

This also explains what that stuff was in the Scarecrow's hands from the initial design sketch I first posted.

Ten Years

2011-09-11T13:56:00.000-07:00

ELVES! They're Alive! Well... Almost.

2011-09-09T21:45:00.000-07:00

Numerous months back I posted about the illustrations I was working on for Singapore's I-Theatre production of Elves and the Shoemaker. I was surprised and happy to learn that the puppet elf characters being created for the show are based on the ones I imagined.

So now, half way around the world, puppeteer and all talented Paul Pistore and his crew has been bringing my drawings to life. Paul and I worked together on more than a few projects and TV shows before he moved to Singapore years ago. I'm grateful to him. Not only for suggested me as an illustrator to the theater company, but opening the door that allows us to work together again even thousands of miles apart.

Paul gave me the okay to share some of the process pictures he's been taking.

54 Days 'Til Halloween: Making the Cauldron Pyre - Part Three

2011-09-06T01:05:00.000-07:00

The faux fire in the pit is done. It's not as bright as I once hoped so it would cast ambient glow on other things in the display, but that's just fine. I love the subtle hot ember effect it ended up having. It's a nicer atmospheric detail that enhances rather than calling too much attention to itself.

Since we last left off in Part Two, I added more blobs of expanding foam to look like coal and (after drying) base coated the whole mound in flat black. Once the paint dried, I placed orange X-mas lights inside (the top of mound is removable). They were not arranged in any special way, just evenly spread out with small drops of hot glue on the strands, here or there, to keep somewhat in place.

With the X-mas lights on, I used a rotary tool to sculpt the foam were needed so it looked a bit more natural. I also gouged out spaces between blobs and scraped off more opaque painted areas to let the glow shine through better.

I drilled hundreds of random small holes everywhere, especially in the top to let heat escape. The holes also let the light shine through completely unobstructed giving the fire extra highlights.

I wanted the coal mound to look somewhat believable during the day when not lit up, so I added ashy texture and detail to it. A combination of gently sanding with a fine grit paper and dry brushing on a light grey acrylic wash worked. I would of literally spray glued on real ash had I had some handy.

The internal glow has a simple flicker effect using the old Disneyland Imagineering trick of adding a fluorescent light fuse to an extension cord. I'm not going to try and explain how to do this in fear of not explaining it well. I learned how from an old co-worker who was a professional effects person. DON'T TRY until you've researched it thoroughly. Electricity can be dangerous.

Here's a brief video of the fire effect in action.

The cauldron sits on top very well balanced and solid without needing to secure with glue or screws. We'll see if that remains the same once I add Grool the Zombie inside. That's next.

58 Days 'til Halloween: The Countdown Is On Again!

2011-09-03T11:20:00.000-07:00

The new website badges for this year's Countdown to Halloween have been issued by Shawn Robare. Like seeing the first Halloween candy display in the grocery store or that first neighborhood Pumpkin Patch sign go up, it's one of those small things that makes me smile signaling the spooky season has officially arrived!

The best part about this annual month long blog-a-thon? It actually becomes a 365 day countdown to the next Halloween. You need that much time trying to read all the posts by the "Cryptkeepers" participating.

This blog and Para Abnormal are joining in again.

Wanna be part of the fun? More details here.

60 Days 'til Halloween: The Sidewalk of Sinister Snares

2011-09-01T22:15:00.000-07:00

We're fortunate to have a sidewalk right in front of the house that has lots of activity all day.

Years ago I discovered that folks coming from one direction never see the Micheal Myers figure standing up against the hedge and sometimes get a good scare. Ever since I've always wanted add a few props along the sidewalk intentionally designed to add more Halloween fun for passersby.

I've had these ideas in my head for awhile and finally doodled 'em up tonight. One of these, if not both, are definitely getting made. Even if it means some other new prop must be nixed this month.

61 Days 'Til Halloween: Making the Cauldron Pyre - Part Two

2011-08-31T20:17:00.000-07:00

When we last left off in creating Grool the zombie's cauldron, the stone fire pit was finished. Now it was time to make the faux fire itself. But there's been some trial and error so far.

From the start I wanted it simple to make, not too high tech with X-mas lights and a bit over the top... but still fairly real looking. Most important it had to work within my annual "no budget" Halloween decorating budget.

The first version I made was okay and worked. I started by gluing on wrinkled tin-foil inside the pit to help reflect light, plus if seen would look like hot embers (actually an old Disneyland Imagineering trick). Then I attached a bucket wrapped in tin-foil to the center as a support for the cauldron (being hollow also allowed me to thread a light socket through for the cauldron's internal glow later). I surrounded the bucket with orange x-mas lights and placed a hood made from chicken wire around it. Over that I glued on a large piece of crumpled vellum and painted black.

I decided to rethink it. It didn't look the way I saw it in my mind's eye and didn't allow me easy access to the lights should I need to change a bulb or fuse. Also, being paper, it was flimsy and dangerous.

I stepped away from it for a day or so to ponder a new approach. I must of psychically put my need into the metaphysical creative ether because then, one of my favorite blogs Lost in Schlock posted a link to a great how-to called Glowing Hot Coals and literally mentioned it was the perfect thing for my cauldron project. And It was.

That project found on Halloweentforum.com by LT SCARE lead me to the original clever how-to that inspired it called Goldie's Bubbling Halloween Cauldron posted by Woodhegm on Instructables.com.
Both creations had exactly the look I wanted and used materials I was already working with. So my faux fire now is an amalgam of the two with a few changes that fit my needs.

I stripped away my first attempt but left the tin-foil base.

Both the glowing coal projects use expanding foam to create the coal mounds. Since I already had some foam blobs painted to look like ashy embers between the stones (from gluing in place), it's a great way to go and keeps the look throughout the prop.

In those projects though, the lights are permanently buried under the foam. I still want access to mine, so I'm keeping the hood over the lights concept, but making it so it's really solid and removable. I had the perfect thing for this. Years ago I acquired several large 18" plastic domes online from Barnard Ltd (which BTW is a great place to find odd decorating materials).

They've been that kind of precious thing in the material stash that you're afraid to waste on just any project and end up holding onto forever never using them. I'm finally, sort of, letting go and actually used one for a re-do of my old window monster eye prop last year. And now one will be the faux fire base.

I placed the dome in the center of my pit and used a heat gun to warp and melt it into a coal mound-ish shape. I did end up wasting a couple of domes melting them too much (it broke my heart).

Next I wanted to create a base to raise the dome up on. I traced it's shape and built up a ring of expanding foam in layers.

I wanted the dome to sit on top cleanly without gaps, so once dry I masked the ring in tin-foil contouring all the bumps. Then placed the dome on top and foamed it's bottom edges and added some all over it for more texture.

Once that dried, I peeled off the tin-foil and now I had a perfect removable top that fits snugly on the base to access the lights.

It's getting there. Next in Part Three I'll sculpt the foam a bit, poke some heat venting holes, paint, detail and add the lights!

62 Days 'til Halloween: A Scarecrow For Work - Part Three

2011-08-30T19:14:00.000-07:00

The pumpkin patch themed interstitial set needed last week turned out pretty cute I think. I'll post better pics and more info about it when the segment actually airs in September. In the meantime here's how I made the scarecrow. I didn't take many process pics, so I've added a whole lot of notes to the one's I did. Bear in mind, this guy was not made to last forever beyond his need that day and the construction was such that I could tweak his size or shape fairly easily on location if needed.

As always, click on the images to enlarge.

63 Days 'Til Halloween: Drugstore Antiques

2011-08-29T14:02:00.000-07:00

There's a local drugstore near me that has a terrific display of antique remedies, ointments and medicines from bygone eras. I stopped by today and took some pics for my own prop making reference.

Thought I'd share them for anyone needing inspiration and label design ideas for odd, bottled concoctions this Halloween. Click on images to enlarge.

Creative Inspiration: What Tha? I'm 12 years Old Again!

2011-08-25T23:34:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen something that unexpectedly triggered a dormant part of your imagination and transported you back to being a kid? Well, this one brief video of The Avengers filming in Cleveland did it to me tonight.

If I had seen this at the peak of my comic book loving days decades back in grade school, my brain would of literally melted in my skull and poured out my ears.

I think I'll go visit a comic shop tomorrow. It's been awhile.

Pumpkin Watch 2011: Linus and Sally

2011-08-25T11:18:00.000-07:00

I realized today, it's been almost two months since I last posted about the pumpkin patch. And sadly this might be the final update. Back in early July it was lush end to end with growing vines. There were numerous buds then that seemed to have potential but only one grew into a pumpkin - a little guy I first called Jack, but have affectionately renamed Linus.

By early August, all the vines lost steam and stopped growing. Just when I thought Linus was all alone as in the Great Pumpkin story, to my surprise I discovered he had a friend hidden under a large grouping of leaves and off-shoot vines. I've named her Sally.

Today, the entire patch is spent and naturally withering. It would be a Halloween miracle if any more pumpkins appear. Linus is looking ready to harvest and Sally is catching up turning orange.

Although both are really small, they will find a place of honor sitting together as our coffee table centerpiece this October.

70 Days 'til Halloween: A Scarecrow For Work - Part Two

2011-08-22T01:53:00.000-07:00

The scarecrow is done, except for a few details I'll add tomorrow. I hoped to include a "making of", but it's been a long day so I'll make that a Part Three sometime this week.

71 Days 'til Halloween: A Scarecrow For Work - Part One

2011-08-21T12:14:00.000-07:00

We're shooting a Halloween themed interstitial for work later this week. I have to create a small kid friendly pumpkin patch set. All the set dressing has been rented (including fantastic realistic rubber pumpkins) from a local prop house and is ready to go. What's left is to make is the scarecrow which I decided to do in the comfort of my grim garage this weekend.

I'll post pics of the "making of" and finished prop later tonight in Part Two.

RISD loves LOVECRAFT

2011-08-20T02:44:00.000-07:00

When I was a student at RISD, I was aware of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft and loosely knew the mythos he created being a fantasy and sci-fi fan. But it wasn't until years later living in Los Angeles that I actually read any of his work and discovered that Providence was Lovecraft's hometown and the setting for many of his stories - which included familiar RISD campus locations.

Thankfully, my Alma Mater no longer lets this kind of ignorance happen. Lovecraft's The Case of Charles Dexter Ward was assigned summer reading for this year's incoming freshman. For more details click here.

My New Tenant Shows It's Face.

2011-08-15T21:41:00.000-07:00

For the first time, my new workshop tenant hung from her web facing me. I hope you all appreciate that my camera's zoom is not this good, so I had to get pretty close for these pics... too close... and I did not enjoy it.


Note the eye-shine from the flash.

77 Days 'til Halloween: Making the Cauldron Pyre - Part One

2011-08-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

Now that the Cauldron is finished, today I started to make the pyre it will sit on boiling old Grool. I'm revising the one seen in the initial sketch. It's now going to be a decrepit stone fire pit. I want it to look like it was once pristine and perfect masonry, but the elements and hundreds of forbidden rituals have taken a toll.

Using a 36" plywood round as a base, I glued chunks of Styrofoam on with expanding foam. Then carved into wonky stone shapes using a paring knife. I have to say, I've used a lot different tools to shape bead foam in my time - hot wires, electric carving knives, box cutters, saws, grinders, etc. - but non compare to a good sharp kitchen paring knife.

After cleaning away the debris, I used a heat gun to "seal" the rough edges and shaped the foam blocks even more. I did this very quickly and wearing a respirator! The fumes are really noxious.

I always enjoy painting Styrofoam when it's supposed to look like rock. It's texture and absorption does most of the faux finishing for you. Just an initial black wash on it looked pretty good.

Because there will be a lot of black scorching and grey ash details in and around the pit, I added some olive green and tan color wash to the stones for contrast using a spray bottle. The green, especially puddling in small divots and crevices added a really cool, old growth mossy feel.

To help the pit look well used, I glued some bits of foam in between the stones as piled up embers spilling out. They were based coated black and dry brushed with a bluish grey for an ashy look.

I'm probably going to add more embers all the way around the bottom edge, but I'll do that as a finishing touch once the entire piece is done.

That's it for now. Next in Part Two - creating the faux fire itself. My hope is to make it big and bright enough that it will cast a nice glow on some surrounding props in the yard.

79 Days 'til Halloween : Building a Better Cauldron - Part Two

2011-08-13T13:31:00.000-07:00

The cauldron is done, ready to be placed on a fire pit and have Grool the zombie inside. I painted it as a stand alone prop for the moment. Once the entire display piece is done, I'll probably add some blackened scorching on the bottom and a few drips of stew running down the sides.

From where I last left off in Part One, It was sanded it down and base coated, inside and out, with flat black house paint ( I removed the rings temporarily so they could be painted separately ).

I decided to give the cauldron some "character" by notching out and denting areas of the lip - as if it's been heated and cooled too many times over the centuries. Then it was painted with the faux rust treatment I use on most of my props. Once dry I splattered on some watered down orange and brown for extra weathering.

I made a "how -to" demo video of my simple rusting method. It's really basic and good for beginners (and an alternative for more advanced prop makers who find themselves money and time constrained on a project).

SPIDER NEWS!!!

2011-08-11T23:56:00.000-07:00

My new friend was busy tonight.

81 Days 'til Halloween: New Workshop Tenant

2011-08-11T11:35:00.000-07:00

Opened up the grim garage this morning and discovered I'm now sharing space with someone. Work might be slow today constantly looking over my shoulder in paranoia. Not to mention keeping my paint brush steady getting "the willies" every 2 seconds.

82 Days 'til Halloween: Building a Better Cauldron - Part One

2011-08-10T00:18:00.000-07:00

I was going to begin making my Zombie a Month characters for the yard with Capt. Umpkin, but I changed my mind. I'm starting with the first one sketched, November's Cauldron Zombie, who by the way, I've now named Grool.

Grool is going to be a simpler but better quality looking re-imaging of an old cauldron character from a few years ago. Back then he was a jungle explorer boiling in a cannibal's stew. He's since fallen into serious disrepair.

First, I stripped down the old prop to just the cauldron. It's the ordinary plastic type found at most stores around Halloween. I want to make it a better looking one.

I honestly really love these classic blow-molded cauldrons, they have a great shape. Unfortunately they also always look cheap and fake. Obviously a good paint job will help, but there are two things that the best faux finish could never fix that I want to change - the loosely implied handles and thin edge to the lip.

Since the lip's edge is curled inwards a bit, I realized I just had to fill it in to give it a good thick and heavy cast iron look. I used a bead of expanding foam applied underneath all the way around. Once fully dry, I carved it down with a paring knife and sanded into shape.

Next I made a thin mix of DAP Presto Patch and coated it over the foam and entire edge filling in gaps. As it dried I added a few more layers building it up to look solid.

I moved on to making handles. I used my old friend Crayola Model Magic to create the rings. I simply rolled out a long band, like making a snake, then wrapped around a roll of tape for a decent shaped circle and trimmed.

For the handle bases, I used two Styrofoam balls coated in Presto Patch and drilled holes through the center to loop the rings through.

One dry enough, I glued on top of the cauldron's original molded handles (now they look like part of the new handle's base).

That's it for now. In Part Two, the cauldron is painted, weathered and finished.

84 Days 'til Halloween: Inspired to Begin

2011-08-08T23:47:00.000-07:00

As I stepped out of the backdoor tonight with a fresh cup of coffee to get started Halloween building, there was a welcome chill in the air and a nice glow coming from the ghastly, grim garage workshop.

Change is Good: Part Four

2011-08-07T05:50:00.000-07:00

As you can see at the top of this 'ol blog here, after much back and forth, I've finished the new banner/logo and changed the whole blog design a bit. Of course all will be tweaked here or there down the road - mainly because this has been fun to do and I want to keep playing. But I'm pretty happy with it for now and I really should move on to other things.

Next up is complete redesign of the portfolio site with the new logo. I've picked up a few web code tricks I want to try, such as image hover effects and thumbnail galleries. Once that's done, everything might be changed again here to mirror it.

Thanks again to everyone who left critiques, ideas and suggestions for this project. All were welcome and doodled, sketched or pondered numerous times working on this.

88 Days 'til Halloween: Portrait Preview

2011-08-04T19:49:00.000-07:00

Well, this can be considered my first official countdown to Halloween post. Most of my spare time now will be devoted to this year's display.

A new project in the next couple of weeks will be creating a series of 5 - 8 ghoulish watercolor portraits to frame and hang inside the house. Once done, my plan is to also make them available to order as inexpensive posters and prints in standard frame sizes should anyone want to use in their own decorating this year.

More details soon, but in the meantime here's a sneak preview of one portrait on the drawing board now- Sir Vincent DeGhoul.

Elves and the Shoemaker Part III: The Finished Poster Art

2011-07-30T13:27:00.000-07:00

Here's the finished poster art for the Elves and the Shoemaker Itheatre production in Singapore (running from October 28th to November 13th). I decided to give the main poster an actual storybook cover look with fancy scrolled edges made up of shoes and their laces.

This completes all the illustrations needed for this project. To see the other ones visit Part One and Part Two.

Some news. I was just asked to doodle up 360 views of the elves for their resident puppet maker and performer (and an old friend) Paul Pistore so he can actually create the ones I illustrated. Pretty cool.

New Job

2011-07-28T22:54:00.000-07:00

Happy to say I just started a fairly long term job as art director for a new interstitial series on GSN. My main responsibilities are designing and making game set pieces and props. I think it's going to be a lot fun, especially when one of many projects this week was making silly sock puppets for a segment.

Eddie Izzard's Giant Squid

2011-07-24T02:00:00.000-07:00

"Giant Squid Diary: Day One. Got to the boat, everything rather damp. Must inform Trip Advisor. Seem to be running out of ink. Met a number of animals. Interesting ones... cat, dog, squirrel, a mouse... I will eat them later."

Eddie Izzard's stand up inspired some sketching this weekend. I've been a fan of his for a long time and just saw his recent show here in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Bowl. It was very, very funny and actually a historical event. It was the first time a comedian ever headlined there. His absurd bit about giant squids being included in Noah's ark really cracked me up. You can see a portion of it via his Facebook page here.

Zombie a Month: Capt. Umpkin Bilgetober

2011-07-17T14:00:00.000-07:00

The Tale of Captain Bilgetober

At the peak of his pirate career, Capt. Umpkin Bilgetober looted the "Crone's Cauldron" a merchant ship out of Salem, Massachusetts. To his surprise, instead of riches, it was laden with pumpkins. In his frustration, he ordered them all smashed and the "Crone's Cauldron" sunk. Unfortunately, what Umpkin didn't know was that the ship and it's cargo belonged to the East Witch Trading Company.

A curse was put upon him. Every Oct 31st for all eternity he rises from his grave and must sail the "Crones' Cauldron" across the seven seas in one night collecting pumpkins to replace the ones he destroyed. Over the centuries Capt. Bilgetober has come to revel in his annual task and often emerges early in the month planning his voyage while enjoying casks and bottles of Candy Corn rum.

Some say, Umpkin's crew is made up of 31 shanghaied trick or treaters every year.

Captain Umpkin is going to be a Halloween prop makeover of Capt. Wigbeard who was created back in 2008.

He's always been one of my favorites and a character I've wanted to re-do closer to the look and back story I've had in my head for a while. My great grim garage is getting a good cleaning this week, so I think the nefarious Capt. will be my first Halloween prop to tackle as he's not too far from his new look. A good project to ease into ones that are starting from scratch.

Umpkin will be the old Wigbeard "blucky" skeleton reposed and repainted with all new costume elements added to the original, including a bigger hat. His head and hands will be all new. And I thought as long as he has a hook and patched eye, why not a new peg leg? He'll also now sit on a gravestone surrounded by some half buried plunder - including kegs and bottles of Candy Corn rum (since rum comes from fermented sugar cane or molasses, I figure not too far a stretch). My overall hope is to make him much more jovial and fun looking, inspired by classic Marc Davis Pirates of the Caribbean designs and sketches.

Change is Good: Part Three

2011-07-14T16:10:00.000-07:00

Here's the new logo idea so far (click on image to enlarge). I did like the old cartoon and it seems others do to. So for now I'm going to consider keeping it but play around with some. Be fun to add a lot more small details not seen in the old one - like the pirate sword. Really pack it full of things so it represents more of what's in my imagination and workroom hoard.

Change is Good: Part Two

2011-07-12T12:13:00.000-07:00

Some of the great comments from folk's sharing critique, thoughts and ideas about my planned logo change mentioned keeping the fun and personality of the one now. Thinking about it has lead me back to an old illustration and design I created as a business card and used 10 years ago. I just might revisit this idea and update. Maybe. We'll see. Gears in my head still spinning.

The card front was an homage to late 70's and early 80's Marvel Comics I grew up reading. The card back was my resume, but as if a Johnson Smith Company mail order ad from the era. Click on images to enlarge.