Happy 65th Birthday Tim Curry!

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Tim Curry's breakthrough role in show business was penned by Richard O'brien with Rocky Horror Picture Show.  The two actors met on the stage as members of the original production of Hair in London.  This first portrait from my Cult of Personality series includes the character of Dr. Frank N. Furter (Curry) along with others including O'brien himself.  My personal favorite part of the work was getting to draw Meatloaf as his incarnation of Eddie the Ex-Delivery Boy. 

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I've always had a vivid imagination and loved activities which allowed me to flex my imagination such as reading books which take me places I'd not normally go.  Stephen King has painted these worlds for me since the 7th Grade, when I first picked up The Dark Tower series.  In my Sophomore year of High School, the English teacher didn't believe I read IT all the way through.  One of King's longest novels, it came in at just under 1,100 pages in my paperback version.  My hands were cramped from holding it for the three straight weeks I pounded through it.    IT went on to be made into a television miniseries also starring Tim Curry as Pennywise the Dancing Clown, one of King's most warped and disturbed characters.  Pennywise lives in the sewer and rips a boy's arm off within the first twenty pages of this epic which spans a lifetime for the characters involved.  I read it before seeing the miniseries and Curry definitely added a whole new level to the character's sick humor. Pennywise can be found here in my portrait of the author along with more of King's creations including The Dark Tower itself. 

There are some roles out there that only Tim Curry could have ever played including that of Darkness (An incarnation of Satan from Ridley Scott's Legend in 1985.  The actor finally won his sole Emmy in 1990 for being the voice of Capatin Hook in a made-for-TV animated Peter Pan and The Pirates which followed the story of the original book by J.M. Barie.  This was Curry's first real venture into voice acting and has now done dozens of movies and television productions. 

Happy Birthday Mr. Curry!

Click HERE for more of my Cult of Personality series!

Freestyles in Red and Purple

Sometimes I just have to free my hands up and let my mind wander and be nimble.  It's like doing Tai Chi on paper- laying down some loose lines and tightening them up and bringing them together with your skills.  Last night I just took a red pen and a pad of bristol board and let myself have fun and draw in and out of watching a movie.  I haven't drawn like this in a while having been much more conceptual with my work the past two years.  What came out was a full page Topsy-Turvy, which you can see here either side up...

"Topsy-Turvy: RED freestyle" Red Pen on Bristol / 2011

I had so much fun running that red pen around that I picked up a purple one when I was finished...

"Topsy-Turvy: PURPLE freestyle" Purple Pen on Bristol / 2011

Now the big debate is whether to color these bad boys or not?  (Just with a very light palette on each.)  Any suggestions?  Yes?  No?

Illustration Friday: Hitcher

"Hitcher" (inks on bristol / 2008)

Here's a surreal illustration for you from 2008 to go along with the theme of "Journey" for this week's Illustration Friday.  I look at this as my backpacker hippie-kinda piece.  I have always been pleased with the way the flower eyes turned out on the figure.  The four armed hitcher has his bag flung over his shoulder as he tests the air with a fistful of the desert.  Which way will the wind take him?

Each week, Illustration Friday chooses a theme from those submitted by artists and patrons for creative types to use as a prompt for their submissions. Click HERE to see all of my entries from this year!

The 2011 Rivers and Spires Festival

One of the billboards featuring my winning illustration!

The 2011 Rivers & Spires Festival kicks off Thursday night in Historic Downtown Clarksville with live music beginning at 4PM and rounding out with Mr. Speed (16 year veterans of being "America's Kiss Tribute") on the Public Square Stage at 8PM!

This is just to warm things up!  The streets will really fill up all weekend with more music, vendors and artisans.  I'll be in the Artz Galore section next to City Hall all day Friday and Saturday along with dozens of other photographers, artists and craftspeople.  Come by and see me to talk about art and take advantage of the only time of year you'll be allowed to drink a beer on the street!  I have tons of new framed work and prints to exhibit and will be giving away autographed Rivers & Spires posters featuring my artwork!

You'll also be able to see all that downtown has to offer as local businesses on Strawberry Alley and Franklin Street have their doors open to the public for even more live music and art.  While you're there, make sure to check out "Imagination Unchained," a group art exhibit above the Front Page Deli featuring work from Charles Bennett, Peggy Bonnington, Andi Casali, Patrick Daly, Christy Johnson, Jay Swafford, and Roly Viruez.  All the artists give will give you a wild ride through their pop surrealism, abstract and low-brow art.  This must-see exhibit is open 1-8PM Thursday-Saturday night!

You can also see one of my own personal favorite illustrations, "Octopus's Garden" at the U.S. Bank Open Exhibit in the APSU Downtown Gallery on Strawberry Alley, which will have it's doors open during the festival as well.  This illustration is exhibited with over 100 local artists.  Proceeds from the show go to scholarships for the Austin Peay Art Department to dole out to young artists!

"Topsy-Turvy: Octopus's Garden" (Portrait of The Beatles) at the APSU Downtown Gallery

Festival Manager, Doug Barber and his hard-working committee hustle year-round to bring together three days packed full of entertainment and activities for the public.  There is something for everyone with Jazz music, Rock music, Country music, and Christian music on multiple stages simultaneously.  The streets will be packed full of local and regional artists, craftspersons, food vendors, and activities.  The Rivers & Spires Festival is FREE every year here in downtown Clarksville.  In it's 9th year, this event has won a slew of awards including being in the Top 100 Event In North America.  This year will be even better all the way through Saturday night when headliner, Clint Black takes the stage.

[Click HERE for more on my winning design for the 2011 Rivers & Spires Poster Contest]

[Click HERE for more about last year's Festival]

[Click HERE for a Map of the Festival and The Rivers & Spires Official Site]

Illustration Friday: Chugger

"Topsy-Turvy: Chugger" Inks on Paper / 2007

"Bottled" is the theme for this week's Illustration Friday, for which I've chosen to share another piece of art with you from my Topsy-Turvy series (where the works can be hung either side up to create a different perspective on the image.)  This particular piece was displayed in my first Topsy-Turvy exhibit in 2007 at The Icehouse Cafe.  I had a contest to see who could stand on their head the longest to win a free work of art! 

Beer has been bottled since the 16th Century, however the modern college student has found many different ways to ingest the jolly juice more and more efficiently including beer bongs, shotgunning devices, and countless drinking games and general excuses to see how much beer they can possibly pickle themselves with in one sitting. 

[Click Here for MORE works from my Topsy-Turvy series]

[Click Here for ALL my weekly entries for Illustration Friday]

[Click Here to learn How to Make a Beer Bong]

In Memoriam: Kurt Cobain and Layne Staley

Kurt Cobain (inks on bristol / 2011)

Grunge music will always have a lasting memory and place in my spirit.  I grew up listening to Alice and Chains, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and the rest of the Seattle movement of the early 90's which harnessed the angst and deep emotional turmoil of a lost generation.  For a brief five or six years, these bands made records which are timeless to me and a lot of the people I grew up with.  It was a very brief glimmer of a rebellious, anti-corporate movement which dampened with the death of legend Kurt Cobain on today's date in 1994 at the age of 27.  A few years past the end of the grunge fever, downward-spiraling Alice in Chains front man Layne Staley succumbed to his addictions on the same date, April 5th- eight years later in 2002.

Layne Staley (inks on bristol / 2008)

My memories of hearing about the death of both of these icons will always break my heart.  Two musicians who moved and spoke to an entire generation and turned a local sound into a world-wide phenomenon died young and without a friend close enough to stop their demise.  Both bodies were discovered some time after their deaths (Cobain's three days and Staley's two weeks.)  I'll leave the commentary once again today to Joebot over at Rock Star Martyr, who is borrowing my portrait of Layne Staley from my 2009 Cult of Personality series as well as this new portrait finished this week of Kurt Cobain. 

Here's a couple of shots of the process of creating my Kurt Cobain portrait with the shotgun shell halo...

[Click here for more on my Cult of Personality Series]

[Click here for more of my portraits for Rock Star Martyr!]

Illustration Friday: Comic and Tragic

Illustration Friday has posted the theme for this week as "Duet."  It takes two to tango (...or sing a duet) and sometimes they are complimentary and sometimes they are contradicting voices.  Opposing forces often factor into my work.  Here is my entry for this week, which was displayed in my solo exhibit in 2008, entitled "Felt and Found."

Comic and Tragic (inks on bristol / 2008)

 [Click here for all my previous weekly posts for Illustration Friday!]