Hey, gang-
First up, you may/may not know I got laid off this summer from my printing day job. Since most of what we printed was event and school related orders, COVID had caused printing orders to slow to a trickle. I was able to pick up a part time job working at Area 51 Ice Cream scooping ice cream- it’s a day or night gig depending on when they need me. They’ve closed the Crosstown location in Memphis (foot traffic has really slowed), but the newer/larger location is still on Commerce Street in Hernando, MS (across the street from the original location near Church Park) and is thriving. It’s within walking distance of our house, so I don’t have to risk my life driving on I-55 and 240 every day. My commute by car is actually about the length of a pop song now. I’ve also working on some new tee designs for them and will post those later. I’ve actually had a couple folks recognize me at work from my online art posts.
Nicki and I have known the Cubbage family who run A51 for several years now. We stopped in for Nicki’s birthday right after they opened and have been frequent customers ever since. Oh, I’m not the only “Lin” at the shop- their alien mascot shares my name (that’s Lin The Alien with us at the “Storm Area 51” event two years ago at Crosstown Concourse). The ice cream is scratch made in-house and several of the flavors feature produce grown locally. Great seasonal flavors, shakes, drinks, and baked goods are available. Check out their Facebook page for their daily menus, or stop by and sample some.
I’ve been trying to stay busy with doing some art. Recently I drew a Polka-Dot Man sketchcover on a “Suicide Squad” comic blank, with a wraparound cover (see last blog post).
I’ve also been working on Zorro and more Ultraman sketchcards for RRParks Cards– as well as some for their upcoming “Halloween Trick Or Treat” set. The Zorro and Ultraman cards I can’t show just yet- waiting on approvals, but I can show you the Halloween ones. I wasn’t given any real directions on what to draw, other than it be Halloween related and to just have fun.
I decided to focus on horror hosts/hostesses as my subjects. I did ten sketchcards for the set, including well known fan favorites such as Svengoolie and Vampira, but also Count Scary, The Cool Ghoul, Zomboo, Zacherley, Count Gore De Vol, Sir Graves Ghastly, plus some of my favorites like SIVAD, SCTV’s Count Floyd and one I’ve actually met (twice), Jami Deadly.
SIVAD (AKA Watson Davis) was the horror host in Memphis for “Fantastic Features” on Ch13/WHBQ back when I was a kid (’67-72).
I’ve drawn monsters and horror for as long as I can remember, and was even part of a SIVAD tribute art show a few years back with several other local artists including fellow MSCA members Adam Shaw, Greg Cravens, Kevin Williams (SIVAD puppet pictured). They all showed their SIVAD and horror tribute art, as well as comic artists Dean Zachary and Jim Hall, indie film maker Mike McCarthy, and artist/wrestler/former Memphis mayoral candidate Jerry “The King” Lawler.
There so were several great hosts/hostesses to choose from I was tempted to up the number of sketchcards I had committed to, but with the new job and October/Halloween getting closer I decided to just keep it to one dozen for this set. Maybe next year I can do more…
In high school I was a big SCTV fan, and when I think horror hosts, Count Floyd (Joe Flaherty) and Monster Chiller Horror Theatre is usually what comes to mind first- even over SIVAD or Elvira.
These sketchcards just had the card set name and RRParks logo on the bottom so I had plenty of room to play with. I always start out with a pencil drawing on the cards- usually just a yellow #2 pencil.
Once the pencil drawing is done I break out my Copic markers. For these I decided to keep them all grayscale so I used a combination of cool, warm, and neutral gray markers.
Once I’ve got the colors (or grays) done, I use a Pigma Micron pen for the black line art and white Gelly Roll pens and Prismacolor pencils for the highlights. Then I spray a light coat or two of fixative on them for protection when I’m done.
For these cards I tried a to keep the backgrounds simple and subtle, but for some like Count Scary I did a bit more for dramatic effect.
This was a fun set to be a part of, and these (and Count Scary above) are the ones that will be randomly inserted into the card set.
My two artist returns/artist proofs for the set are the SIVAD and Elvira cards.
The Kickstarter campaign for the Halloween set still has a couple weeks to go, but has already successfully met its goal!
I recently dropped off my SIVAD sketchcard and Polka-Dot Man sketchcover to The Cellar out in Bartlett (Elvira card will be available there soon). Lonnie Easterling’s two sketchcovers (top left and center) and my three- Polka-Dot Man, Dr. Who, and The Riddler are also for sale at the shop.
I also still have several of my sketchcards that are available for sale, both official artist returns from companies like Topps, Crytozoic, and RRParks Cards and personal sketch cards drawn on my own custom blanks- with more to come between now and the holidays.
My 2 sided sketchcovers- $75ea
My official artist return sketchcards- $100ea
My personal sketchcards- $25ea
The Cellar: Tabletop Games & Comics
2737 Bartlett Blvd
Bartlett, TN 38134
(901) 382-8623
ComicCellarOnline.com
And speaking of holidays, I’m soooooo looking forward to Halloween! Have been really loving that the weather is finally cooling off, but not crazy about it getting dark so early- I’ll take it over the mid-south heat/humidity…and doing yardwork in it!
BTW- If you’d like to learn a bit more about horror hosts, check out Planet 8 Podcast– Episode 11: Horror Hosts A Go Go with horror host guest Lord Blood-Rah. They discuss some of the history behind them, current hosts, and the use of movies in the public domain.
Oh, and before I make myself SCARce- just wanted to remind you that I do have a new Drawing Funny podcast episode up: Episode 28 – Play It Forward. I talk a bit about these sketchcards, but focus on those that helped me along my art journey over the years.
I’m going to try and get a 1yr anniversary episode up soon- that date in October is just around the coroner..!
Cheers!