Cursed Toys

In my humble opinion, there is nothing scarier than toys that are designed to maim and kill. It’s because of the movies solely based on cursed objects that I was never really into dolls other than Barbies. Here is a collection of some of the dolls featured in a few favorite horror movies of mine.

Here we have the titular character from “Annabell,” a movie about the most evil doll in the world. IRL the said doll was actually a Raggedy Ann, which, aesthetically, does not look like a conduit of pure evil. Then there’s Brahms, who is technically not evil in any way, but still creepy tho. There’s Billy from “Dead Silent.” I don’t think I have ever seen a ventriloquist doll that is NOT evil looking. Then of course there’s Chucky, whom I’ve painted before but I cannot leave him out from this group. And can we ever forget what that clown doll try to do to little kids in “The Poltergeist?” Last but not least there’s Talky Tina from the hit TV series “The Twilight Zone.” She is more of an avenger for abused little kids so I approve of her murderous rampage.

Well, there you have it.

Happy Halloween, y’all!

Ghosts and Monsters

I did three Halloween themed projects this year, this being the main one, an idea I’d been toying around for years now. It is basically a little sampler of a grander scheme of things, and I’m grateful I had time to churn it out.

As my longtime readers might know, I am a fan of horror movies and literature. Naturally I ate up every single movie Guillermo Del Toro has ever made. It took a while for me to figure this one out, but once I sat down to have a good think, everything just fell into place.

The first creature is of course, Hellboy, quickly followed by Pale Man from “Pan’s Labyrinth,” and of course the Amphibian Man from “The Shape of Water.” I painted him realizing that in the movie, he seemed to glow if he’s scared, angry or horny and decided to try my hand at glow-in-the-dark paints. It’s one of those things I don’t know how to photograph, so just know that the blue bits on the Amphibian Man does pop once the lights go out!!

Although I am a fan of the horror genre, I’m not particularly crazy about ghost movies…to me it seems like a cop out. However, “Crimson Peak” was so well made in every aspect, from the stunning visuals to story telling, that it is currently on the top of my favorite ghost story movie.

The same could be said for “The Orphanage,” which I also loved, especially the ending! Maybe next year I’ll be able to paint a full set from each of these sampler dolls!

Belchers Family Halloween Special

I don’t know when it became a thing, that I have to do a Bob’s Burger themed set around this time of year. Instead of painting them in various Halloween costumes, I decided a mash up of the Belchers and the Addams family. It’s not the most original mash up ever, but I did have loads of fun painting these!

As this was a quick one-off, logistics dictated that I paint a diminutive 6-piece set, otherwise I would’ve love to include Mort and Aunt Gail!

Here’s Thing with a spatula. I’m sure Bob would appreciate an extra hand in the kitchen, if not to help him flip the burgers, but to talk to like he talks to inanimate objects.

Tina and Cousin Itt are my spirit animals so it’s natural they’re mashed up in this world.

I thought it would be fun for Gene to play a mini calliope organ, something he would probably not touch in the Belcherverse, but definitely would in the Addams family.

In Louise’s fever dream “Flu-ouise,” her beloved Kuchi Kopi was disfigured, something Wednesday Addams would definitely appreciate.

Happy Halloween!

Spinal Tap STONEHENGE

I’ve been dying to do another version of Spinal Tap for a L-O-N-G time now. They’re so ridiculously fun to paint that I’ve decided to add two more elements to the trio. For the first time, my Spinal Tap guys also come with a mini Stonehenge and a dancing Druid!

Isle of Dogs (And About Time Too!)

Okay, I am ashamed to admit it, but I actually started painting Wes Anderson’s hit stop motion “Isle of Dogs” over a year ago and got nowhere with it fast as life kept interrupting The Process. Fortunately a Wes Anderson enthusiast expressed interest in it which lit that ebbing flame under me once again and I was able to create this set just for her. There’s another half painted version languishing in my closet and I am hoping that now that I’ve gotten my feet wet, I am more motivated to finish it!

I’ve been painting a lot of dogs for the past few months so jumping into this set hadn’t been much of a problem. Believe it or not they are a little more difficult to paint than the human dolls due to the sheer amount of fur action they’ve got going on. I can’t even tell you how many audio books I’ve burned through whilst painting this set. I’m not complaining, though. Have you read Blake Crouch’s mindbending “Recursion?!?!”

This set consists of Chief, Boss (my favorite because of his little outfit), Spots, Duke, Rex, King, and of course, teeny weeny little Atari.

 

This One Really Goes to Eleven

It’s really wonderful to see Spinal Tap is still popular after all these years. Why shouldn’t it be? I got around to painting a different version of it last year and am really looking forward to doing yet another one! This one comes with a mini amp. The amp is so tiny that I wasn’t able to paint little number 11 on it for this particular set but I did in a subsequent one, except I’d forgotten to take a photo of it. Like they say, if it’s not photographed, it’s didn’t happen. Luckily I’ll have another opportunity very soon to do so!

Boobies Boobies Boobies!

My god was this set ever fun to paint, and it was great to finally get my hands on it and really crank it out (albeit in the dead of night when the world is asleep. I’ve been the proverbial night owl for months now and I love it!).

This Valley of the Dolls set features the three ladies in the film:

Jennifer North (Sharon Tate), Anne Wells (Barbara Perkins), and of course Neely O’Hara (Patty Duke)

And, just for fun, this set also comes with two “dolls” which the women had become dependent on, like so many in the show biz.

I am slightly concerned that the pills would be too tempting for some, so I found the  biggest capsule imaginable that would give people pause should they decide popping these dolls are a good idea. It is filled with non-edible decorative sprinkles to further discourage consumption. It does look quite fun, though, I’ll give you that!

Freddie Mercury

I got a little high and dizzy while making the crown for the Freddie Mercury set and recalled an old Stephen Sondheim musical “Sunday in the Park with George.” When Sondheim wrote “Art Isn’t Easy,” I’m sure he hadn’t meant that an artist would pass out from all the toxic fumes emitting from the materials used to create a work of art. Granted, I did start most of it outdoors, but had to move it inside when the night closed in. But I’d rather suffer for my art than do anything else in the world!

This set had taken me months and months to complete. I actually started it before knowing the movie “Bohemian Rhapsody” was a thing! It wasn’t the execution itself that took ages to get it made, but the fact that I first had to experiment with the new kind of paint for the crown, how to construct the velvety layer inside and finding the right type of velvet to use. Then I couldn’t find first, the time, then the inspiration. But then it came rushing fourth and I built the crown in about 6 hours’. It had been one of the final steps to finishing the set, which, coincidentally, had also brought to mind anothe number from the same Sondheim musical: “Finishing the Hat.”

I always have a ton of fun making crowns and tiaras, and this one was no exception. All the materials needed had been foraged from my vast collection of baubles and bits and that in itself had been one of the best experiences of “finishing the hat.”

David Lynch’s Ladies of Twin Peaks

For years now I’ve been asked to paint sets of dolls as gifts to others, which is really heartwarming in two folds: That these people are so immensely thoughtful to seek out something unique and let’s face it, with a somewhat serious price tag and also that they trusted me enough to make this happen.

It is also not that unusual for me to paint a family member or friend into a set of dolls featuring the cast from a TV show or a movie. But this was the first time I was asked to paint a favorite waitress from a favorite restaurant to gift her at the end of my customers’ temporary homestead. It made me wonder, just how amazing a waitress is she and how come there aren’t more like her out there? This request in itself made me want to be a better human being not because of the material rewards it might yield in the end, but to be THAT amazing that people will remember you for your fabulousness.

This set of Twin Peaks is headed by the creator himself. As always, I had fun making the Dead Laura Palmer doll. It means I have to purchase a certain foodstuff that my husband hates just so I can get my hands on the blue plastic sheet that is eerily similar to actual body bags. We have Mel the waitress added into the cast and I hope I did her justice, as the two photos given to me were taken on the sly since this set is meant to be a surprise. There’s Audrey, one of my favorite ladies to paint, and Shelly the actual waitress as well as the Log Lady.

Well, I’m off to meditate on how I can be as fantastic a human as Mel!

Women of Horror

This set is all about the strike against patriarchy…well, sort of. I’ve had so much fun painting the Boys of Horror that I thought I’d give the female antagonists from film a shot and boy, was it F.U.N!!

When I was kicking the idea of this set around, I knew Carrie would be the main doll, not only because I get to fashion a tiara on her, but “Carrie” is also one of my favorite horror movies to date. I’ve watched the remakes and have enjoyed them all, but Sissy Spacek hands down OWNED this role. It took me about 2 weeks to work up the courage to do the blood drippings and I’ve done some studies in the meanwhile. It all worked out in the end.

Annie Wilkes from “Misery” is my favorite psychopath. I also had to paint in her pet pig Misery, whom, according to the articles I’ve read, had been a Very Good Pig during filming.

Norman Bates’ mom is really just a prop in the movie and I was tossing up between painting the actual mummified corpse or Norman Bates in drag for a while but in the end the former option won as I’ve never painted a corpse before and it was all kinds of fun.

Say hello to Regan from “The Exorcist” after she’d been possessed. It’s really not her fault that she was a bad bad girl and I had some misgivings about it, but it’s too good a movie and a pure classic to give this one a miss so here she is!

And of course I had to include Esther from “Orphan,” one of the two gals from the more recent era in this set. I loved the movie and was blown by the plot twist toward the end. If you haven’t seen it check it out!

Last but not least, Samara, the frightening Ghost Girl from “The Ring.” Can you blame her for wanting to extract some revenge? The poor thing spent years trapped in a well for crying out loud!

I’d originally wanted to call this set Wicked Women of Horror but not all of them are evil (least of all Carrie). Some of them are actual victims, which just goes to show that you shouldn’t treat women (or anyone for that matter) unkindly because some will break your legs (or, in the book version of “Misery,” amputation), trap you in your own prom and blast you with a fire hose before blowing you up, or force you to watch a terrible short film seven days before you die!