Happy Werewolf Wednesday- “Aaoooooo!” I recently finished a new scare-brushed monsterpiece for my upcoming “Featured Creatures” art show starting in June.
You better stay away from him, he’ll rip your lungs out, JimHuh, I’d like to meet his tailor
Ah-hoo, werewolves of LondonAh-hoo
“WereWolf of London” is a 1935 black and white Universal horror film starring Henry Hull as Dr. Glendon, directed by Stuart Walker, with outstanding makeup effects by Jack Pierce. “After botanist Wilfred Glendon travels to Tibet in search of a rare flower, the Mariphasa, he returns to a London haunted by murders that can only be the work of bloodthirsty werewolves.”
It’s one of my favorite humanoid werewolf designs, and not just because he can pull off wearing a scarf..! I previously drew a Henry Hull/Werewolf Of London on an Antarctic Press Horror Comics blank comics sketchcover done in mixed media, including Copic, Letraset, and Prismacolor markers.
I first projected up the image on a stretched canvas with my Autograph Super AG opaque projector, and sketched it out with a #2 pencil. I try not to draw too many details since most or the small lines will be blown away by the airbrush. For me it’s best just to use the projector to crop the photo for the best composition, and then get basic outlines and key reference points. I find it easier just just paint the rest freehand and sketch with the airbrush as I go and build up the drawing.
I started off sketching the portrait out with a mixed dark grey. I’ve been painting out on the back patio while trying to take advantage of the mild May weather we’ve been having here.
For airbrushing, I use a Paasche VL-3 double action airbrush and some Createx Colors airbrush paint. I also use a piston driven “pancake” style Craftsman compressor with a reservoir tank.
If you’re going to learn to airbrush I recommend not only getting a double action airbrush (push down and get air, pull back to control paint flow) but also a tank compressor. You don’t need a a big one, it just needs to be able to produce 100-150psi (PSI=pounds per square inch). You won’t paint at that high amount of pressure (I use around 60-80psi), but if it can’t it’s going to struggle to keep up with you. A tank also helps keep the air flow smooth. A moisture trap coning off the compressor and one on the air hose can keep the water condensation that builds up in the tank from getting to your painting. Be sure to drain the compressor after each use. Thankfully it hasn’t been humid or too muggy so water in the line hasn’t been too big of an issue, but I have been fighting tip dry.
After getting the portrait sketched out in grey, I started working on more details and values. I constantly went back and forth with highlights and shadows, background and foreground, and adding details or correcting mistakes.
Sometimes while painting I’ll notice things in the reference photo that I totally overlooked or mistook. It helps to adjust the contrast/brightness/shadows on the computer, and seeing what exactly the shapes are.
When painting I like to take a break, step back and look at the overall painting, and/or taking progression shots for posts like this. It not only helps with content creation for my website’s art blogs and social media accounts, but it helps to show me the “big picture” on the small screen of my iPhone. That can help with identifying any mistakes in the drawing such as proportions and values. Seeing them and addressing those things early in the painting can save you so much time trying to fix them later.
The trick to painting portraits like this is to focus the details on the eyes/nose/mouth, and let everything else become softer as it goes out from the face. I tend to want to add too many details and/or overwork a piece.
For a lot of this painting the airbrush worked fine, and I event got “in the zone” a few times, but I also had some problems with tip dry, sputtering, and accidental splatter. Some was tiny and easy to fix, other on the houndstooth area in the bottom right was a lot more involved is dealing with. As if trying to do a fabric pattern like that wasn’t a big enough pain to begin with. What’s worse, is I’m usually almost done and putting the finishing touches on a painting when that sort of thing happens- and of course it happened again this time. Ugh…
I was finally able to finish it up. Sometimes knowing when to stop is a great thing. Again, I’m bad about wanting to overwork my art pieces, and sometimes I end up spending more time fixing my goofs than gaining ground on them. It was raining the last two days I was working on this painting so I had to take advantage of any breaks in the rain storms and try to finish up as quickly as I could.
I’ve never been as fast as others, especially when I’ve been on quick-draw panels at conventions, or painting tees at the mall, but there was a time when I could not only crank out over 100 airbrushed items in a day, but paint all day- even when I couldn’t feel my hands anymore. Many times I literally had to pry the airbrush out of my left hand at the end of the day during the Christmas season.
When we had The Wild Hare/Animated Jack’s we had built a custom work space with about a dozen airbrushes plus several lights to work under.
It was fun to grab a blank tee, throw it on a shirt board, put it up on the large easel space, and freehand paint away. Back in the day I could paint a portrait in a few hours or afternoon and did a lot of display shirts while killing time on slow days at the shops.
I started doing my first canvas paintings for the Nightmarez…STAGE FRIGHT! haunted house out in Bartlett, TN back around 2002-2003 or so. We started off our Nightmarez On The Square haunt in 2001 in Overton Square, but moved out off of Stage Road the following year and had a 2ooosqft lobby there and at our next location up the street. My haunt co-horts Todd, Patrick, and Kenny suggested that I do a few to have on display for people waiting indoors in the queue lines…so I did.
I don’t think most people realized they were paintings. I hear that many folks thought that the airbrushed monster portraits were just enlarged photos, and I guess technically they were…just by hand.
I did a Frank, Wolfman, Phantom, and London After Midnight, as well as some of my first “Scared Silly” images like Mickey Myers, Abby Normal, and Stage Fright (which was also used as a promo piece for the haunt’s kids’ days.
For my “It’s Good To Be Bad: Monster Portraits Of Villainy” art show at Adam B. Shaw’s studio on Broad Ave. back in 2010 I did several more monsterpieces on canvases…
…and went even bigger with some like on the new Bela/Drac (4’x4′) and the new and improved larger Lon Chaney “London After Midnight” painting (5’x5′)…I love painting BIG!
Paintings like my B/W monsterpieces and other portraits slowly went from taking a full day, to a full weekend, and now take about a week off and on, with me having to stop and take a lot more breaks. Part of that is working conditions, part of it is age and health, and part of it is a lack of passion and fun- with the first two affecting the latter.
It’s a chore to paint these days, and incredibly stressful trying to do enough work for a solo art show and keep it stored safe until the show, as well as not damaging it getting it to the show space. I once had my Dracula painting fly up and out of our pick-up truck and land on the interstate on the way home. Thankfully it (and I) survived that ordeal on I-55S..!
These days it’s so much easier to just do 1-3 pieces for a group art show like the ones I do with the Mid-South Cartoonists Association around town.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been 40yrs since I first picked up an airbrush for the first time or got my first airbrushing gig at the Southland Mall in Memphis later that year. That was a lot of beach scenes and “Bubba Luvs Sissy” hearts- plus many airbrushes ago..!
I’m hoping that if/when I can get back out to the garage to paint again that things will at least be easier and more convenient than painting on the back patio and being at the mercy of the weather. Once I can get the garage cleaned out and a couple wood working projects done, I have plans to create a new wall easel with better lighting and access to my supplies and compressor, as well as a canvas storage space to keep blank canvases and finished paintings safe between art shows.
With pets and me being clumsy, I’ve had a couple paintings ruined by canvases getting damaged sitting out in the garage or my studio space in-between me working on them. We’ll be adding A/C and heat to it so I don’t ever have to paint in sub-freezing temps again like I did on Fox13 one morning.
I’ll have this latest werewolf, Bride, Gillman, Grandpa Munster, and several other paintings on display at my upcoming “Featured Creatures” art show.
The show’s artist reception will be on June 5, 2026 from 5-7pm in 2nd Floor West gallery at Playhouse on the Square – 66 South Cooper Street, Memphis, TN 38104.
There’s another artist, Angi Cooper, having their reception the same night in the downstairs gallery.
For my art receptions, costumes or monster attire is always encouraged- but not required.
Even though I’ll probably be dressed like it, sadly we won’t have a full moon for my reception- but we will have on at the end of May and one in June at the end of the month on the 30th.
My “Featured Creatures” art show runs from June 6-August 2, 2026 and is in conjunction with Playhouse’s production of “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street“, June 12 – July 12, 2026. All art shows on display are free to attend art shows during Playhouse’s normal business hours (see below for info).
Whatever doesn’t sell at this art show will be for sale at this year’s Monster Market in October and Memphis Monster Con in November. I’ll also have new art prints, sketch cards, sketch covers, stickers and other monster merch available for sale at both events.
Last week I dropped off promo posters to Comics & Collectibles and The Art Center…
…along with more Mid-South Cartoonists Association and “Drawing Funny” podcast freebies. Slide by to pick up some for yourself. I also have some freebies at The Cellar out in Bartlett.
My latest DF podcast episode features an interview with “Feral” and “Stray Dogs” comic artist Tone Rodriguez. It was fun getting to catch up with him on Free Comic Book Day earlier this month.
Stay ‘tooned to www.midsouthcartoonists.org and www.drawingfunny.com for more updates and information. You can also follow us on the MSCA ‘s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/midsouthcartoonists/.
Hope to see ya around the M-town again soon. I’ll be at the upcoming Memphis Public Libraries Comic Con from 10am – 3pm at the Raleigh Branch (3452 Austin Peay Hwy, 38128) this Saturday, May 30th, and the Monster Market and Memphis Monster Con this fall!
Lin
Playhouse On the Square
66 South Cooper Street
Memphis, TN 38104
BOX OFFICE
Tuesday – Saturday: 10AM – 5PM
Sunday; 1PM – 5PM
(901) 726-4656
www.playhouseonthesquare.org/
