A Coupla' Zero's

Just funnin' around...

Spiderzero: Crescent

A face of sadness, a face of heavy burden, an intense moment of grim realization; at least that's what it says to me



This piece entranced me. Simon Lee's Crescent guided me through every step of the way, and I simply followed. The piece itself, and a few extremely cool Fellas by the name of Bradley Johnson and Bill Mayo did as well. I just let go and kept it loose. These colors had been hanging in my mind every time I imagined how I should paint this piece, and finally they made it to the surface. I hope you all enjoy...

La Pestilencia

La Pestilencia sculpted by Paul Komoda, released through Artist Proof Studio. This piece is a disturbingly accurate study of a woman in the dregs of tertiary syphilis.

Phyllis and I will be spending some time together, and I have no intentions of wearing a condom...

The Face of Horror! Artist Proof Studio: S.L.E. Syndrome bust

The S.L. E. Syndrome in sculptor Norman Myers' own words:

" A strange virus takes over its host mutating them into a twisted deformed being. During the mutation process, the virus allows the host's face to appear and look at its new body, the virus being proud of its work. When the host/victim inevitably freaks out, the head is re-absorbed and the virus gets to work creating an even more horrifying mutation. It's an endless cycle. "





...an endless cycle of mutation after horrific mutation. But not horrific to the vainglorious S.L.E virus, oh no! It tirelessly tasks itself at creating a new image which will please it's host, all in vain. Wipe the slate clean, try again...and again!




Norman created this imaginative and twisted 1/3 scale piece as the first in a series of virus inspired busts. It's 8" tall and cast in one solid piece of gray resin. Not enough you say? Well Norman didn't think so either, so as a cool gift to collectors the first 15 castings of S.L.E. Syndrome included a one of a kind super sculpey head sculpted by Norman! Yes, a one of a kind super sculpey head!






When I first received the S.L.E. bust, the piece conjured thoughts of Rob Bottin's work for John Carpenter's 1982 remake of The Thing. The piece is very reminiscent of kind of bladder pumping, slime slathered, writhing creature effects that were popular in horror films of the 1980's, and I truly adore that about this piece.








As I worked on the bust I couldn't help but imagine the all out creeping fear the host would experience as the virus slogged away at breaking bone and brawn in an arrogant attempt to please. The hosts pale face emerging from it's own anatomically confused flesh to see for the first time, their own body wreathed and wrenched beyond mend! The multiple faces: one in a catatonic state, the other fully ingested by the alien DNA; ripe with S.L.E! Strange appendages developing as they pull free of the body mass. The thought of a 'flesh totem pole' crossed my mind quite a few times.




I began the bust not really knowing where I'd take it, but I did have a pretty good idea that I wanted to complete it with a look not unlike the creatures Bottin crafted in The Thing. Not to compare the two, but the big difference between John Carpenter's creature and Norm's S.L.E. is that the film creature relied on it's host to use as camouflage to hide it's underlying monstrous form, whereas the S.L.E. boasts it's many dreadful, ( a matter of opinion) forms for all to recoil from! Just saying...





I pretty much dragged this project out all summer long. My busy schedule didn't allow me the time to suspend myself in paint mode. But with work slowing down a bit, I finally managed to pull it all together. And I must say that I'm pleased with the way it turned out.

I'm fairly certain that Dr. Meyers at Artist Proof Studio would be more than happy to contaminate your collection with the S.L.E. Syndrome... For more information visit the Artist Proof Studio blog, or contact the good doctor at: zombiejesus11@gmail.com

Amazing Figure Modeler magazine #47

All work and no play makes Jason a dull boy... Perhaps not, but it does mean I have very little time for the updating my blog and partaking of pleasures I so enjoy; such as painting.
Putting my lament aside- I'd like to talk about the new Amazing Figure Modeler magazine issue 47: " American GK Classics; Part One: The Resin Years" . This new AFM issue is a landmark in several different ways: it features a nearly full color layout and a new spine format which makes it easy to identify the volume and issue number when tucked away on the shelf for easy reference. It's also a landmark issue for me personally, because it's my first article for this great magazine.


I've been devotedly reading the magazine since I found out about it in 1997, so to now be contributing to it is quite exciting and rewarding; especially so when considering the congregation of inspiring artists involved with each issue.


Being that I'm an enthusiast of original designs and strange creatures I was a bit apprehensive about what I might be asked to feature in my very first article; there really are not too many early American GK's that really get my blood pumping, but when publisher Terry Webb called me and said, " Hey, Jas- so uh...whaddya think about doing an article on Dan Platt's 'Jersey Devil' from Barker Brothers?", any and all reservations utterly dissolved away... I've always been fond of that piece and I also have a familiarity with Jersey Devil lore from childhood reading, so it was a no brainer- I said, " Hell yeah!"


When I took a trip to the Louisville, KY. Wonderfest convention in mid May to see the culmination of the new issue, I was ecstatic to see my spread. I was also pleased to see one of my favorite monsters, Pumpkinhead, on the cover; fantastically rendered by artist Jason Walker.


I'd also like to thank Mike Falcigno, Terry Webb and David Fisher. These are three awesome and talented Fellas with a fiery passion for monsters. I'm truly appreciative for these guys providing me with such a unique opportunity. So without further stall, I'll leave you with a teaser shot of my buildup of this fantastic piece of American Garage Kit history. And have a look around at the Amazing Figure Modeler magazine website.

Spiderzero: Spider v.3

Wow...I really have been very busy at work lately. I now have very little time to devote to painting thanks to my unyielding work schedule; but I did find enough time to show another piece I completed a few months ago.

As a follow up to my previous Spiderzero Mantis post, I present to you the painted clear Spider head that Simon provided me with. This piece was completed before the Mantis, and it was my first attempt at experimenting with painting onto a clear medium.














The entire approach to painting clear or translucent castings is quite different than working with an opaque material. One must be light handed and use a good bit of forethought. I'm fairly pleased with the way this turned out, but after looking at it I decided to make a few subtle changes. And when I say subtle, I mean very subtle... you may or may not even notice them in comparison to the post of the Spider head next to the Mantis in the previous post; but it needed to be done in my eyes.











I believe I would've liked this piece to turn out to be a bit more translucent, but I did achieve the look I was initially after: that of an old and withered creature. A few people who've seen it commented on how it even looks as if it's been burned, and it does appear that way; which is perfectly fine by me.

Spiderzero: Mantis mini bust v.2

In 2008 Simon Lee, (aka Spiderzero), of Big Blue Tree released a piece of Art named 'Butterball'. I'll discuss Butterball at another time, but let me just say that that piece replenished my faith in the possibility of original designs still having a pulse in the post Fewture Models era.


With the purchase of Butterball, Simon also included a bonus piece along with the first run of castings of the kit: a small resin mini bust of a Mantis creature. The Mantis mini bust is 3.25" tall and the largest of the succeeding bonus creature designs, and was cast in an opaque off white resin.



After painting several of these amazing creature busts I began to fantasize of the possibilities of working with one of these pieces cast in a clear or translucent resin. I went on to plead my case to Simon, and after pestering him for some time about it, he finally buckled and sent me castings of both his Mantis and Spider creature busts.










After combing over some photos of Praying Mantids I opted to go with a very simple, pale color scheme with a subtle green cast. I experimented with a incomplex dark pattern, but I felt like it was far too distracting. The antennae 'stalks' were sculpted using translucent Super Sculpey, and the antennae proper were made from guitar string. I finished it off with a scrap piece of 2x4 which was stained with dark acrylic colors.

The Mantis is my favorite of the mini creature designs Simon has released. It's bulbous eyes and extraterrestrial looks are so appealing to me, and I hope that one day Simon will realize this creature study as a full figure piece. To see more of Simon Lee's wonderfully original artwork, visit his website at: bigbluetree.com