All Hallow's Eve...

I figured this one was appropriate for Halloween as I was told that it looked like something out of The Shining.  On a strange side note, I once met Joe Turkel, who played the phantom bartender, Lloyd, in the Kubrick film (He's perhaps better known as Dr. Tyrell in Blade Runner), at a breakfast place in San Diego.  Of the rather lengthy number of entries on the "People I Least Expect to Run Into Today" list, I must say that he ranked rather high.  But he was very polite, and I was happy to give him the newspaper from our table.

From Across the Table...

Another quick collaboration with Jason Shawn Alexander.  He spent a section of the evening doing half-faces with most of those present, including Jim Mahfood, David Mack, and others.  A fun night and a fun experiment. (Psst...I'm the one on the left....but you already knew that.)

Double O Jonzo

Not really a quickie sketch so much as a quickie painting.  A gift for a friend who needed a little secret agent flair in his life.

Princess Dragon Mom...

This sketch isn't of the evil villainess I used to title this entry.  It's merely one of her mutant henchman from the bizarre Shaw Bros. knock-off of Ultraman, Super Infra-Man (1975).  If you never saw this one as a kid or aren't quite the trash cinephile I find myself being from time to time, it's essentially a bizarre, incoherent mess about ancient demons wreaking havoc on the earth, until a super-scientist creates a bionic man to fight the evil.  It's far less Lovecraft than it sounds...and is more rubber monsters in a kung-fu movie with a certain hint of the 60's Batman TV show.    Now you might say, "But, Ry-Guy (I hate it when you call me that), Ultraman wasn't exactly Ingmar Bergman."  No...no he wasn't, but on the sliding scale, this pushes him much farther in that direction.  Ah yes...Witch-Eye was what the subtitles called her...

Weird Figures...Straaaaange Figures...

Mondo Candido (1975) was a strange modernization of Voltaire's Candide, and the only fiction film by "schockumentary" directors Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi, makers of Mondo Cane (1962).  This time, Candide not only travels through a variety of places but also time, in a very similar look and spirit to the films of Gilliam and Jodorowsky. The above sketch is of actor Gianfranco D'Angelo as the Barone.

"If I were my father. I'd have you tortured..."

Claudia Cardinale was born in Tunis to Sicilian immigrants to the Northern coast of Africa.  In 1957, she won the Italian embassy's "Most Beautiful Italian Girl in Tunisia" pageant which sent her on excursion to the Venice film festival where she began her work as an actress.  A sex symbol of the 60's, Cardinale appeared in two of my favorite western films, Once Upon a Time in the West (1968, d. Sergio Leone) and The Professionals (1966, d. Richard Brooks) as well as playing the lovely Princess Dala in Blake Edward's The Pink Panther (1963).  (Her "drunk" scene with David Niven is incredibly charming.)

Random Ronin...

I'm not really going to try and explain this one.  It was another drink and draw and I was drawing a blank.  Not very visually stimulating, your average blank.  Then I remembered a favorite Japanese woodblock print, so I started sketching and smearing...and eventually ended up with this cute li'l devil.  Go figure.

The Center of the Galaxy

Sagittarius, the ninth symbol of the zodiac, contains the densest part of the Milky Way as it lies near the galactic center. The Babylonians identified the symbol with Pabilsaĝ, the tutelary god of the city of Isin (now in modern Iraq).  The Greeks later associated him with Chiron who was the mythological tutor Achilles.

As a fun side note, the Greeks sometimes described centaurs as drunkards who could not handle their liquor, and yet drank all the time.  Interesting, considering what was going on when I drew this.  Not half-bad for a drawing of a horse at a gallop with no reference.

Hey There, Li'l Fella...

Another entry from one of the drawing sessions with Jason Shawn Alexander, Jim Mahfood, Dave Crosland, et al. (Yes...I'm aware that his arm's way too long...)

Crashing Toy Trains

This was a late entry from a late night drawing session.  And no, it was not reflective of my condition at the time.

"If I could find my head, I'd go get it examined."

Perhaps Stanley Donen's best known film, amongst a cavalcade of good ones, is Singin' in the Rain (1952), which is not only a musical that even musical-haters might enjoy, it's also a fantastic recreation of the effect that the introduction of sound had on motion pictures.  I was introduced to Donen by Saturn 3 ( 1980), which, despite a promising cast, director, a script by British novelist Martin Amis, and one of the craziest robot designs of all time, ends up being a dull throwback to cheapie 50/60's scifi movies (it's too competent to contend with the abysmally trashy fun of a Robot Monster (1953)).  But my favorite Donen vehicles, outside of the Cook & Moore spectacular Bedazzled (1967), are Donen's two Hitchock knock-offs, Charade (1963) and Arabesque (1966).  While Hitch still produced a few more films during this time, Hollywood seemed to be looking for someone to fill the suspenseful void.  Many tried, and while some are good campy fun, only Donen's really hold up and stand on their own from Hitch's mold.

The above quickie was inspired by a lobby card of Sophia Loren from Arabesque.  She's quite the stunner and far more the femme fatale foil for Gregory Peck, as compared to the chemistry of Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant in Charade.

It Came from...OUTER SPACE!!!

Today, I decided to break the order a big and post this little number, a collaboration I did with my good friend and fine artist Jason Shawn Alexander.  It all started with Jim Mahfood drawing a crazy robot, which led me draw a bubble-helmeted spaceman, which led Jason to do drawn his own bubble-helmeted spaceman.  It was late, and he didn't get as far into his as he'd been working on other pieces...at the end of the night, he handed it to me and said "Here. Finish this."

Having recently begun to play with my gouache again and enjoying mimicking my beloved paperback and poster illustration of old, I took it and went hog wild for a couple of days.  It turned out fairly well I think.  I presented back it to Jason for his birthday.  Now, I thought I'd put it up here.

Closely Spaced Parallel Lines

Hatching, using parallel lines to represent tones or shading, originated in Western art in the Middle Ages, and by the 15th Century had further developed into cross-hatching, using sets of parallel lines placed at an angle to one another. Artist and Illustrator, Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), is recognized as perhaps the greatest master of the technique.  And if you're wondering why I'm telling you this, it's because I couldn't think of anything else to go with this sketch....so, art history lesson.

"The Angel of Death was summoned. He cannot return empty-handed."

Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee has been a fixture in entertainment for over 50 years, and at 6' 5" with a famously booming bass voice has largely mastered the art of portraying villainy.  He was initially best known for playing Lord of the Undead, Dracula, in the long-running series of Hammer Horror films opposite Peter Cushing as Van Helsing (though this dynamic acting duo played a great variety of parts at the studio).  This quick sketch is from one of the few roles where he got to be the hero in the adaptation of Dennis Wheatley's The Devil Rides Out where he saves his friend from a satanic cult led by Charles Gray. At 89, years of age, Lee continues to work and was seen in two of the biggest franchises of the last decade by appearing in both the Star Wars films and Lord of the Rings.

Little Candy Hearts at the Emerging Cinematographers Awards

Tonight, there will be a screening of the short film I wrote, Little Candy Hearts, as part of the Emerging Cinematographer Awards.  Our Director of Photography, Abe Martinez, will be honored as part of the program.  Directed by Seaton Lin and Produced by Hunter Woo, the short depicts a story of intrigue as a modern neo-noir in Los Angeles.

"Well, you're about as romantic as a pair of handcuffs."

A quickie sketch of a young Lee Marvin from 1953's The Big Heat, helmed by Fritz Lang.  A grim noir,    one of the film's most memorable moments was Marvin's character, Vince Stone, hurling a pot of scalding hot coffee in his girlfriend's face. Granted that may not be up there with Richard Widmark pushing the old  lady down the stairs in Kiss of Death (1947), but it's still pretty shocking.

"Beauty, of course, is the most important requirement and the paramount asset of the applicant." - Flo Ziegfield

Alfred Cheney Johnston was best known as the photographer for the Ziegfield Follies in the 1920's. After his death in 1971, a treasure trove of Johnston's personal collection of prints and plate negatives were found stored away at his home in Connecticut.  The very graceful nude and semi-nude photos, mostly of Follies showgirls, would have been too risqué for even Ziegfield to run at the time.  This sketch was inspired after one of Johnston's photos.

Who's More Famous to the Billions Millions?

John Graham Mellor, better known to the world as Joe Strummer, was one of the most iconic front men of punk with the Clash.  This quickie sketch was taken from 1987 cult film, Straight to Hell, by Alex Cox who had also helmed punk classics Sid and Nancy and Repo Man.  In addition to Strummer, the film's wild cast also includes Sy Richardson (a personal favorite), Dick Rude, The Pogues (as Mexican bandits no less), Jim Jarmusch, and a crazy couple cameo with Dennis Hopper and Grace Jones.  A fun oddity that I best remember for Strummer's hilarious make out scene with Jennifer Balgobin.  Sadly, Strummer passed away unexpectedly at 50, and after recently watching the movie again, I wish we could've gotten him on the screen more.

"Apollo, lord of the silver bow..."

Today's quickie was a flashback to many moons ago when I got to go on a tour of northern France.  One afternoon was spent wandering the gardens of the palace at Versailles.  In addition to the host of neo-classical statues lining the walks, there was the great Apollo fountain.  The picture I took of it (reproduced below) is one of my favorites.  It was a slightly overcast day, but the hazy fog behind the statue only showed up when I printed the photo giving it a mood that wasn't present in reality.  In any event, call is nostalgia, but I felt like doing a quick rendering of the horn blower at the front.

"No, some men don't like to be taken for a ride..."

The title quote is from 1965's James Bond adventure, Thunderball, which starred the lovely Claudine Auger of whom this is a sketch.  Initially written to be a screenplay and was developed by Bond creator Ian Fleming, producer Kevin McClory, and screenwriter Jack Wittingham, Thunderball was later turned into a novel credited solely to Fleming, compiling various drafts and materials from the film project.  This created a long-running legal dispute over authorship that briefly allowed a loophole for the production of a non-MGM non-Albert "Cubby" Broccoli produced Bond picture, 1983's Never Say Never Again...which, oddly enough, brought Connery back to the role of Bond after a 12 year hiatus following 1971's Diamonds Are Forever.

Not Quite Modesty Blaise...

I can't remember where I found the still that I adapted this little 60's number from...but there she is...

Insert Uranus Jokes at the Nearest Sword or Sandal...

This friendly looking fella was one of the strange Atlantean guardsmen in Hercules and the Captive Women (1961, aka. Hercules Conquers Atlantis).  I have a soft spot for peplum, the sword and sandal epics of Greek or Roman times or mythology.  While they'll never replace my beloved spaghetti westerns as my top Italian genre films, they're cheesy, goofy good times are almost always good for a laugh.

8...9...10...10 Victims!

A silly quicky of Marcello Mastroianni from the sci-fi satire, The 10th Victim (1965).  (I'd tell you what the image is from...but it's sort of a major spoiler...)

He Who Got the Most Moneymakers Shaking...

Blues Legend Elmore James was perhaps most famous for his extreme technical ability on the guitar and his employment of a slide, earning him the nickname King of the Slide Guitar.  "Shake Your Moneymaker" is probably one of James' most swell known tunes, and his stirring sound and shouted vocals still pack a heckuva wallop.

"Way Down in the Hole..."

Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits, one of the most distinctive singer-songwriters in sound and presence, probably requires little by way of explanation on my part.  Though I was first exposed to Tom's music through his soundtrack work for Jim Jarmusch, it was the early, melancholy satire of his piano blues number "The Piano Has Been Drinking" that sent me on a dive through his catalogue.  While his gravelly growl of a voice might have some of the acquired taste of a strong Scotch, if you've not heard his stuff, you owe it to yourself as a music lover to taste a bit of a true original.

"So You Go Your Way, Wild One/I'll Try and Follow..."

Charismatic frontman for Irish rock band, Thin Lizzy, Phil Lynott seemed to have an interesting mix between a sweet shyness in interviews, and the definite strut and swagger of the rocker on stage. Phil, unfortunately, passed away too young and the rock world lost yet another diamond in the rough.

Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)

Sylvester "Sly Stone" Stewart, singer/songwriter and creator of the great genre-fusing wall of sound and energy known as Sly and the Family Stone.

Tipitina Tipitina...

Henry Roeland Byrd, better known as Professor Longhair or simply Fess, was a New Orleans singer and pianist. Fess taught himself to play on a piano with missing keys. A long career of ups an downs, or popularity and rediscovery came to an end in 1980. His tunes and distinctive playing style are well worth a listen.

One of Us Put a Spell on You...

Maker of perhaps one of the most famously covered songs, Jalacy "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins was definitely in a category all by himself. The wild on-stage theatrics came after the drunken recording session that gave us the wild, concussive recording of "I Put a Spell On You". A fascinating icon, Screamin' Jay is well worth catching in his on-screen performances in Jim jarmusch's Mystery Train and Alex de la Iglesia's Perdita Durango.

Flash Lightnin'

This quick portrait of Texas bluesman Lightnin' Hopkins sets off what was to be a series of musicians. As it was first, it's not my favorite of the bunch. I think I may revisit Hopkins...if only because he had the coolest glasses I've ever seen...not to mention that I don't think I've heard a guitar sound so mournful as his.

99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall...

With some free time on a night out, I began to draw my environs...and got carried away...

Cocteau Cocktail

While sitting in a booth in a pub, I'm afraid that I became quite enamored with the fixture holding the globe light that illuminated our table. The small hand jutting out from the fixture reminded me of the living fixtures that lined the walls of Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast...only, the smaller size of this tiny fist gave an even more fairy tale air to it. My rendering, however, due entirely to the shadows that fell across it, looks more like the fist of some mad scientist from some other world, as drawn by Jack Kirby.

Your Vice Is a Locked Room...

Maybe it was the wild clothes...maybe it was the 2 foot long fake lashes...maybe it's just that golden nostalgia of the past...but they don't seem to make them like they used to. I won't say that they don't make them like they used to, after all, with nearly 9 billion people and 51% of those being woment, they're still making plenty and some are bound to be like they used to. In any event, today's quickie was inspired by Euro-bombshell Edwige Fenech. She starred in everything from titles like the The Case of the Bloody Iris to Ubalda, All Naked and Warm. I shan't have to elaborate I don't believe. I know I need to simplify my liine more to give it that Enrique Badia Romero-era Modesty Blaise look, but you can't say it doesn't look like I had a little fun.

A Bit More Marble on Monday...

As I was using several different sketchbooks at the time, some of these got out of order I believe...In any event, here's another rendering of a figure formerly formed in marble.

"It's the Wood that Should Fear Your Hand..."

Martial Arts film legend Gordon Liu (star of the great 36th Chamber of Shaolin) made Pai Mei something of a home name following QT's Kill Bill. I think many of us who grew up on afternoon Kung Fu Cinemas on some UHF channel (ask your parents, kids) just thought of him as the bad buy with the long, wispy eyebrows and mustache. However, Pai Mei was based on historical figure 白眉 or Bái Méi (which literally means "white eyebrows"), one of the legendary Five Elders who survived the destruction of the Shaolin temple by the Qing Dynasty. Folklore as well as film history has often treated him as the traitor who helped Imperial forces to destroy the temple, which is often why he is depicted as a villian. But conflicting historical accounts depict him as anywhere from having betrayed the monks to try and save them to having become defeatist against overwhelming odds. (Also, according to some foklore, Bái Méi was the killer of martial arts legend Fong Sai Yuk.)

El Hombre Lobo...

I had heard mention over the years of the films Paul Naschy (née Jacinto Molina Alvarez) whose most famous creation was the werewolf, Waldemar Daninsky. It was only within the age of DVD that I finally managed to see a few of them. Yes, they're a little stiff. Yes, the make-up effects are sometimes laughable. But they're trashy and fun, and have a dire earnestness about them that has understandably made them cult favorites amongst Euro-trash cinephiles. This sketch was from a still I grabbed from one of Naschy's non-werewolf numbers, El Caminante (1979), in which Naschy plays the devil who's taken human form to wreak a little havoc on the Middle Ages.

A Spooky Little Girl LIke You...

I've been told this image is creepy...oh hell...I think I agree. Incidentally, my friends Jason Shawn Alexander and Chris Taylor have a fun tale of terror in Dark Horse Comics' CREEPY #6. Very well worth a look, kids.

Not Common People...

My subjects for these quickie sketches are often jut images I see during the day or something someone randomly mentions over an email. I don't remember what chain of non-sequiturs led me to draw Jarvis Cocker of Pulp, but I did it just the same. Admittedly, this wooly version of Jarvis lands somewhere closer to Eric Clapton due to my lack of specific rendering, but I swear that's who I was looking at at the time.

"For a time I was delighted with bomb throwing..."

Manfred von Richthofen has remained one of the most romantic figures ever produced by war. Even those who think him one of the great villains of World War I still tend to regard him with an obvious respect. Credited with 80 aerial combat wins in the war, Richthofen still managed to make a controlled landing despite severe damage to his heart and lungs when he was finally shot down. Since his death, books and movie depictions or references to him continue to keep his or his plane's image in the popular consciousness. In any event, I took a long moment to produce this study of The Red Baron, another figure of what seems like a truly bygone era.

Far More Fearsome by Far...

I recently stumbled across a group of photos from World War I. It was primarily nobility farting around pretending to lead troops without getting too dirty...certainly far from jumping in a trench filled with mustard gas bayonet first. Still, this little number was based on actual uniform I saw, and not some retouched modern steampunk job either. This woman had the Jolly Roger embroidered into her funny fur hat...and some weird part of me found it far sexier that most of what passes for fashion these days (insert hearty chuckle here). Ah well, time continues to slip into the ever more moderated and modulated future.

**INSERT KUNG FU NOISE HERE**

I have no idea what I was doing here...I mean, apart from slinging ink to create some sort of dynamic and loose Bruce Lee throwdown. I referenced an image from some Bruceploitation flick...and yet, it ended up looking more like Bruce than the guy on the lobby card. It's also, oddly enough, the closest I've ever come to looking remotely like Bill Sienkiewicz's slung ink style.

Vroom with a capital "V"...

...only with while wearing jodhpurs. That's what's in this season, ladies.

"...also known as the Rat."

For fun, for Fathers' Day, I went back and did a little revision on my portrait of Eli Wallach as Tuco from The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.

Marble in Ink...

Is it Friday...already?

Everyone like beautiful ladies right?

Haven't Lost ALL My Marbles...

Call Me...

For some reason, two episodes of the Muppet Show always stuck in my mind from my youth. One was Alice Cooper, and his rendition of School's Out with all the giant monster muppets. The other was Debbie Harry...especially her performance of One Way or Another. I might have been more than just a little bit smitten at the time. Of course, had I been a little more on the ball, I would've gotten this up for her Birthday on the 1st.

A Very Different Gian Maria...

Took in an old Italian comedy about medieval times and was surprised to find Gian Maria Volonté in comedic role. So, for a fun quickie, I gave him a sketch...

Lines, Lines, Lines

When I first started seriously taking a shine to drawing as a far more wee lad, I was attracted to hatching for some unknown reason. Then, I stopped drawing for a while in college, and when I returned to it, I had abandoned hatching all together. I'm not sure what brought it back, but now much of my work seems to be a study in angularity...an attempt to make or depict curves in a barrage of straight lines.