Tag Archives: halloween
Happy Inktober 2021!
One thing about me is, I always at least show up for Inktober even if I don’t necessarily do all that stellar. It’s very reminiscent of when they’d make us do the 1 mile run once a quarter in junior high school gym class – at least I did something, even if I walked the whole way ;D.
I did a bit more than once a week at 6 Inktober illustrations, all available as original ACEOS in my ebay shop. The whole point of Inktober is to get in the habit of daily art practice, and I can say in full confidence I am doing art every day even if it wasn’t all Inktober sketches ;). I think my favorite is the little clowngirl. Which is yours???
Inktober 2020
October not only means my favorite season is finally here, but it is now the time for the simultaneous joy and dread of every artist… Inktober! The basic premise is trying to do some sort of ink illustration every day as a way to integrate art practice into your daily life. I’ve been doing Inktober a little differently this year. I’ve made it less of a stressor for me by not worrying about having to do one EVERY single day as long as I’m participating every other or every 3, and I’m not using daily prompts, just creating whatever strikes me. I also am recording my process for each creation and posting it to my new youtube channel.
I’ve got a couple more up my sleeve though it’s nearing the end of the month, so check out my channel to see the rest of my Inktober demos as well as the new ones I’ll be posting this coming week!
Inktober 2018 – The 1st 14 Days
This is my first year participating in Inktober, a fun tradition encouraging artists and designers to develop consistent habits, and make time to sketch regularly. I decided to do my daily ink drawings in ACEO form. The small trading card size makes completing daily drawings doable for a busy lady ;), and I’m putting them all up for sale in my Ebay Store for a reasonable price. ACEOs are such a fun way to collect original art. Even for someone who loves to draw, drawing every single day is quite the challenge. I’m about halfway through, wish me luck!
Movies To Watch This Halloween Weekend
If you’ve read my blog before, you know that I am a huge movie enthusiast, and definitely classify movies as works of art themselves. Halloween is one of the best times for movies. I live in Michigan, and we actually had our first snow yesterday, making curling up on the couch an even more appealing way to spend an evening. I wanted to share my personal favorites, some theatrical, some funny, some disturbing … I don’t do straight up slasher horror films so for fans of Freddy, Jason, Michael, or the Exorcist I apologize. Lo and behold this is my personal, (quite pared down – It was hard!), best of Halloween list … enjoy!
This goes without saying. Viewings of this film and/or play are a Halloween tradition for a reason. If you have lived on this earth for more than 10-12 years and have not seen this movie yet I’d highly suggest you get on board. The original is best. I know there’s been some buzz about the remake, but I feel like this is an “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it” situation, and though Laverne Cox is a fabulous actress, she just didn’t do it for me as a replacement for Tim Curry. I mean, Tim Curry was Hexxus in Fern Gully, the Lord Of Darkness in Legend, the scary clown in It … We have a lot of memories together.
This is actually the only David Lynch film I like. I had a lot of friends in college who were super into his work, and this was the only positive experience that came out of a coerced viewing of his library. I’m sorry guys, Blue Velvet is just not a good movie. This movie isn’t so much horror as an extreme-surreal sort of creepy. To me it reads like a really long stress dream. A guy accidentally got his girlfriend pregnant, her family is pissed, he’s not even sure he likes her that much … This resulting odd film is filled with situations and human interactions that would never happen in real life, a really sick baby that looks like a space alien, and even a really fun song courtesy of a woman living in the radiator. Just watch, you’ll see what I mean.
This movie centers around Halloween, so of course it’s a shoe-in. This is one of those movies I can never get sick of. It’s very detailed and you tend to notice more and more as you re-watch.
I’ll be honest, not to sound like an indecisive 8-year-old pondering her crush of the moment but I don’t know if I can even really say I like like this movie. Parts are super inspiring and sadly beautiful, others are plain hard to watch. The premise and visuals are just so bizarre and unlike any other movie I’ve ever seen, and that in and of itself makes it entertaining. It’s an Alejandro Jodorowsky, so you know it’s not going to be normal – It’s an experience. The premise is a far more interesting twist on the whole Alfred Hitchcock Psycho mother-son situation. This film centers around a troupe of circus performers. The mother is a dancer/gymnast who lost both her arms in quite an unpleasant fashion, and she now forces her son to literally be her arms. Like he is pretty much bound behind her at all times.
He meets a cute little mime, falls in love, trouble ensues. Oh, there is also a crazy religion/cult that worships this saint who had both her arms chopped off in martyrdom. So there’s that.
Halloween musicals are where it’s at. This movie is pretty much a year-round choice for me, but I think the morbid theme makes it especially fitting for Halloween time. I’d always liked this play – It’s both emotionally moving and laugh out loud hilarious, and the music is amazing – and Tim Burton certainly did it justice in his film version. This specific cast was so great, I worry if I went and saw the play now I wouldn’t like it as much.
This is a weird little zombie-comedy that is ultra campy. It’s also ultra gross. Like, if the Garbage Pale Kids made a movie, this would be the end result. I normally am not one for super violent movies, which is odd because this number is chock-full of grotesque situations. However, it’s so 1980s-claymation-and-ketchup-fake and so gratuitous to the point of being silly that it doesn’t bother me. I don’t like violent films that show situations that could actually happen in real life; murders, muggings, all that noise; but goofy looking zombies ripping apart people’s heads and play-doh-spaghetti insides falling out? I can deal. There’s another awkward possessive mother situation here, too. I don’t know what’s with the entertainment industry and demonizing mothers – I can’t tell what’s worse, the horror genre or Disney movies.
Again, this is pretty much a Halloween classic so not much explanation is needed. I had the extreme pleasure of watching the musical version of this film in Detroit 2 years ago, and it was everything I’d thought it would be and more.
It’s the 80s … unemployment is rampant, income inequality is out of control, race relations are at an all time negative … so says the hackers breaking into the TV broadcasts that are turning people into mindless zombies. (Sidenote: I’m so glad things are so much better a quarter of a century later, am I right?) This same hacker society has developed glasses that show the truth … I want to give it away but it’s too great. You have to just watch it. Look at that screenshot!
So, what are your favorite movies to cuddle to once the calendar turns to October?
Artists To Know : Halloween Edition
In honor of Halloween, I thought an Artists To Know featuring the spookiest of artworks would be quite fun. Though I won’t be getting any trick-or-treaters due to the very non-festive large wooden sign out in front of my apartment complex reading “NO TRICK-OR-TREATERS!!!”, I do have a costume party to get to later tonight which I am quite antsy for. I’m going as a flapper this year, which I know is an “every girl ever” kind of costume, but … not every girl will have a snazzy vintage 1920s style beaded fringe dress from an antique store ;). Now, without further ado …
Ana was born in Armenia in 1983, and earned a BFA at Art Center College in California. Her work is inspired by aliens, spirits, and ghosts and she has coined the term “Futurealism” to describe her aesthetic. She believes that whatever we can imagine can also be manifested into our physical reality.
Gus Fink is a self-taught artist who has been making a living off of his work full time since 2000. His medium and subject matter varies, but each work maintains his signature creepy yet somehow endearing vibe. His “Antique Horror” collection that spans over a decade was featured in a clothing collection for select Hot Topic stores over the summer.
Michele Lynch is a multi-talented artist excelling in painting, mixed media, and sculpture. The characters she brings to life are all a little bit retro monster movie, a little bit steampunk, balanced out with a lot of sass and personality.
Japanese illustrator Mizna Wada has just mastered the cute-creepy, pastel goth world. I have always been quite a fan of the adorably eerie universe, so her art certainly struck a chord with me. Wada is another artist who brings her characters painted on canvas to life in 3D form, this time as fun plush dolls and vinyl figures. I must own one someday, when I am not on such a strict budget ;).
Leslie Ann O’Dell combines fine art, photography, and digital design to create her haunting works. SHK Magazine summed it up nicely when they said of her work, “O’Dell’s work is comprised of haunting imagery… Ranging from dark imposing landscapes to mystifying portraitures, that evoke sensations of vulnerability, demise and the fear associated with such sentiments”. Of course, being a portrait girl myself, I am most drawn to her depictions of figures. They are truly different from anything I have ever seen.
Happy Halloween everyone! Have fun being someone new for a day, and a lovely evening to all.
Have you ever wondered what monsters dress up as for Halloween? 🙂
Allise Nicole's Artistic Explorations 