Fun Size! and the Grim Manor Gallery

Fun Size! Group Show @ Sally Centigrade Gallery thru the month of August (2017)

Update time!!

Hey all.  Decided to wait a week or two before updating again.  Anyway, I've got two new paintings to share this week.  The first is for a show opening in Lakewood, Colorado on August 3rd, 2017.  The second is from a show that's already passed that took place in Austin, Texas.

First up, the upcoming show!

I'll have my newest little piece, entitled "Bite Sized", on display over at the Sally Centigrade Gallery in Lakewood, Colorado thru the month of August.  If you're in the area and can make it out to the opening, the show opens Thursday, August 3rd from 5pm to 9:30pm.  It's got a super amazing list of artist and I'm truly honored to have been asked by the curator, Sarah Banks (also known online as Pink Sugar Fueled), to take part in the show.  I wish I could be there for the opening, but work takes all my fun away sometimes.

Anyway, I brought one of the Sushi Gremlins back for "Bite Sized".  I was told I could do whatever I wanted and I thought it would be good to get an idea I've had in my head out onto paper.  I've been wanting to find ways to kinda do crossovers of a bunch of my characters, so as you can see I took my Candy Corn, from my Devious Desserts line, and had them attack on of the Sushi Gremlins.  I'd love to do more of these little cross over type paintings in the future, but for now this little guy will have to do.  FYI, he's wearing a Ben Cooper devil mask that I really liked.

"Bite Sized"; 4"x4" Gouache; 2017

Penny for scale/size reference.

If you're in the Lakewood, CO area, swing by Sally Centigrade Gallery thru the month of August to pay this little Gremlin a visit!

Official Event Flier

The second new painting was a tad experimental and from the now passed Grim Manor Gallery show.

The show was another Haunted Mansion tribute show, only this one was supposed to be darker and creepier.  Unfortunately, I had a million ideas, but as usual, they were all charming and cute.  I didn't feel right doing any of those other pieces because they didn't really go with the show's theme and the guilt was kinda giving me 'painter's block'.

After racking my brain for a couple weeks, and having a mini melt down, my husband suggested I do a free flowing, train of consciousness type thing.  You know, just sit down and see what comes out.  I don't do those very often because gouache can be a pain in the rear for me, but this time I got out my Acrylic Gouaches from Holbien and just gave it a go.

I tried playing with dry brush techniques a little (which this particular gouache is great for) and mostly just tried to have FUN.  I'm relatively happy with how the little doodle turned out.  I'm particularly fond of the gradient and the way the faces transition in the back ground.  It's busy, but I learned a few things and had that fun my husband told me to go have.

"Untitled"; 4"x6" Gouache; 2017

Next Up: I'll be taking part a show called "Phobia" in October and it will be curated by the Flipside Art Fest people.  I've got a few ideas I'm tossing around, all pretty detailed.  So, if you're a fan of watching me pull my hair out because I got way too lost in the pretty, be sure to follow my work in progress images by following me over on Instagram or keep up with me on my Facebook page!

Atomic Tiki Terrors Post 2

"Go Home Brain, You're Drunk"; 8"x10" Gouache; 2015

Well, if you don't follow me over on my Instagram account, you missed out on all 1,000,000 work in progress photos of this bad boy.  If you do. . .I'm sorry you saw so many work in progress images of this bad boy.  :P

This past weekend, over at Creature Features in Burbank, CA, was the opening of the "Atomic Tiki Terrors!" group art show and the artwork was AWESOME!  I'm always excited and happy to contribute to the shows over at Creature Features, not only because I like supporting small businesses, but also because they come up with some pretty fun themes for their shows.  As I said in the last post, this show was a mash up of Tiki culture and old horror films, both of which with a focus on the 50's and 60's.  Also, if you saw my previous post, you know that I was using characters from 4 different b-movie horror films from that era.  For those that didn't see the last post, I referenced "The Brain That Wouldn't Die", "The Brain From Planet Arous", "The Reptile" and "The Wasp Woman".  The piece was a lot of fun, and although I almost didn't make it, I got the piece in JUST before the deadline.  The show is up and on display over at Creature Features until August 9th, 2015 if you'd like to see it in person.

Anyway, I hope you like it.

Coming up, in just two and a half weeks, is ScareLA 2015.  I'll be vending again and am really excited that it's going to be at the Pasadena Convention Center this year.  I'm working on some new stuff, not a whole lot, but some new stuff.  I announced on Instagram two nights ago that I had some purses made that have 11 different designs on them from my painting and sticker catalogue.  I'll be slowly previewing them over the next two weeks over on Instagram and the Facebook Page, so if you don't follow me there, and you're interested, you may want to check those pages out.  Also in the works for ScareLA a new pillow design.  I'm turning the Monster Date painting, who's actual title is "IceScream Social", into a pillow.  It'll be cropped slightly and have a pink stripe backing.  Unlike the other pillows this one will be more like a pillow slip and will be removable so you can wash it if it gets dirty.  I'm also going to try to restock some of the necklaces from last year that had Prudence and Frannie on them.

That's all for now.  Catch you next month!

Atomic Tiki Terrors WIP Post #1

Sketch for my new, yet untitled, painting for Creature Feature's Atomic Tiki Terrors show.

Greetings again, all!

Well, as I mentioned in the last Bats Day follow up post, I'm getting to work on my new painting for Creature Feature's next group art show taking place in July over in Burbank,  CA.  I just wrapped up the sketch Sunday night/EARLY Monday morning and am chomping at the bit to get to work on the color comp.  I've only got about two and a half weeks to paint this one, so I'm already getting nervous.  Thankfully I've learned from my Sushi Gremlin painting how to handle bamboo so hopefully it goes smoothly.

The 4 movies I reference in my painting.

If you're curious, I'm referencing 4 different movies made during the mid-fifties to the mid-sixties in this piece:  Anna from Hammer Film's The Reptile, Janice from The Wasp Woman, Jan from The Brain that Wouldn't Die, and Gor from The Brain from Planet Arous.

I'm not sure if it's the weather over here in Southern Cali, or what, but there seems to be a lot of Tiki themed shows popping up here over the last couple of months.  Creature Feature's has decided to do a Monster/Tiki mash-up show and their description of the event is as follows from their event page over on Facebook:

The flier artwork for Creature Feature's Atomic Tiki Terrors show.  Opening takes place Saturday, July 19th from 12-5pm.

This summer, Creature Features presents Atomic Tiki Terrors!, a group art show that focuses on 50's and 60's monster movies, and vintage Tiki Culture, two seemingly disparate subjects...

Mid-century America, at the dawn of the Atomic Age... to dodge the concept of nuclear annihilation, our fine citizens found refuge in exotic worlds and fantastical situations:

Kids thrilled to Monster Monster movie matinees and collected Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, where mutants, giant bugs, and space invaders all tempered (and fed on) the fear of atomic armageddon. 

Adults escaped into an exotic, make-believe world of tiki bars and backyard luaus, where Polynesian trappings and rum-based cocktails took them away from their urban surroundings and allowed them to forget their radioactive reality.

Atomic Tiki Terrors! pays tribute to this fascinating era of fads and crazes, of tikis and terrors with artwork from over 50 artists in the fields of film & TV, fine art, comics, make-up & visual FX, children’s book illustration and more!

The show will also feature a Tiki Trading Post vending area in the lot behind the gallery, live tiki-inspired music, a special tiki cocktail provided by Tonga Hut (LA’s oldest Tiki Bar!), and more surprises to be announced.

The opening reception for the show is Sunday, July 19th, from noon until 5pm. The show will be on exhibit until August 9th, during regular business hours.

This event is free, and open to the public!

Exhibiting artists include:
Abbybelle
Atomikitty
Baï
Christine Benjamin
BigToe
Robert Bowen
Kevin Cannarile
Anthony Carpenter
Ken Daly
Eric Diaz
John Eaves
Kimber Grobman
El Gato Gomez
Gris Grimly
Michael Flemming
Dawn Frasier
Thomas Fernandez
Jake Geiger
Kenneth J. Hall
Mary J. Hoffman
Doug Horne
Robert Jimenez
Phil Joyce
Junkhauler
Lake Tiki
Rebecca Lord
MP
Scott Mabbutt
Chris Mason
Woody Miller
Ken Mitchroney
Ken Morgan
John Mulder
Nesshead
Eric October
Brad Tiki Shark Parker
Doug P’Gosh
Alex Quintero
Ken Ruzic
Matt Reese
Mireya Romo-Bowen
Michael Sbicca
Ethan Spaulding
Eric Swartz
Mark Tavares
Tiki Diablo
Tiki tOny
Michael Uhlenkott
Amy Watson
Paul Wee
Woody Welch
and More!

Hope some of you can make it out for the event!  If not, have no fear, you know I'll blog the final painting (once finished).

Sympathetic Vibrations WIP Part 1

Greetings all!

So, with the Bats Day weekend rapidly approaching, I'm already starting the mad scramble to get things in order before May 30th (2015).  One of the many things on the list for this year was my annual submission for the annual Gallery999 art show.  This year's theme was "Thru a Child's Eyes" and although I can't show the official pieces until the 30th of May BUT something funny happened on the way to completing this year's pieces.  I initially read my contract wrong this year and got nearly 75% done with the sketch when I noticed all the small print.  This year's pieces are intended to be small pieces and, as you can see from the above sketch, I kinda got carried away again.  Instead of just throwing this in the trash, I decided the best course of action would be to make a COMPANION piece to the two appearing in the art show!  The best part about the companion piece is that I can show all my usual work in progress images!  So here's the first post.  Stay tuned for more updates on both "Sympathetic Vibrations" and my other new goodies for Bats Day 2015.

2015 Begins! (Sushi Gremlins WIP Post 3)

A photo posted by Mary J. Hoffman (@boogervampire) on Jan 18, 2015 at 1:34am PST

Greetings blog followers!!

2015 is starting out much better than I'd hoped it would thus far.  2014 was a doozie of a year for  nearly everyone I know, myself included, and not in a good way.  A lot of things I didn't write about here happened, most on the negative side, thus being the reason I didn't blog about them.  Bad news is, 2014 was a horrible year of art posts as I was too depressed and distracted to work, BUT the good news is that I am now in a good place and my head is firmly screwed back into my body and I'll hopefully do better at being productive this year!

A photo posted by Mary J. Hoffman (@boogervampire) on Jan 12, 2015 at 12:55am PST

So, why have I delayed posting thus far in 2015, quite simply because what I've been working on is taking SO LONG that I was trying to wait until it was finished before sharing it.  Since I've still got at least another two weeks worth of work to go on it, I decided to give up waiting and just post a work in progress post.

As a few of you may remember from earlier in the year, I've been working on a painting 'for fun' (just means it doesn't have a deadline and isn't for an art show of any kind).  You can see the first posts here and here.  In all honesty it's been in some state of work since August of 2013 and I just couldn't either get the time or motivation to work on it, but with the new year and my better outlook on things recently I decided that it was time to wrap this baby up!  I've been working on it diligently now since just before christmas and am hoping to have it done before the end of January.  I hope you enjoy some of these work in progress photos from my Instagram account, and a happy, belated, New Year!  May this year be better than the last!

A photo posted by Mary J. Hoffman (@boogervampire) on Jan 19, 2015 at 2:19am PST

Weird Things Are Happening

WIP of my Museum of the Weird painting for Creature Features Rolly Crump tribute show.

So, as I mentioned at the tail end of my last blog update, I'm taking part in Creature Features "Museum of the Weird" tribute show on September 13th.  The piece is due in a couple of weeks and I thought I'd post a BLOG EXCLUSIVE (which will then be shared to the Facebook Page via Networked Blogs) of my progress!  I'm excited about this piece because I'm going to incorporate a monster girl from last February's Monster Girl Challenge #1 in it.  She was by far the strangest of both Monster Girl Challenges and I tried to start a vector based illustration of her last  summer that never saw the light of day.

Online flier for the Museum of the Weird Show at Creature Features next month.

Anyway, I'm going to try to not post any in progress pics of this one after this.  I'll more than likely fail, but for now revel in your blog exclusive and come see the finished piece September 13th!

Sushi Gremlins - A Work In Progress Post

Work in Progress image (#1) of the Sushi Gremlins.

The working color comp for now for the Sushi Gremlins.  Some tweaks will take place between now and the final.

The original painting was going to be at night.  These are the futile attempts at making that work.

Well, as I showed in the last update, I've started a beast of a painting for a family friend.  The last commission I took on before I declared "no commissions".  The poor guy has been waiting nearly a year for things to calm down enough for me to get started on it.  I'm so grateful to his patience and hope that when it's finished he, and his family, enjoy it.

As I'm sure you noticed there were quite a few comps that were done at night.  The original painting was always meant to be at night.  That was my choice, but when you take on commissions it's about what the client needs more than what you want.  Each of the Sushi Gremlins represents a member of the client's family.  I deliberately tried to keep them asexual and denote the family member by their favorite color as opposed to trying to make each monster look like the person they represent.  Unfortunately, this is where the problem of night and day came into play.  The gremlin on the bottom's 'person's' favorite color is black.  You  can see in the first 4 comps I tried different tints of black, or close to black, but they kept getting lost in the dark background.  (Comps 5 and 6 were just done out of curiosity.)  Once I switched the time of day the bottom gremlin was far more noticeable.

Next week I'll hopefully have some ScareLA sneak peaks ready.  Until then, follow all the Work In Progress posts over on Instagram!