Tuesday 8 December 2015

I Don't Wanna Go Down To The Basement

It's been a hell of a long time since I posted anything on this thing. Nearly two years in fact... That isn't good. A lot has gone on in those past two years in the life of Vicki Death. I feel I seem to have neglected a lot of the social media aspects of my art, as well as, sadly, the art itself. By no means have I or am I going to give up art. For those who don't know, I have a full time job on top of doing the art stuff that I do. It's a job that is within the service industry, it's time consuming, can be long days/hours where you're lucky to sit down for 10 mins out of 10 hours. But hey, it is a fun place to work, I've had worse jobs and it pays the bills and keeps a roof over my head. Sadly, on the other side of the coin, it eats into a lot of art time... I mean a HELL of a lot of art time. You do a long ass shift, come home and all you want to do is crawl into bed and never see another human being for the rest of your life. Any hope of returning home, breaking out a sketch pad and pencil seems to diminish. Completely.
The point of this post is not to whine, or to just post a piece because I haven't done so in a long time. But more to let you guys know, that even though I may not be creating on a daily basis, I still like to crack out the paint brushes now and again. So, without further a do, we're going to have a look back on those pieces I have given my spare time and devotion to throughout 2015. So here goes:

BatGirl
This lady was inspired by an old Vintage early 20th century Halloween greeting card. I obviously made her my own, she was a blast to do. I felt the need to keep that classic look about her, but this works well with a classic pin-up look anyway. You can find her for sale HERE at my store!

If In Doubt, Freak 'Em Out!
This one is an ode to all Drag Queens out there, more so, one of my favorite drag queens there is. Sharon Needles. Winner of Ru Paul's Drag Race season 4, Sharon is one spooktacular ghoul. Doing the most deadly and desirable Drag there is. I couldn't not paint this punk rock, horror loving fiend! You can find this original painting of Sharon HERE! Please excuse the poor image, far too big to fit into my scanner, the black sheen is difficult to lose in the photo. 

Gir' Off Me Land
This fun little piece was completely random. Rummaging through some old sketch pads, I came across the rough stuff of this. He was fun and quick to do. Weirdly, since I've done this piece and posted it on my shop/facebook/twitter etc, I seem to have had numerous people presume I'm vegan, or at least vegetarian. Some seem to think of this as a message of vegan support. However, I eat meat, I'll happily gnaw on a steak. It's just a cow as a farmer for some ironic fun. Don't read too much into it. Have some bacon. And pick up the cow HERE


We're A Happy Family
For those of you who have been living under a rock this entire time and aren't aware, I love the Ramones... One of my fave bands of all time. This quartet piece came about not just through my love of their music, but I also had four days in a row off work (super rare occasion) and felt I should use the time wisely to dedicate myself to a piece of awesome proportion. I want to think I succeeded, it took two and a half of those four days to get the piece done. I remember drawing and re-drawing and then re-drawing some more to get these portraits to turn out how I wanted them. But, if I have another four days off in a row, i'd happily do it all over again. Here I present to you Johnny, Joey, Tommy and Dee Dee in beautiful monotone glory. And yes, you can purchase the original set HERE

Mental Mind Fuck
I started the year with this portrait, I hadn't done any portraits in this style since the Adam Ant piece I had completed nearly two years prior. But I thought Tim Curry deserved this treatment (maybe not, I am very much possibly tooting my own trumpet here). I have loved the Rocky Horror Picture Show for many years, and Tim Curry's character, Dr. Frank N Furter, is by far my favourite character in the show, He's eccentric, outlandish, has better legs than me and can walk in heels without killing himself. It was a blast to do this piece. I recall staying up until 5am working on this on the first night. I'll put it in the top 5 pieces I have ever created, you can disagree if you like. Keeping the colours monotone and pastel with a blast of red... The contrasts were super fun to create. I need to do more portraits along this style. Sadly this dude has sold, but I know he's in a loving home where he can continue to create more mayhem. 

Halloween Cat In Pumpkin
This was just a fun, quick little piece I whipped up in the run-up to Halloween. As you know, Death loves cats, and Death loves Halloween, combining the two together is like the truest romance in history... Or some shit like that anyway. Inspired by vintage Halloween art (I believe from a greeting card, but possibly advertising?) this lil' kitty in a pumpkin was hand painted on hand made cotton rag paper, you can pick it up HERE.

Vampira
Before Elvira, there was Vampira. This spooky 50's pin-up presenter is truly to die for. This again is hand painted on Cotton Rag paper. This year was the first time i'd used this type of paper. Whilst lurking the art shop, I came upon it and ended up purchasing a small pack to try out. The paper is hand made and has a rough quality to it. Although it can be challenging to line on, over all it's great paper to work with. And the rough edge adds a nice touch too. Nothing in this world should be clean cut. In my opinion anyway. You can purchase this ghoulish delight right HERE.

Gamorrean Guard & Princess Leia
Star Wars. That is all. Get the Gamorrean Guard HERE And Princess Leia HERE.

From Beyond Martian
Ack ack ack! Honestly, this martian was intended to resemble the ones from Mars Attack! But, ya know, maybe some subconscious action was in play? I love painting ray guns, so felt I needed a reasonable excuse to paint one, hence creating a martian. He was a blast to do. Sadly, he won't be able to join your planet as he went off to invade someone else's home long ago. But enjoy non the less.

The Worm
'Ello! Spending a few days off watching movies (I do this where possible), it just so happened that Labyrinth was one of those movies. The Worm, being a notorious tea lover, came across as a blast to want to paint. I wasn't wrong. For those hoping i'd have painted Jareth, i'm sure sooner or later i'll have an obscure urge to paint Bowie with a bulge. Again, this worm has sold... Like I always say, you snooze, you lose. 

3D Movie Mogwai
Having a day with zero inspiration, I turned to Facebook where I asked my fellow fiends what they'd like to see me create. Gremlins was one of those suggestions. I chose the 3D movie Mogwai, just because he seemed far more fun to paint than cutesy Gizmo... Nothing against Gizmo by the way. He's gone to a new home, with strict instructions not to feed him after midnight nor take him anywhere near water. 

BOO!
Again, because Death loves Halloween, and had an hour to kill. This lil' ghost was formed. He's cute, he's simple, and he's available right HERE

Bat
Another piece created on the cotton rag paper. Because we all know bats are awesome creatures. So much so, I even get the pleasure of watching them fly around my garden on a daily basis (true story). This guy was fun to make. With his little pig looking nose and some gnarly fangs, he's everything you could want in a bat. Get him HERE before he flies away.

That's it folks. As you see, I haven't been completely slacking on the art front this year. I feel I have also missed one or two pieces, but hey ho. Lets hope I can get more work done in the near future. My aim for next year is to release some enamel pins and maybe even some t-shirts. But we'll see how the funds go for that. See you at the graveyard! Stay Dead!