Halloween

I always try to get in at least one Halloween painting each year. This year I painted a tribute to one of my all-time favorite horror movies, John Carpenter's Halloween. I've probably seen it a dozen times over the years, and I'm sure I'll watch it a dozen more before I've shuffled off this mortal coil.

Freddy Sketch

Here's my sketch of the day: a quick little sketch of Freddy Kreuger. Trying to get into the Halloween season.

New York Observer

My latest NY Observer cover is on newsstands today. The article ties in the 50th anniversary of the musical Annie with the unlikely idea that anyone can be rich one day. Here's Mitt "Daddy Warbucks" Romney, Honey Boo Boo and her pet pig Glitzy. Thanks to Ed at the Observer for a fun assignment.

Leader's Edge Election Cover

Here is my first cover for Leader's Edge magazine, an insurance industry publication. Creative Director Ted Lopez was great to work with--easygoing with a clear vision what he was looking for. The cover article is about the many possibilities for the insurance industry that could result from this year's presidential election. The editors wanted to see Obama and Romney nearing the finish line to the presidency with several winding paths all leading to the White House.

I submitted four sketches, seen here, and they ultimately chose the marathon runner theme, seen in sketch #2.

This one would have been fun, mostly for the chance to paint the little Paul Ryan in the doghouse on top of the car.

 This is the sketch they went with, but as you can see, although Obama is pretty close to what appears in the final art, Ted thought Romney's figure looked a little odd with the giant water bottle, so I completely redesigned him during the process.

 This was probably the safest of the four sketches.

This would have been fun just to draw Obama and Romney in a fight to death on top of a cliff.

One more image you might be interested in, early on throughout the process the idea had been to make the final art much darker and gloomier. A late editorial decision resulted in me changing the background and overall lighting entirely to something a lot happier (think--Wizard of Oz, as I was told). I have to admit I kind of miss the cool stormy sky I painted below, but I'm overall very happy with how this turned out. It was a lot of fun and I hope to get a chance to work with Ted again soon.

Hellboy

This is a personal project I've been working on for a while now. I had to put it aside for a couple of weeks while I tackled some other jobs.

Oh Clint, Clint, Clint...

My sketch of the day. I've seen the footage of Clint Eastwood's rambling and semi-coherent performance at the Republican Convention several times now, and it just makes me sad to see one of my favorite movie heroes grow old.

Ghoul Power!

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love horror movies, good, bad and everything in between. One of my gateway drugs into my personal obsession with horror was the Ghoul, who hosted a late night TV show featuring some of the worst horror movies ever made when I was just a kid. So it was a no-brainer when the supremely talented illustrator Mitch O'Connel invited me to contribute a piece to the Ghoul Power! show at the Kollective Gallery on September 8.

http://www.facebook.com/events/364096523659704/

Jack Kirby

My sketchy painting of the day is the one and only Jack "The King" Kirby, who would have turned 95 years young this coming Tuesday.

Star Wars Prints

I just added two new tattoo-themed Star Wars prints to my Etsy store. "Droids Don't Cry" and "Maul" are available now as signed, numbered, limited edition prints on high-quality, acid-free art paper. The droid print, you may notice, is actually my take on the famous Norman Rockwell illustration "The Tattoo Artist."

New York Observer Cover

This is another fun cover for The New York Observer. The article is titled "Our Cheating Hearts" and deals with society's pervasive attitude toward cheating. Depicted here are Kristen Stewart and the good old Wall Street Bull. Thanks as always to AD Lauren Draper for another fun assignment. Here's a link to the original article. http://observer.com/2012/08/our-cheating-hearts-honor-integrity-and-playing-by-the-rules-are-all-out-of-style

Marilyn Monroe

I know, the world needs another Marilyn Monroe caricature like I need another hole in my head. But at least I used a reference shot of her that's more Norma Jean Baker than Marilyn. This was painted in Photoshop. I have to say, I'm particularly proud of that umbrella. :)

The New Postcards Are In!

I'm getting my latest postcard promo mailing ready. If you'd like to be added to my mailing list, shoot me an email at mark@markdraws.com.

Rich Pineda

This is a caricature of my new bud Rich Pineda. Rich is a really amazing tattoo artist. I first became aware of his work when he tattooed my Bela Lugosi painting on someone. Check out more of Rich's  work on Facebook.

Christian Bale

Christian Bale did something pretty classy yesterday when he visited the victims of the Aurora, Colorado shooter. Here's a painting I did of him. I even managed to squeeze in a couple of hidden Bat logos.

Audrey Tatou

Here's my entry for this week's Caricaturama 3000 challenge on Facebook. This is French actress Audrey Tatou in her signature role from the movie Amelie.

Jack White Sketch

Today's warm-up sketch was of Jack White, formerly of the White Stripes and now carrying on one heck of a great solo career.

Bruce Campbell

Here's a painting I did of one of personal favorites, the great Bruce Campbell. If you haven't seen the Evil Dead films, especially Army of Darkness, then you really need to sign up for Netflix and get watching now. The reference for this illustration, incidentally, comes from Evil Dead 2, to be precise. Above is the final color version. Below I thought you'd like to see the black and white painting that lies beneath. I don't always work with this method, but sometimes you can create some great effects by painting entirely in grayscale first, then use a series of color, overlay and multiply layers in Photoshop to create some very cool effects. I thought the overall caricature ended up having a bit of a Graham Ingels Tales from the Crypt look. The wacky color scheme above shows the heavy influence of the great Basil Gogos, who painted most of the Famous Monsters of Filmland covers when I was growing up.

Tattoo You

This has to be one of the cooler tributes to my work that I can imagine. Tattoo artist Rich Pineda was asked to recreate my Bela Lugosi painting in
Ink. He did a fantastic job, and I'm really flattered.

New Store Open!

Recently, I've been getting requests for prints of my work, so I'm happy to announce the opening of my brand new Etsy store, where I will be selling signed, limited edition prints of my work.  Check it out at http://www.etsy.com/shop/MarkHammermeister

George Lucas Sketch

Sketching George Lucas. About 90 minutes in Photoshop.