Benicio Del Toro

Another faux cut-out caricature.  Any followers of the blog (all lucky nine of you) might remember the sketch I did of this a few months ago.  I only recently got around to coloring it, and had to make some minor alterations (magic?) to the pencil sketch to make it work as a cut-out -

Comedian Caricature Dump

A collection of some of my favorite actors and comedians that I have done caricatures of over the last few years.  Rather than mob my blog with a half of a dozen posts I thought I would post all of these caricatures at once.

Dudley Moore as Arthur (2010)              Nick Frost as Ed (2010)             Patton Oswalt and Remy (2010)

And now for a mish mash of comedians and styles-

   

From Left to Right: Zack Galifianakis (2009), Jack McBrayer as Kenneth (2010), Gene Wilder (2009) & Geoffrey Rush as David Helfgott (2009)

Ghost in the Graveyard

Lately the wife and I have been watching a lot of horror and Halloween movies, so I've been inspired to do some creepy illustrations.  I actually completed this drawing about a week ago, but totally spaced out uploading it onto the blog.  
This is very much inspired by the graveyards in Dunedin, New Zealand.  They look like the setting of a zombie apocalypse.  Don't believe me?  Take a look-
  
That last picture is Larnach’s tomb, which was in the final stages of being restored when I was there last.  That place also has a pretty messed up history.

Jim Henson

My faux cut-out version of Jim Henson for a monthly caricature contest at the E-Caricatures forum.  I am a huge Henson fan, so when I saw the contest I actually joined the forum specifically to enter.

Why the sock puppet version of Kermit?  I just think it's really amazing how Jim Henson was able to take unassuming materials like bits of plastic and felt and create fully developed characters with such memorable personalities.  It's pretty incredible.

Phoebe the Feeb and Frankie

Anna and I recently watched Monster Squad to celebrate Halloween.  That movie really stands the test of time.  There is so much in it that you really couldn't get away with in movies nowadays too- namely kids acting like kids.

The interaction between Phoebe (Ashley Bank) and Frankenstein's Monster (Tom Noonan) was one of my favorite aspects of the film.  And Ashley Bank was just hilarious.  It's so nice seeing kids acting like little kids.  Little kids in movies nowadays are either way too emotionally mature, or just obnoxious.  Likeable children in movies seems like it was some kind of 80s phenomenon that writers/directors have lost the knack for nowadays.  Maybe it's cause production companies won't let them say "shit" anymore?

Elwetritsch

The Elwetritsch, a German crypto-critter that's a bit like the elusive snipe.  

A Elwetritsch is supposed to be a bit like a flightless chicken with antlers, a long beak, and more recently human breasts.  Apparently there are organized Elwetritsch "hunts" in a region of Germany that are quite a lot like snipe hunts; basically an excuse to have a laugh at someone else's gullibility.  

Stingy Jack

Happy Halloween!

I thought it would be fun to do a portrait of Stingy Jack to celebrate the holiday this year.

Stingy Jack is the legendary figure that the Jack O' Lantern is based off of.  Here's the legend of Stingy Jack copied and pasted from this web-site:

According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn't want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul. The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree's bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years.

Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as "Jack of the Lantern," and then, simply "Jack O'Lantern.

I didn't exactly follow this version of the legend.  I saw another version once where the devil carried Jack's head off to hell, leaving Jack with a hellfire ember to light his way.  Jack carved a turnip into a face and dropped in the burning ember, and used that to replace his own head.  That version seemed like more fun to draw.