For all those fiends who keep pestering me to make t-shirts etc so they can pimp my art whilst out and about, then fret no more... 

Thats right, fiends!
Last year Miss Death was approached by Death Fresh Clothing to scribble out some t-shirt designs. It's been a while, but alas, you can now grab my awesomely gnarley Shark design at the Death Fresh Clothing online store! Available in three different colours (Black, Yellow and Green) you can grab this chunk of awesomeness HERE!

And...
If that's not good enough for you, then there's also some tee's I done for Living Dead Girls/Living Dead Inc!

Sport a sexy zombie pin-up lady and be the coolest ghoul in the graveyard!
Loads of different styles, colours and variety of shirts available. Both for boils and ghouls! Head on over to their site and be sure to grab one HERE!

Also, don't forget to visit my Etsy store! Theres a tonne of one of a kind, original Horror, Tattoo and Rockabilly inspired items there that I can guarentee no one else will have! And the best part? They're all for bargain prices too! So help a fiend out, and be sure to visit my store HERE!

Links:
Death Fresh Clothing
Living Dead Girls Online Store
Living Dead Girls Facebook
Miss Death's Online Store

Custom Art Competition Winners!

Greetings my darling fiends... Miss Death here to announce the winner and two runners-up of the September Custom Art Competition!
But before I do that, I wish to thank all who entered the competition, helped by advertising it, retweeting links and for all the support!

Right, now time for the fun part *drumroll please*
The winner of the Custom Art piece is:
-LuckyPunkCo

1st Runner-Up Prize goes to:
-MalinVK

2nd Runner-Up Prize goes to:
-dmbwars

All winners will be notified by email shortly. Big thanks again to all who participated and supported the competition!

For those unfortunate souls who haven't won, fret not, i'm sure there shall be a chance to win custom art by Yours Truly at some point in the future.

Anywho, be sure to visit my store for original, one of a kind and limited edition Horror, Tattoo and Alternative art! www.vickideath.co.uk

Win Custom Art By Miss Vicki Death

Good evening boils and ghouls! Listen up to hear how you can get your hands on a CUSTOM piece of artwork from Vicki Death!

Throughout the month of September make ANY purchase made at my Etsy store to be automatically be placed into a draw to win a custom piece of art by Yours Truly! Custom being YOU get to choose the subject/design of the piece!!!
How awesome is that?!
The piece will measure 15" x 11" - Thats a damn decent size if you ask me! Usually these pieces retail for between $55 - $65! So it's one hell of a sweet prize.
There will also be two runner up prizes! Woop!
All you have to do to enter is make a purchase from my Etsy during the month of September, and you shall be automatically entered into the draw! Easy peasy!
So, what are you waiting for? Head on over to my Etsy store now!

T&C’s
-This competition is open to anyone, worldwide!
-This competition is strictly only taking place on Vicki Death's Etsy, and not through the means of any other website!
-All artwork is for personal use only. All rights of the artist and artwork are reserved. Unauthroised copying, public use, commercial use or manipulation of the artwork is prohibited.
-The winner will be notified via the email address given at time of purchase.
-The piece will be sent to the name & address given at time of purchase.
-The winner will be able to have a custom piece of artwork made for them by Vicki Death.
-The artwork will be on a 11” x 15” piece of 250gsm watercolour paper!
-The custom design will be ORIGINAL artwork! I am not a photocopier, so don't ask me to copy someone elses work. It's NEVER going to happen!
-Vicki Death has the right to refuse any design idea/suggestion etc.
-Vicki Death has the right to withdraw the competition at any time without prior notice.
-Design may take up to 4 weeks to be completed.
-No postage cost will be charged to the winner for the prize.
-There is only one custom piece prize available. And 2 runner-up prizes available.
-No exchange or alternative is available!
-The winner will be selected at random no later than Tuesday 5th October 2010
-If the winner does not reply to the notification email within 14 days of the email being recieved, the prize draw shall re-commence and a different winner shall be selected.
-Competition is open from 0.00am (midnight) on Wednesday 1st September until 11:59pm Thursday 30th September.
-All artwork is copyrighted to Vicki Death ©2010 Vicki Death

Zombie Horror Show

Recently, I’ve been on some sort of zombie binge. Art wise this is. Ok, so I’m a bit of a zombie fan anyway, a lot of the inspiration from the zombie pieces I create comes from movies, comics or music, and it seems that I’ve found drawing these lovely living dead creatures is great fun. You can draw them is so many ways, there is no right or wrong way to draw them, as long as it resembles something deceased, then all is well.
I can’t say there is a particular point to this blog, but I thought it’d be nice to share some of my favourite zombie works I’ve been creating over the past year or so, and tell you a little about each one.
Some of my long-term followers have probably seen these piece, but heck, they were a bundle of laughs to draw, paint and bring back from the dead and I feel I want to share the ghoulish awesomeness with you all once more. So brace yourself fiends, and be sure to have a boomstick at hand, just incase!

Lady Death - This piece was a representation of how blind people can be to the reality around them. I had a great deal of fun creating this, I truly enjoy messing around with various styles on the traditional gypsy tattoo designs.

Ostrich Flesh Eaters - Zombie Ostriches rock. 'Nuff said!

Do The Dead - Inspired by one of my fave zombie flicks, 'Return of the Living Dead', and also The Cramps 'Surfin' Dead' track they done for the movie. Combining two forms of awesome clearly equals Mega Awesome!

Ribcage Coasters - I drew up 4 of these in total, and handpainted each one individually. Everyone needs a set of ribs to rest their brew on, right?

Deceased Hand - Reminds me of Thing from the Addams Family. Wasn't intentional, just happened, ha.

Victorian Zombie Gent - My latest addition to the zombie paintings, I don't tend to draw a great deal of men when it comes to zombie/tattoo stuff, so it was a nice change. I love the Victorian era and a zombie gent whos dropped dead? Perfec'!

Living Dead Virgin Mary - This lil' lady started life as a plain white figurine. Then Miss Death got her claws on her, and what you see above is final outcome. Mwahaha!

Helena the Dead - I don't remember how this painting came about exactly. Perhaps it was inspired by my late night graverobbing? (Crap, said too much!) But it was a learning curve, I was trying new painting techniques with this piece, seemed to have worked in my favor, but there is always room for improvement.

Zombie I (aka: Nigel) - This is one of my fave pieces i've ever created. Nigel might not be the best piece i've created, but he was so much fun to bring back from the dead. It's quite a large fellow too, if I remember correctly the canvas measures 24" x 18", and he hangs nicely in my kitchen, watching over the tea bags for me. Such a pleasent fellow.

Want more zombies? Then be sure to visit my Etsy store this month to be in with a chance to win the Zombie Box of Death!!! You can visit my store here!

Death Or Glory

Ok, so this is probably long over-due. But brace yourself for a major blog up-date!


Today I’ve decided (with a thanks to Rachel for helping me do so) to talk about tattoos. In particular, my own tattoos, how I got into my love for them, and what my ink is all about. I figured it would kind of stop people asking me the same questions and from me having to repeat myself. Ok, so I’m not writing this as some form of hope that people are never ever again going to ask about them, but hey, it might just save a bit of time for me and those who are interested.

My tattoo affection started out when I was a kid. I remember being around the age of 10. My cousin was dating this girl at the time who had a little devil tattooed on her ankle (thinking back to it, it was a pretty awful looking piece of ink). This little devil however totally fascinated me. I was curious as to how an image could be so permanent on the skin. How it could stay there forever and never get washed off or just peeled away should the dislike of its residence occur.
From this moment, I became totally indulged in the idea that one day, I too could have some permanent inky scarring.


Neither of my parents where fans of tattoos. My mother thought (and to this day still does) that they looked cheap. Only criminals, drug addicts and chavs had tattoos. They weren’t classy. And there was a huge chance I’d regret it a few months after I got one. But I took the attitude of ‘what the hell do they know?’. And to this day I still maintain it was the right attitude to take.

When I reached the age of 15, I took my first steps into a tattoo shop. I lived in Chepstow, South Wales at the time. Me and my buddy’s would always hang around at the monument that stood directly outside Chepstow’s tiny tattoo studio. From what I remember, I first went in there with a friend who was enquiring about a piercing. I remember walking in, with a sense of both fear and excitement. There was a funny smell, like a concoction of disinfectant, sweat and cigarette smoke (yeah, this was in the days before the smoking ban). We were greeted by this man who was of a rather large build, and the bushiest beard I’d ever seen! (I’m proud to say I’ve seen bushier beards since!). He introduced himself as Shaun. Seemed like a polite guy, but I was still nervous (for what reasons I now don’t recall). I went back a few months later and ended up exiting the shop with a hole in the left side of my lower lip, and a bar running through it. From this moment on, I was hooked. Ok. So it was a piercing, but hey, it was my first ever piercing (yes, Vicki has never gotten around to getting her ears pierced. SHOCK HORROR!), and man I was stoked!


After this, I’d go into the shop on a regular basis, we were welcome to sit around every now and then and watch folks getting tattooed, as long as they didn’t mind, and as long as we didn’t talk. It wasn’t until I was 19 though that I got my first tattoo. By this time I had just left (possibly quit) university and moved back up to the North West. I was visiting my brother who lives in the Isle of Man. Both he and my dad decided to go into the motor bike shop… Both are bike fanatics, I personally can’t stand them. So I went off on my own. On my little exploration of the town, I stumbled across a little tattoo parlour hidden away on a side street. I’d heard about it before, my brother knew the guy who owned the place. Something just clicked inside me, I had the money in my pocket for a tattoo, there was no one to stop me getting one, and hey, if I had to put up with motorbike talk for the rest of the week, surely they could put up with a little mark upon my skin. I stepped in on the off-chance I might be able to get some ink. Once more I was greeted by a pretty heavy built guy, he had the thickest Irish accent known to man, and introduced himself to me as Frank. I couldn’t understand half of what he was saying, but we seemed to communicate well enough for me to get what I was after. Sort of. Ha. For my first tattoo, I wanted the letters ‘A7X’ on my wrist, with bats coming off the lettering and flying up my arm. They were the band I totally dug at the time (I still listen to them today, but hey, time changes I guess) He sadly wouldn’t do this idea, and I ended up with what you see under the paragraph below.


This is where I tell you more about my first ever tattoo experience. How did it go? Pretty shit in all honesty. I hadn’t eaten anything that day, I seemed to be running on excitement that I could get this damn tattoo. But, by not eating was most probably my biggest mistake. I ended up feeling queezy after the first twenty minutes. So much so I had to have a break… By this I mean half a can of cola and a cigarette. But, after 10 minutes, I was ready to rumble once more. A total of 45 minutes and a conversation about the artists life in the Navy, I left £60 poorer and feeling like I was walking on air. And both my brother and dads faces were priceless! But the image you see below is what I was left with.

A7X Bat - Healed

Yes, I’m fully aware it’s pretty damn poor and patchy. Do I regret it? Hell no! It was my first tattoo. It’s part of my story. I can tell you every detail of what happened that day. All thanks to the little mark upon my skin. And not to mention the addiction I now had to get more!


It was a number of months later (about 8 or 9 I think?) when I had saved enough for my next tattoo. After my first tattoo experience, I decided to put in more research into who I wanted to tattoo it. And by doing so, found an awesome artist right on my doorstep. Mr Karl Fletcher (or Flecky) done my second piece.


I decided on a zombie chick, I’d been messing around with the idea for a while, drawing up ideas and making changes throughout the months I was saving. It made perfect sense. I have a deep adoration for the living dead. I feel people judge others far too quickly these days (perhaps see the note near the beginning about my mothers opinion on tattooed people). The zombie tattoo represented far more than a love of the freaky creatures. It represented the beauty of something, whether dead or alive. Looks aren’t everything, and a person should never be judged solely on their appearance.

Sorry I don't have a better photo, this was taken a day after I got her.

The outcome of my zombie tattoo was something epic. She (who I’ve named Suzie) has still yet to be completed. As you may notice, she lacks a background and has a tonne of space around her. But fret not, Vicki has another sitting booked in with Flecky for September to get an additional zombie gent (dare I say Elvis?) to keep her company. Awesomes!


My third tattoo came about due to a number of reasons. Since I was in school I’d been reading the works of Edgar Allan Poe (like many others, I’m sure) and the piece of his work that always stuck to mind was The Raven. I find the poem beautiful. Perhaps not his best work, but by far means more to me than most. Apart from the Poe reference, it also symbolises my lack of faith in religion, as you may notice, the raven is perched upon a gravestone in the shape of a cross. With my Atheist beliefs, I believe religion is dead, or at least should be. But hey, that’s a different story all together. And to top it off, the raven is also renown as Deaths Messenger, perfectly apt don’t you think?

Nevermore Raven - Fresh

This beautiful work of art (as with the next two pieces) where done by Dan Morris (aka: Mozza) in Manchester.


After the raven, I wanted to try and fill the rest of my forearm. So a gramophone followed. As a fan of a lot of 40s/50s/60s music, it was perfectly suitable. Who needs iPods and mp3 players when you can have a bad-ass gramophone? Ok, so I don’t actually own a bad-ass gramophone, I wish I did, sadly my money doesn’t stretch far enough, so instead of the real thing, the tattoo does me just fine. And to explain the blue lightning and purple clouds? Well, I just have a thing about blue lightning and purple clouds. Hey, it’s rock n roll!

Gramophone - Fresh

 This leads me on to my final piece of work. Placed upon my upper left arm/shoulder sits my beautiful Gill Girl. As a fan of the classic monster movies, and as well as the beauty scenario explained previously, I wanted to make a start on my left arm… Properly. The idea came about over a number of months, I had a sketch I’d drawn some time ago of this female based on the Creature From The Black Lagoon. After some re-working and major tweaks, I was finally completely happy with the idea I’d both drawn and set in my head. I’ve always thought it was a shame a female Creature never occurred. After all, the Monster has his Bride, Drac has had more woman than he cares to keep count of (no pun intended)… You get the idea.

Gill Girl - Half heeled

I made my idea happen, and can now say I’m a proud owner of a female Creature.
Ain’t she a doll?


Now you all know the stories behind my tattoos. Some might be disappointed, others possibly surprised. I don’t know, I can’t say. There are plenty more ideas I have waiting to be inked. And when I get the money to do so, they shall! What’s my aim when it comes to coverage? At present It’s on the ‘heavy’ scale. I have people continuously asking me questions along the lines of ‘what are you going to do when you’re like 80?’… May I note these people tend to be those who have never met me before, never had a tattoo themselves, and haven’t a clue how much my tattoos mean to me. To those people who ask me the above question, I tend to just say ‘the same as you, I’ll just look a hell of a lot cooler!’.


I’m not a criminal, drug addict, or chav. I try my best not to judge people the second I see them. There are people out there who love tattoos and others who hate them. I guess, at the end of the day, tattoos are like a pot of Marmite.

Links:
Karl Fletcher: http://www.fleckystattoos.co.uk/
Dan Morris: http://www.myspace.com/mozza_super_numpty

Death Eternal

After the 22 years Miss Death has been haunting this planet, she finally broke a bone that doesn't belong to someone else!

Yes, thats right folks. I've broken my toe. Hahaha. Canes like a bitch though, and I can't walk either.

I'm suprised this hasn't happened sooner, with all the stunts and daredevil activity i've had throughout my life. But, there are some pluses to this:
1.Can't go to work
2.Because I can't walk until it's healed, this means I have a shit-load of time to do art. Awesome!

Just one problem, I need some supplies, but can't get to the art shop to get them. If I send a minion, I can guarentee they purchase the wrong materials (art snob?)
Ah well, i'll figure something out.
Like they say, just gotta keep on truckin'!

I also might beable to do a proper up-date on this thing too. It'll kill some time, and I think this bad-boy is well over-due an injection of Death's thoughts and ramblings. So keep those eyeballs peeled fiends, for i'm sure that by the end of the week, i'll have written more crap in this thing to bore you all to death with!

But in the mean time, cheer Miss Death up and visit her store: http://vickideath.etsy.com
Theres a bunch of new items up, as well as some great savings to be had on original horror and tattoo art.
Right, time to hop to the kitchen and make myself a brew.

Respect The Dead

Ok, so today Miss Death is going to give you all a little treat, a treat that involves some fellow creative fiends! I'm going to inform you folk of some artists, crafters and other creative types that I truelly love.
And as Miss Death doesn't kiss arse, I can guarentee you this is 100% genuine!


I'll be doing this in parts, as there are far too many fellow arty fiends i'd like to give a shout out to! So, keep those eyeballs peeled (literally) for future features!

First on my list of fabtabulous fiends is a lovely ghoul from across the seas in Canada. AshesForAsh; specialising in Vintage goodies, and has some awesome handmade items with a nice vintage twist! There truelly are some special treats to be found at her store!
Check out more of her vintage delights HERE!

John & Jane Dearly Departed Hair Clips

Lucille Headband

Zombie Pin-Up Cameo

Thirdly, I am introducing you to another cool ghoul from across the pond, but this one comes from the US. With an awesome Rock 'n' Roll/Pop Culture vibe about her goodies, the LuckyPunkCo is bound to have delights for all those accessory-loving fiends out there (and even that little monster you may have snapping at your ankles!)!
Check out her store HERE!

Bat Brooch

Bettie Page Cherry Make-Up Case

Vintage Batman Button Necklace

And last, but by no means least, is a ghoul from my part of the North West England graveyard. Amanda Norman Photography produces some amazing, beautiful and truelly dark images! Amanda is also the awesome fiend who created the rad banner you see at the top of this page! If you're a fan of the horror, goth and dark side of life, then be sure to check ths girls work out! And, to make things even better, you can purchase a majority her images on a wide variety of goodies, from business and greeting cards, to calanders, mugs and poster prints!

Check out her store HERE!

Coffin Skeleton

Blood Tree

Tree Framed View

Well, thats it for now folks. As I said at the start, there shall be more artist features to come!

In the mean time, check out my store for some Tattoo & Horror gore! http://www.vickideath.etsy.com/

I'm in need of a brew and some nicotine.

Ah, the life of Death!

Death Sex

Ok, so today i'm going to perhaps blabber on a little, and in all honesty I couldn't care if no one reads this. But this blog entry shall be one of those 'ranty' type of blogs.
Before you continue onwards with reading this, I want to stress that this is MY rant, if you don't agree with it, then fine. I honestly couldn't care if you disagree with what i'm about to rant.

Anyway, onwards. I'm concentrating today on two particular questions I seem to be getting more and more often. Two particular questions that truelly irritate me. And the same particular questions that I give the same answers to EVERYONE (ok, small lie there. As it excludes my closest friends and people I have great trust in perhaps). Both questions are related to my artwork.
'What are those two questions, Vicki?' I hear you ask! Well:
1: 'What technique do you use to get that effect?'
2: 'What type/make/brand of material(s) do you use to get that effect?'

Why do these annoy me? Here is why:

For starters, i'm not an art teacher, for some reason people seem to think I am to some extent.
I personally find art teachers irritating, perhaps this is because through out my school life I never got along with my art teacher. I couldn't stand the woman, she hated me, I hated her, it was a pretty even relatonship in that aspect. Ok, some art teachers can be good at what they do, but from my experience, most are a pile of bunk!

I've been drawing and painting for as far back as I care to remember, some of my earliest memories in life are of me drawing, painting and creating. Everything I know about art, whether it's how to get a certain texture with a certain material, what materials are best to use for a certain piece or any art history and other random knowledge I know is pretty much self taught!
Yes, I went to study Art at university, (I was there for the grand total of 1 year!) and in all honesty I didn't feel I really learnt anything. All the classes and tips we where given where thngs I already knew, things i'd already taught myself. This being the main reason why I didn't cntinue to study further in the field. I found I learnt more working on my own than being 'taught' by a bunch of teachers and lecturers.

The last point is the main reason why the 'two question' royally piss me off... I've spent my life learning everything I know about art. All off my own back, and just continuing to practice and experiment with techniques, various styles, and studying art. I'm not going to throw that away and tell you straight up how the hell to 'get that texture'. Work it out for yourself! I've had to, and it's the only true way to learn how to draw/paint etc etc in my opinion. I'm not willing to tell the whole world everything I know about art, just so some slimey arsed motherfucker can go and use my methods/techniques and copy what i'm doing! It's also the more fun to work it out for yourself, and I think you'll find you'll learn far more new things. After all, mistakes are there to be learnt from.

Like i've said, art teachers can be handy for very small pointers (so i've been told) i'm not against anyone picking up the odd tip every blue moon. It's all part of a learning curv though.
Art is a subject where you can never stop learning, you can never stop improving, and thats what makes it enjoyable!

So in future, if you're going to ask me 'Can you tell me what make of materials you used and what you did to gain that texture in your painting?', prepare for me to tell you to 'Fuck off'.

Ah, thats better. Death is happy now.
Hope you all have a good weekend?! Over and out!

Art-I-Ficial

Ok, so, I shall make some form of effort with this blog.
I'll warn you all in advance, I am no writter, it's why I draw and paint!

The choices as what to talk about is difficult. I would babble on about art stuff, but I feel this could bore most. I have been asked to write about my methods for creating art, but i'm not going to give my trade secrets away! Haha. So, thats going to remain in the tomb, well, for now anyway.

As deciding on a subject/topic to write about, or perhaps discuss, my ideas are many.
I'm currently drinking tea in the hope that this will aid me into making a decision, but, at present, the magic tea powers seem to be failing.

Over the coming year I do hope to discuss many a topic, so, if there is a certain subject you wish to hear from Death, feel free to request it! Whether it be art, music, film or anal sex donkeys! I'm open to ideas!

But, for now, I think it's best to keep this simple. I'm just going to give you a brief insight to Miss Death's mind at present.

So, i'm sat here, drinking sweet tea. I have X-Ray Spex pumping through the speakers, and nicely pissing off the neighbours. A band I oh so love, but know very few others who feel the same. Perhaps it's because they're a Punk band? Perhaps it's because some think Poly Styrene isn't as hot as some other punk chicks? Perhaps it's the London vibe about them? I don't know. But I truelly think they're awesome. The raw sound, the energy, the lyrics and the damn awesome fashion sense! How can you not love them? I believe they where more of a 'fun' punk band, not as serious and political as some, but thats another thing that attracts me to them. If you've never listened to them, then I thoroughly advise you check them out! 
Here's a link for their myspace.

I'm pretty sure I would have fitted in well through out that era. Just a pity you very rarely find punk bands these days that have the energy that the 70's ones held. Theres too much money being made in punk now days. Ok, so it's cool when I band does well, but the days when punk was for the outcasts and basketcases. When Punk bands could only play small, basement clubs and not huge stadiums and arenas. Those glory days seem long gone.

All this leads me to wish I was around in the 1970's for the first wave of Punk Rock. There are far too many bands I appreciate and of whome inspire me from the 1970's. A nice concoction of both American and UK punk. Just a pity I had to miss it all. Perhaps, when this Time Travelling lark that Dr. E. Brown invented becomes more mainstream, I might be able to go back and visit an era and time in music history that inspires me greatly.

I'm pretty sure i'll go into more depth of my love for music at some later point, but for now, I shall leave it at this. I'm far too tired and lacking energy to type anymore. My brain feels like it's melting away! Not good.

Back to my dungeon I go, forgive my poor effort, i'm sure i'll get into the swing of this blogging thing sooner or later.

Blah!

I really should use this blog more. I deleted pretty much everything on it.
I say it's time for Miss Death to get to work and start some serious blogging! Yeeeeah!

But in the mean time, please feel free to visit my Etsy store!
Here you can find my latest pieces of original artwork. Mostly Horror & Tattoo inspired.
 Visit my store here!

And on another store note: Theres FREE worldwide shipping on ALL orders! And, for a limited time, also get a FREE mini painting with ALL orders (only a few left! So GO GO GO!)

Until next time.

^V^