Barnabas Collins WIP

I love Dark Shadows.

Even though I'm not old enough--I don't get to say that nearly enough--to have seen it during its original run on tv, the local PBS station aired it every night at 11 in the late 80's, and I watched it then and fell in love with the gothic melodrama of it all.

I enjoyed the half-season run of the early 90's revival series as well.  I thought Ben Cross was a fine Barnabas Collins, just not as good as Jonathan Frid.

I plan on seeing the new film, and I have yet to be disappointed in a Burton/Depp collaboration, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it on its own merits.

However, the original source material will always be my favorite, and so I thought I'd share with you a work-in-progress of Barnabas Collins, as brought to (un)life by Jonathan Frid.

It's not a perfect likeness, but I don't really need it to be. If it's recognizable as Frid, I've done well enough. I'll keep you updated on the progress--I really only get to sit down and draw for a few minutes at a time anymore.

 I hope you'll keep checking back to see it, plus I've got a bit of big news for later in the summer that I hope you'll enjoy and help me share.

 Keep creating!

 Brad

Something New...

So, just to prove that I haven't been completely idle during my forced internet exile, I thought I'd share with you something I've been working on during my breaks at school.  It's kind of a sketch for a larger piece I have in mind, but I'm kinda liking the way the sketch is coming out, too.

The Visitor

Hopefully you like it; as usual, I'm having fun working on it and seeing where it's taking me.

Thanks for looking, 

Brad

Time Flies When You Wish You Were Having Fun...

Holy.

Freakin'.

Crow.

It's taken me this long to be able to get back here. Due to problems with my mother's computer--and my complete lack of one--I haven't been able to get here since October.

I got a NookColor for Christmas (wonderful, wonderful thing...), and while it's taken care of my general "webless-ness", I have trouble with blogger on it.

I have been busy, however, and will be sharing some new stuff very soon, but first things first:

I have drawn at random a winner from the folks who were kind enough to comment during my Halloween post-a-thon so very, very long ago. I apologize for taking so long with it, but computer issues really have been to blame.

Without further ado, the winner of the free print-of-choice is:

Kaycee!!

Congratulations, Kaycee! If you want one, I'll be happy to make you a print of any of the images I posted in October.

And now, I need to go get more stuff ready for Halloween 2012...sounds ominous already, dunnit?

Thanks,

Brad

Final Halloween Offering, Number Fourteen...

First of all, thanks to everyone who's joined me here at Second Star for my Halloween Offerings this year! I've had a great time drawing these pictures, and I've got a lot more ideas for next year.

It's finally here! Halloween night!

This is always a bittersweet night for me; I love Halloween (obviously), and wait anxiously for it all year. When it arrives, I soak it up, enjoying every minute. But there's always that twinge of sadness because I know that once it's gone, I won't see it again for another year.

*Heavy sigh*

But for tonight, at least, the ghouls are dancing, the witches are flying, the werewolves are howling, and the leaves are whispering as they blow across the streets...

For my final Offering for 2011, I'd like to show you what for me, above any other, has been the face of Halloween since 1978:

I do not wanna look up the stairs and see this...

I'm going to wait a few days for any more comments to show up, then I'll draw a name from those commenters to receive the print of their choice from the Offerings series.

I'm definitely doing this again next year, and I hope you'll join me for Halloween Offerings 2012.

Thanks for joining in!

Brad

Halloween Offerings, Number Thirteen...

Yesterday, as part of the Halloween festivities at work, we painted pumpkins with the kids in my class (working at an elementary school has its advantages; I get to do stuff like this).

Here's how mine turned out:

Halloween Offerings, Number Twelve...

Another great use for a set of extra, extendible jaws:

 

 

 

Poor Timmy...

Thanks for checking in with me, and I'll see you on Saturday!

Brad

Halloween Offerings, Number Eleven...

Welcome back to Second Star to the Right, where I have another Halloween goodie to offer up...

I love comic books. Always have, always will.

One of the favorites of my youth was Swamp Thing. While not strictly Halloween related, the original series in the mid-70's was a fantastic example of gothic horror comics done right. The best of the series renders it creepy enough, in my opinion, to warrant inclusion in the category of Halloween art.

I've haven't checked out any of DC's recent universe-wide revamp, but I hear that a new Swamp Thing series is planned, so I'll probably pay another visit to the monster-infested swamps that fired up my imagination so long ago...

Thanks,
Brad