The sweet, sweet suffering...

I can't imagine where the inspiration came from for this one. HA!

Little ink and marker sketch from last night.

Mad Monster Party 2015 - Charlotte, NC - Con Report...

The Mad Monster Party is back for 2015! Drove up for the day and had a blast once again. So many neat guests, things to see, and stuff I didn't even get to. One year I'm gonna stay the whole weekend and attend the panels and soak it all up. I have to admit I was so overstimulated with awesome I didn't know what to do next. It was awesome. But for now...here are some pictures and stories...

The was the their logo for 2015. Reminds me of something...



My buddy Ralph is a huge He-Man fan. When he heard that Allan Oppenheimer, the VOICE of Skeletor was going to be there, he had to meet him. He was the first guest we came upon and he even did the Skeletor voice in person. Awesome.





The very next guest we found was none another than Pinhead aka Doug Bradley himself, the main reason I attended. He walked in to the main con room as we were strolling through. We patiently waited and were some of the first people to greet him that morning. I snapped a few pics while in line.





When it was my turn, I simply said "Good morning, Doug" and shook his hand. We spoke about Hellraiser, and some of the classic monsters like Kong and Godzilla. I'm certain I geeked out completely and forgot some things, but he was open, friendly, and very appreciative, and thanked me very much for coming. As he was signing my autograph, I presented him with some artwork I made for him:



I said "...this is my gift to you, Mr. Bradley, thank you for all the years of entertainment." He looked it over, shook it head and slid my autograph and money back towards me - "well, this is my gift to you." WOW!!! I also got a photograph. Outstanding gentleman.





After wandering in a daze for a bit, we walked up to Vernon Wells aka Lord General from Weird Science, the mohawked Wez in The Road Warrior, and bad-guy Bennett from Commando with Ahnuld Schwarzenegger! We had a funny greeting:

Me: "Good morning, Vernon. May I call you Vernon?"
VW: "No, you may not..."
ME: "Maybe Mr. Wells, then?"
VW: "No, you may not call me anything."

I acted like I was walking away and he starts laughing (I did too), shakes my hand and welcomes me. I asked him to tell me about being in Weird Science to which he had very fond memories, initially he wasn't going to do it and after some runaround he relented and he was glad he did. Said it is one of the very few films where he still keeps in touch with everyone from the cast. Very cool. He was a funny guy and very gracious with his time. Got a picture and of course, a Weird Science related autograph. Let off some Steam, BENNETT!!!







Next up, was Steve Railsback - he's been in a ton of stuff, but for me his role Lifeforce has always been my favorite. Nice guy to talk to, and had some neat stories about working on the film and the people he worked with.



My second most wanted celeb was next up - Dick Warlock - he played The Shape / Michael Myers in Halloween II. He was also in Halloween III and was Kurt Russell's stunt double on Escape from New York. Super, super nice guy - I asked him about the scene in Halloween II where he stabs the nurse and lifts her up off the ground and how they filmed that iconic scene. As I got ready for a photo, he told us "take as many pictures as you like or need" - that's pretty awesome in this day and age esp when some celebs charge extra for those. So glad to meet one of the true legends of the genre.









How could I pass up this photo? Awesome.



Last but not least, I grabbed a quick autograph for my dad, who is a huge American Horror Story fan. Naomi Grossman plays the freak "Pepper" - that is some crazy makeup. Very neat lady.



Of course no horror convention would be complete without the dealer tables and some cool exhibits. Below are a few of the highlights:

The original 60s Batmobile was there. Pretty sure this was a working machine - it was awesome looking. Plus, Burt Ward "Robin" and Adam West "Batman" walked right by us on the way to a panel while we were looking at it...that was surreal.







Love the license tag:



This was an original 1988 VHS cardboard standup I spotted. I came so close to buying it, but honestly where would I have put it?



A cool Spock shirt:



I could spent all of my money in there, but I only got two things - some very cool printed tees:





We even spotted Deadpool on the way out...



And finally, what is becoming a tradition, me and the Mad Monster mascot...See you next year!!!

Sketches, Ideas, and such...

A few more tests and work throughs...The first batch started off as a Leonard Nimoy portrait but ended up more of a generic older gentleman sketch. I call it "Grace" - might try this one again on a larger sheet in graphite.







Khan from Into Darkness...



I cannot take credit for this design as it was used on a recent fan made poster I saw, I just wanted to draw it. Cool idea.

Late Night Cenobites...

A mixed bag from last night. I didn't have the time to really get into anything so I just throw together some quick ink/marker sketches....first off a really bad set...





Then a really good set...











Sometimes it's best just to get something down...moving on...

"On Cybertron, we were gods....but here, they call us machines!"

Just a little 6 x 6 sketch of Sentinel Prime...voiced by Leonard Nimoy. RIP. Pencil/ink/marker...