Carnevil Is Here!

Hi, everyone. As we head into spring, thought I would share with you a few words about a job I did years ago. I used to do murals at the Gallery, up in Harlem, NYC, when I used to work for the Harlem Children’s Zone. I was an after school instructor, teaching kids how to draw comics, customize sneakers or work on posters and backdrops for theater events. Aside from that, I was also the artist in residence. During each year, we would hold events for the community at 144th Street, and one of those events, would be a Haunted House show during Halloween. So, every time Halloween would roll around, it was time to paint a mural on the glass walls, to advertise/promote an event.

Never done it before, so I was trying to figure it out if it could work. We had a few gallons of acrylic mural paint in the studio. So, the first step was to paint a layout, one in white and then an overlay of black paint, to build up details and indicate shadows or a light source on some of the faces of the monsters. Acrylic can hold on glass. You have to add a lot of acrylic coats to thicken it up. It can get streaky, so you have to keep working at it.

So, here is a photo of the layout. You can recognize some of the monsters. The theme was Carnevil, so some lettering had yet be added as well. And if you ever want to see some great horror art, I highly, highly recommend the art of Basil Gogos. He did those incredible portraits on the covers of Famous Monsters, published by Warren. Was very fortunate to have met him, and will treasure those times I hung out with him either at dinner or at conventions. Check out his work when you get a chance.

Will publish another newsletter with the final result of the Carnevil mural. Stay tuned!