,oHey, gang- I have another Monster Monday art blog post for you. This is another piece for my upcoming “Featured Creatures”art show, and features a groovy blast from the past- “Groovie Goolies“.
It’s an animated monster series from the early ’70s when I was a kid. It was created by Filmation and ran from 1970-1972 on Saturday mornings on CBS between 1970 and 1972. It had puns, quick scenes, musical numbers, and starred The Monster Trio (Drac, Frankie and Wolfie) and had crossovers with characters from Filmation’s Sabrina the Teenage Witch and The Archie Show, as well as with the cast of Looney Tunes.
I did this acrylic paint maker painting on one of the wood panels I’ve been using. I picked up these round and square wood panels recently at Dollar Tree for about a $1.25ea. They’ve had different sized and shaped panels at both locations near me, but you have to shop and keep an eye out because their inventory does change each month and at each location I’ve been to here and around Memphis. They’re inexpensive and are very versatile, take to a variety of mediums and techniques, and are beginner/novice friendly.
I’ll have several of these and my smaller canvases on display with my larger “scare-brushed monsterpieces” canvas paintings next month at my art show at Playhouse.
I’m using Posca, Ivsun, and Sharpie Creative paint markers. You can find them all online or at brick & mortar stores like Walmart, Michaels, The Art Center, or other art supply stores. They are fairly inexpensive and easy to find. I also paint on wood panel canvases from Trekell Art Supplies online, and have found a few different shaped smaller stretched canvases at Michaels and Five Below. Like Dollar Tree and Walmart, their inventory does change a lot and vary from store to store and online.
I’ve also found small and mini wood easels, boxes, crates and chalkboard signs at Five Below, Dollar Tree and Walmart that are great to display art on- and cheap, too. I’ve whitewashed mine to go with my black and white con table setup.
For this painting I started off transferring the image to the wood panel with tracing paper and a #2 pencil (think carbon paper), and finished out the details freehand in pencil. I wanted to add a few other details that were a bit different from the reference photo.
I then started filling in the “whites of their eyes” and Drac’s face.
Next I started filling in the yellow of Wolfie’s shirt, and Drac’s eyes with a yellow paint marker.
Then I started filling in more of the figures with various paint markers. They have different types of nib shapes and sizes, as well as a rainbow of colors to choose from.
It may take a coat or two, or three to cover on the wood panels, but they dry quick. If you make a mistake they are easy to cover up and/or correct.
Once the three figures were filled in it was time to work on the background. I went with a funky squiggly radiating design.
Up next was time to start blending the colors and working on highlights and shadows. Once that was done I did the black line art with a Pigma Micron pen.
I used a white Gelly Roll gel pen and a white Prismacolor pencil for the final highlights.
Once I was done with the drawing on this piece I painted the sides with oil based Sharpie marker and then sprayed the painting with a few light coats of Krylon Workable Fixative.
Best to spray in lighter, overlapping layers outside or in a well ventilated area. Whenever you’re using a spray-fix or any protective coating be sure to test spray it on something else first. I’ve had some clear coats act weird on some items, but have had good results using it on these mini paintings and my hand-drawn sketchcards.
I’ve enjoyed working on these panels and painting with the acrylic markers. There’s been a learning curve for sure, and paint markers act a lot different than alcohol based ones like Copics, but it’s been fun experimenting and hasn’t take long to figure out how to make them work for me. Katie Jones, one of my fellow Mid-South Cartoonists Association/MSCA member has been doing these types of paintings for her current art show, “Welcome To The McPromised-Land” at at Playhouse on the Square.
It’s upstairs this month in the same gallery as the one I’ll be at this summer. There are also 3 other art shows going on inside the theater’s galleries.
My 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.
My “Featured Creatures” art show reception will be on June 5, 2026 from 5-7pm in the 2nd Floor West gallery at Playhouse on the Square, which is located at 66 South Cooper Street, Memphis, TN 38104. There will be another artist, Angi Cooper, who will be having their reception the same night in the downstairs gallery. I’ll have several airbrushed Monsterpieces, some “Scared Silly” marker illustrations, and wood panel acrylic maker paintings on display and for sale.
Oh, and don’t forget that I’ll be set up at the Beale Street Monster Club’s “Bigfoot on Beale” event at A. Schwab’s downtown this Saturday, May 16th from 11am-6pm.
I’ll be upstairs, as will many of the other artists, vendors, and panels. Come get your steps in walking in Memphis off of Beale. It’s a free event and should be a lot of fun.
Later this month I’ll be at the Memphis Public Libraries Comic Con on Saturday, May 30th from 10am – 3pm at the Raleigh Branch (3452 Austin Peay Hwy, 38128). The MSCA will have a group table there as well.
The same weekend as my art show reception, the MSCA will hold a Comics Panel & Portfolio Review upstairs at A. Schwab’s on Sunday, June 7th from 3-5pm. Like the Bigfoot event and Library Comic Con it’s a free event, too.
In October I’ll have art again at the Memphis Monster Market. It’s an annual weeklong Halloween pop-up shop that’s horror/sci-fi themed in the middle of the month.
On November 22nd & 23rd, I’ll be set up at the 3rd annual Memphis Monster Con in artist alley at the Agricenter in Cordova near Germatown, TN.
Hope to scare ya there!
Oh, and there’s a new “Drawing Funny” podcast episode available for downloading. EP. 91 features local art news, and couple quick interviews with local artists That Katie Jones and Ryan Ladner at the MSCA’s monthly dinner gathering at Garibaldi’s, and a longer interview with artist Tone Rodriguez on Free Comic Book Day. You can listen to it on Spotify, Appel, and most podcasting platforms.
Lin