The Mad Daddy Vox Monster Show
“The Mad Daddy Vox Monster Show” was actually the title for a home Halloween show we put on for the trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood in 2003, but I use it here to represent a grouping of art that I have used to enhance the holiday of Halloween, created for use in commercial “haunted houses”, or just monster related art of my own.
The coolest aspect and most rewarding to me as an artist has been that most of the monster related art I have done is also coincidentally some of the largest I have done. Whether it be a large door poster alerting the neighborhood children that something wicked this way will indeed come on October 31st. or an UV paint effect for a Haunted House attraction I always find myself using big broad strokes of the brush to send a chill. The most rewarding aspect of many of these pieces is that since they are large, unwieldy, and often mounted in dark and cramped corridors; I am rarely afforded the usual luxury of either sketching the picture first, or using proportion lines or the like. I am in these cases, forced to simply slash it out giant-sized and free hand with no safety net whatsoever. Since I commonly work with the computer, or in the privacy of the home, it is these occasions where I get to test myself as a free hand artist, and so far I have been reasonably satisfied with the results. The downside to this format is if I happen to like a piece of art, I cannot keep it for myself. They are almost without exception permanent fixtures in the haunted house and loaded 10 months out of the year in large truck trailers housed in a big storage yard.
My primary inspiration for this type of art has been the classic magazine “Famous Monsters of Filmland”, which ran most successfully during the 1960’s and 1970’s. This is the same magazine known to have inspired the likes of Rob Zombie, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas to become involved in the fantastic genres they are known for. A huge thrill of my life was meeting the famous editor Forry Ackerman and spending time with him in his incredible world-renowned "Ackermansion" before his poor health and medical situation forced him to permanently shut it’s hallowed doors. He and his magazine have always been a huge inspiration. Thanks Forry!