Wednesday 27 April 2011

Win CUSTOM art from Miss Death!

Good evening boils and ghouls! It's that time of year again, so listen up to hear how you can get your hands on a CUSTOM piece of artwork from Vicki Death!


I'm opening up this competition a few days earlier, because i'm nice like that :D
Throughout the month of May make ANY purchase made at my Etsy store to be automatically 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 £45 - £70 (or $74 - $115 for my American fiends)! 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 May, 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! http://vickideath.co.uk


T&C’s
-This competition is open to anyone, worldwide! 
-This competition is strictly only taking place on Vicki Death's Etsy (http://vickideath.co.uk), 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.
-No minimum spend required.
-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 250lb 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 Sunday 5th June 2011
-If the winner does not reply to the notification email within 7 days of the email being recieved, the prize draw shall re-commence and a different winner shall be selected.
-Competition is open from Wednesday 27th April and will close at 11:59pm on Tuesday 31st May.
-All artwork is copyrighted to Vicki Death ©2009-2011 Vicki Death

Wednesday 13 April 2011

Thank you!

Death has good news! The thieving toe-rag who stole my art to use on her jewellery without my permission seems to have taken down her ripped off items from her store!
After much hard work, i'd like to thank everyone for their support! You guys rock!


As a little thank you, for a limited time only, i'm offering a FREE limited edition Pure Fury art card with all purchases made at my Etsy store. No minimum spend required either :)


Head on over to my store http://vickideath.co.uk and support a living, breathing, original artist!

Thanks again!

^V^

Tuesday 12 April 2011

Thieving Little Shits!

Hello my dear fiends! 
Yesterday, whilst I was checking my Etsy store I was made aware of a girl who also has a shop on Etsy. This girl has been using my original artwork for her jewellery products and selling them through her Etsy shop.
After reporting her to Etsy, as well as messaging her personally requesting she stops using my art and selling these products, i've had 0 result.
I call for your help, my dear fiends!


This girl has been stealing my art to make jewellery and profit for herself. http://www.etsy.com/shop/Calavera138 Please DO NOT buy from her. Report her to Etsy!
Simply click the link above. On the left hand of the page you'll see a button that says 'Report this shop to Etsy', please click and report her.
This isn't the first time people have stolen my work and used it without my permission. And sadly, it probably won't be the last.
But, as Etsy don't seem to care about this, then i'm asking you guys to help me out!


Thank you!


^V^

Monday 4 April 2011

I Met Elvis In Hell

I'm spoiling you fiends rotten today! That's right! TWO blog posts in ONE day! What the hell has gotten over me? Boredom is what! 
So, this post is going to be focused on portrait art... Not any old portraits, but the ones I create. I'm specifying this to pencil portraits in particular. 
The one thing i've always found that is good for drawing practice is portrait work. It allows you to experiment with various techniques, textures and styles, as well as materials. I don't hold myself to be a great portrait artist, I still have a lot to learn when it comes to art, portraits in particular. I always find them challenging, especially when you're drawing a well known face. But that's also part of the fun of it all.
I've drawn portraits on and off over the years, but it's only been in recent years that i've taken the subject more seriously. I find myself rather fussy when choosing who it is I draw. I always prefer the more famous faces than personal photos of friends/relatives etc. But even when drawing the more famous faces I tend to go for those who I love, admire and have some form of respect for. My heroes perhaps? Not in all cases, but in some.
Here I wish to show you some of the pencil works I have created over the past 3 years or so. 
Elvis - This is an old portrait, created somewhere around '07/'08? I should draw Elvis again, i'd like to think that my drawing skills have improved vastly since creating this piece. Maybe sometime in the near future a new Elvis portrait will appear?

Psychotic Reaction - I remember drawing this in honour of Lux after he passed. This here is my little tribute to the guy who fronted one of my favourite bands. 

The Bat - The one and only Mr Vincent Price as Malcolm Wells in the 1959 film, The Bat. Part of me loves this portrait, another part hates it. I look and see so many errors. Perhaps another to re-draw at some point?

Bobby Calabrese - Yes, the guitar-playing fiend from that awesome horror rock band Calabrese! This piece came about from a tweet I sent out requesting ideas of people to draw. Bobby requested himself. How could I say no to a member of one of my fave horror bands? It was a good challange, this was the piece where I discovered that I truly hate, and suck at drawing guitars.

Cry Baby - He's the King Cry Baby with a tear in his eye! Mr Depp as the one and only Wade 'Cry Baby' Walker. Utterly scrumptious and delectable! His hair was a complete bitch to draw, and i'm still not 100% happy with it, but he was a delight to draw.

The Monster - This is a piece that took a total of 8 months to complete (usually portraits take somewhere between 4 hours to 3 days). There is a reason though. I drew up the monster (as seen on the left) then somehow forgot about him. Whilst rummaging through some old sketch pads 8 months later, I came across him and added the background. I always love drawing Frankenstein's creation, and this was just as fun!

Yvonne DeCarlo - This is a woman I love greatly. Probably best known as her role of Lily Munster in the tv show The Munsters, Most draw her as her Lily character. I wanted to take the make-up away and draw a more natural Yvonne. There are some things I need to tweak on this piece. I'll be sure to go back to it one day and do so.

Bwahaha - This has to be one of my favourite portraits I have created so far. Mr Bela Lugosi about to sink his fangs into Helen Chandler. I don't draw enough woman when it comes to pencil portraits. Especially ones that are about to have a set of fangs sunk into theit neck. A good old traditional Vampire. Non of this shit were they sparkle in daylight. Pfft.  

Rebel Without A Pulse - He's returned from the grave! I wasn't originally going to have him as a zombie, but then something happened and I ended up making his flesh rot and decay away.

Star Wars - Because who doesn't like Star Wars? I've loved Star Wars since my childhood. It was inevitable that I was going to create some Star Wars themed piece sooner or later. I give you Chewie and Han kicking (well, shooting) butt! This is another piece that I truly had fun doing. Although, just a note, Wookiees can be a bit of a pain to draw, what with all that hair!

The Man in Black - I drew this last year on Mr Cash's birthday. I was feeling uninspired that week, played some of his tunes and the inspiration was back. This is one of the few pieces I refuse to sell. He hangs proudly on my wall framed in (ofcourse) a black 1950's-esque frame.

The Evil Dead - Bruce Campbell. That is all.

Grandpa Munster - Those who know me well, know that I love The Munsters. And how could I refuse a portrait of Grandpa? I love all the character he holds in his face. He was a joy to draw!

The Bride - Another fave. I maintain this to be one of my best portrait pieces (although i'll let you be the judge of that). Elsa Lanchester as The Bride of Frankenstein. One of my all time favorite movies. The depth created by the lighting and her hair proved both enjoyable and challanging at the same time.

Michael, Freddy, Jason - The latest of my pencil portraits (yes, Vicki hasn't drawn one since last year!!!) This was a commission, and it was tougher than usual due to the fact i'm not a fan of the movies. Freddy was by far the most challenging out of the three. Never again do I wish to draw his face, haha.

I shall leave it at that. It has managed to kill about 45 minutes putting this load of crap together. So I guess I win on that factor!

Sunday 3 April 2011

Like A Bad Girl Should

I've always had a love for classic pin-up girls. Just everything about them is adorable. From their sexy curves to the cheeky poses and risqué scenes. Todays post is about these pretty ladies.
As most of you who read this are aware, art is a true passion of mine. I get asked quite a lot what my favorite subjects are to draw, and you can always guarantee that 'Pin-Up girls' will be mentioned somewhere within my response. They're a versatile subject to draw. Unlimited to what you can create when it comes to a pin-up girl. 
I have many influences when it comes to the pin-up girls I create. I love seeing vintage photography and advertising that feature these girls. Traditional western tattoo art is another big influence upon the style I create. I love seeing the old sailor tattoos featuring pin-ups. 
Ofcourse, artists themselves are a big influence upon my work. Some of my favorite pin-up artists include Johnny Ace & Kali Verra (i'm privileged enough to own two limited edition, hand signed prints from them), Johnny Crap, Vince Ray, Keith Weesner and ofcourse, not forgetting the great Gil Elvgren.
I'm not 100% sure what the true purpose of this post is, but I do wish to share with you some of my own pin-up work that I have created over the past few years. Maybe, like previous posts, give some form of brief explanation to each piece. So, here it goes...
Bikini Girl With Machine Gun - Inspired by The Cramps song 'Bikini Girls With Machine Guns', I even gave this doll red hair in honour of Poison Ivy.

Wanna Date? - This lil' ghoul is inspired by the movie Frankenhooker. I thought it'd be a pretty fun piece to create, and I was right, it was. If you have never seen the movie, I highly recommend it!

Do The Dead - Not so much a pin-up girl (used to be), more of a loose limb. A small canvas piece I created that was inspired by the film Return of the Living Dead and The Cramps 'Surfin' Dead' song that was used for the soundtrack of the film.


Living Dead Girls - This is one of my more recent pieces, created for The Living Dead Girls (buy the t-shirts HERE), a beautiful dead chick about to devour some braaaaaaains! Om nom nom!

Lady Legs Trio - A set of three pieces I created that where inspired from the 1950's lads mags (so to speak). Fun to create and somewhat alluring pieces. Lady Legs II is still available for sale! You can grab it HERE. The other two pieces have already sold.

Death - If you haven't guessed already, this is pretty much a self portrait of Yours Truly! I did alter some things on this, for one, I don't have a rose tattoo on that arm, but two decapitated zombie heads look a bit rubbish in that style. And secondly, I missed off my lip piercings, they looked far too busy for the piece and the style I done this in. Maybe next time, eh?

Zombie Sailor - Sailor girls + Zombie = This. It's actually a bookmark, and you can grab this at my store HERE

Traditional Tattoo Mermaid - A little homage to my love for traditional tattoo art. I think this little lady is just adorable. You can grab her at my store HERE!

Tattoo Pin-Up - This started life out of boredom (like a majority of my art, haha). Just a little doodle i'd created on a scrap of paper. I ended up making this beauty into a bookmark. Who doesn't want to open their page to a naked, tattooed chick? Grab her HERE!

Mermaid Pin-Up - This one has to be one of my favorite pieces I have ever created. I was limited on the colours I had available at the time. But all the blue and green tones work well together, so I guess it worked in my favour?!. She's a beauty!

Nude Pin-Up & Rose - Believe it or not, this was the first pin-up girl I ever created/painted! I had to make the first one a bad-ass chick, posing in just a leather jacket and stockings! I love her for the fact that this piece encouraged me to draw and paint pin-up girls more often. So if you dig my pin-up art, you can thank this little lady!
Classic Pin-Up - A pretty simple piece. Once more inspired by the old school. At the moment, this is the painting I wake up to on my bedroom wall each morning. If you want to give her a new home, then she's available for sale HERE!

There are a few other pieces I have created that are pin-up orientated, but these ones I have selected are my most favourite! I hope to create many more sexy ladies in the future. The world needs curves, damn it!

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