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Long Lost Friend Studio is my self-publishing imprint, the studio space where we work, and a YouTube channel featuring videos about art and creativity. This blog covers everything happening with me and Long Lost Friend Studio.
Studying the Way of the Samurai
Preparing to work on an upcoming Usagi Yojimbo commission, Michelle and I realized we knew little to nothing about the character. So, this past week we’ve been researching the Stan Sakai comic, doing some sketches, and, in this week’s video, a full ink, wash, and watercolor study of the samurai rabbit.
You’ll Have A Gay Old Time
YouTube, in an effort to help our little channel succeed, often suggests that we cover the same current trends as everyone else, but put our own personal spin on it. This week, in response to this marketing advice, we made a video about a one-and-done, bit-part character from a sixty-year old cartoon that no one under the age of fifty talks about anymore. Nailed it.
Bustin’ Makes Me Feel Good.
Bustin’ makes me feel good. There. I said it. In fact, bustin’ makes me feel so good, that Michelle and I celebrated the release of the latest Ghostbusters sequel by engaging in a no-holds-barred, knock-down, drag-out sculpting challenge. And you know what? That makes us feel good too.
King Kong Plays Ping Pong With A Ping Pong Paddle
King Kong plays ping pong with a ping pong paddle. Of course he does. What else would he use? Anyway, we washed some giant monkeys with ink in our latest video. With any luck, we learned a little more about the medium and improved our skills. Baseline, we have a companion piece to January’s Godzilla.
Making A Mini-Comic Part Two: This Time It’s Personal!
The last thing I wanted to do this week was make a sequel to our “How To Make A Mini-Comic” video. It’s our most popular video, so I could see the benefits of milking that subject again. But, honestly, I felt we’d covered everything the first time. However, as Michelle pointed out, the long list of questions in the comments section say otherwise. So it was back to the drawing board again for part two.
Clowning Around With Scooby Doo
Scary clowns have been around for a long time. Grimaldi. The Joker. Pennywise. So it would’ve been odd if Scooby-Doo, a cartoon that prided itself on introducing monsters to impressionable young minds, didn’t include that particular ghoul in its rogues gallery. And it did. In the tenth episode of season one they introduced a ghost clown that’s been creeping kids out for the last 55 years. This week, in a misguided effort to fix what was never broken, I decided to redesign that monster.
A Bear Walks Into an Art Gallery…
The latest Gallery1988 show is called Off The Leash and it celebrates all of our favorite non-human characters in pop culture. Scooby Doo, Kermit the Frog, Wilbur the Pig, Chewbacca, Cujo, Rocket Raccoon, and more. A great theme and a perfect fit for a piece Michelle and I have been wanting to do for a while: Fozzie Bear, up on stage at a show, absolutely killing it.
Inking Devastation: Godzilla Minus One
Recently, I went to see Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Minus One. Then I went and saw it again. A day later, I saw it a third time. It wasn’t too long ago Godzilla movies were just a fun diversion that I could take or leave. But this week I have spent hours meticulously doodling Godzilla like some ten year old kid back from the Sunday afternoon Creature Features, and I’ve been planning a fourth trip to see it before it leaves theatres. I have been stomped into submission by Godzilla Minus One.
Holly Jolly Hoodlums
Put one foot in front of the other. Bumbles bounce. Mind your blood pressure, Hotcakes. Never trust a magician. These lessons, among others, were drilled into my head annually by the Rankin/Bass holiday specials when I was a kid. For our holiday card this year, I wanted to honor those stop-motion extravaganzas from my childhood by painting an assortment of some of the biggest creeps and goons Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass ever created.
Riverbottom Nightmare Reimagined
Maybe I feel some tenderness in my heart when Sylvester Stallone’s character loses the title fight in Rocky, but realizes his bond with Adrian is more important than winning a slugfest. And maybe I’m okay with Charlie Brown picking himself up off the ground and pushing forward after every humiliating time Lucy pulls the football away and he goes flying. But I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let those rich punks from Riverbottom show up late to the Waterville Talent Contest and just swipe the prize money from poor Emmet Otter and his friends. So this year, I finally did something about it.
Do Parents Still Hand Out Rocks On Halloween?
When I was a kid, half the houses on my block gave out rocks on Halloween instead of candy. Especially if your costume wasn’t up to neighborhood standards. By the time the last porch light was extinguished, we’d be making our way home in the dark, our masks half on and half off, dragging a heavy bag of rubble behind us. And we were happy to have those rocks. Thrilled, even. Sometimes, if you were lucky, some of the houses in the nicer neighborhoods would hand out full-size quartz! You can’t find those just lying around in the street. Charlie Brown can whine all he wants about his Halloween haul, but I’ve never heard of rocks giving anyone cavities or a tummy ache.
Muppetober Was Chaos And I Loved It
It’s October 31st and that’s significant for two reasons. One, of course, it’s Halloween. Look out for spooks. And two, it marks the end of Muppetober, our self-imposed, Muppet-a-day, illustration/video challenge for the month. It was grueling, and we just made it by the skin of our teeth. Now we can collapse like a puppet after you take your hand out.
Mailbox Monsters
When I was a child, there were certain cultural touchstones associated with Halloween that I considered sacrosanct; jack-o-lanterns, trick-or-treating, and halloween specials. Most people agree on those. But there’s one arcane practice that most folks have relegated to the past, one that I have always genuinely looked forward to at this time of year: sending and receiving Halloween cards in the mail.
Forget It, Vince. It’s Halloweentown.
Back in the 1990s, before DisneyPlus was streaming endless content into people’s homes, folks looking for family entertainment from the House of the Mouse would have to rely on The Disney Channel Original Movies. One of the more popular films from this era was 1998’s Halloweentown. It starred Debbie Reynolds as an old school witch who lived in a bustling village of monsters, spooks, and other oddballs. This week, Michelle and I did some research on this magical town, and sculpted a diorama of one of its oddballs.
Just An Old Fashioned Muppet Song
Today is Paul Williams’ birthday. If you don’t know who he is, you’re missing out. Musician, composer, actor…Paul Williams has had a dazzling and diverse career in show business for over five decades. But for me, the most impressive achievement he ever racked up was working with The Muppets.
Revisiting Lady In White with a Frankie Scarlatti Sculpture
If you’ve been following this blog and our YouTube channel (sincere thanks to all nine of you) then you might have caught on to the fact that Frank LaLoggia’s Lady In White is one of my favorite Halloween movies. We’ve done an ink and watercolor illustration of the movie’s protagonist, Frankie Scarlatti. But this week we decided to enter the third dimension and sculpt Frankie in polymer clay.
Pitting My New Brushes Against Spider-Man’s Deadliest Enemies
Much like Peter Parker is always tweaking his web shooters so they respond efficiently during life-threatening battles with his super-powered foes, I, too, am constantly tweaking my art tools in an effort to produce better results. Not quite as life-threatening, but important nonetheless.
Mary Blair Haunted My Mansion
Admittedly, “mansion” is a monstrous overstatement when discussing my dank, spider-infested, subterranean art studio, but I needed a hook for the title. Speaking of notable titles, a book we brought into the studio the other day — Magic Color Flair: The World of Mary Blair — is something Michelle and I pored over for an hour, becoming more enchanted with every turned page, only stopping when the webs being spun around our immobile forms indicated we were in danger of being exsanguinated.
Brushing Off Work With Spider-Man
After weeks of what felt like putting on major production numbers in the workshop to create elaborate dioramas, I decided this week would be a low-pressure stroll through some illustration fundamentals. Specifically, brush inking and watercolor work using Spider-Man and Kraven as inspiration. Nice to have a lazy week now and then.
Green Sky At Morning, Dioramist Take Warning
There are people who can quote every line from Godfather 2; Cinephiles who deliver dialogue from memory with a conviction only achieved through multiple viewings, burning holes in you with that Pacino-stare, so you know they mean business. That’s not me. As this week’s project suggests, my Godfather 2 is Joe Dante’s The ‘Burbs, which means nobody knocks off an old man in my neighborhood and gets away with it!