Winnie Jean Howard

Ladies of Horror: Grace Jones as Vamp

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Another blast from the past with the movie Vamp, starring Grace Jones. The movie was released in 1986, and I remember seeing it in the theater. The 80s horror movies were filled with students getting in trouble with various types of monsters, and this movie is no different. For the trivia piece, Grace Jones doesn’t speak at all in the movie. While I went with one of her beautiful portraits that’s used on the movie poster, seeing her in true vampire form is worth a look. I love the red wig! I strayed from the usual purple color scheme because she needed the red hair and contrasting skin colors. I’m kinda regretting not giving her the striking blue eyes, but I can always change it later.

Reminder that this series is a mix of Ladies of Horror from TV and movies done in a Patrick Nagel style. I started these to better learn the Pen tool in Adobe Illustrator, and they’ve become an obsession. If there’s a lady you’d like to see, leave her in a comment.

Minor news on Angels Dark and Dumb. No news this week on cover progress and such. I have started a series of collages based on the characters I have in full body by the cover artist, Atrtink Covers. Look for them on my social accounts, links at the bottom of the page. Some for Margery have already posted. I’ll change to her full-body caricature once I get it. More coming for her and Barry, Trisha, Azael, and the hellhound in coming weeks.

Until next week…

Drink Til You Puke

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Going back to an old class project again this week. The assignment was to choose some art styles, and this one is Punk art. This style tends to have words and look more poster-ish. Did this in Canva and Adobe Photoshop.

Have been playing around with Adobe Express, which used to have a different name. It’s basically equivalent to Canva. I think I prefer it because they are doing a better job of integrating their AI image generator. I generally prefer navigation around the screen there too. I have used Canva forever and I think I just got too settled using it.

Minor news on Angels Dark and Dumb. I was able to review updates to Barry on the first 2 book covers. And Margery is done, but I’ll wait until next week to reveal her. Everything should be done by then, and I should be able to republish everything as well.

In other exciting Angels Dark and Dumb news, I’m making progress on the updated outline. I finished a pass through it and am still happy with the general story. I’m not happy with Barry’s character arc, so that will require another pass through the outline. The good news is that I plan to release the book on Vella as it’s being written, so you won’t have to wait 10 years for another book.

Until next week…

Death of Medusa

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For the last week, I’ve mostly been working on other people’s or writer’s artwork and books, so I dug through the archives again. This is another school project I’m thinking I’d like to revisit with a different subject matter. Hmm… What might I do, because ideas are half the battle?

The subject of this piece is obviously Medusa. What makes it so fun is that it is a deconstruction as you can see in the second image. This was originally done as a construction paper cut out. Each side was in balance to start, and then I cut the pieces to complete the deconstruction.

Fitting for a horror comedy writer and artist to have a love of scissors. I do a lot of pieces by first cutting out shapes to create templates, especially if they are geometric pieces. Then I like to bring these into Adobe Illustrator and trace them.

Minor news on Angels Dark and Dumb. I received an updated look at the Margery character drawing and it’s a hoot. I can’t wait to unveil her. Otherwise, covers are almost done too.

Until next week…

Having a Proud Artist Moment

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Finished another Lady of Horror this week. Fatso is a character in the Casper movie released in 1995 that includes Christina Ricci as one of the main characters. Fatso is in drag as Amelia, her deceased mother, to fool her father. Very very funny scene! I watch the movie every Halloween. Brad Garrett does the voice of Fatso perfectly! Interesting fact, Casper was “the first feature film to have a fully computer-generated visual effects character in a leading role.”

The Ladies of Horror series is a mix of feminine horror actors done in a Patrick Nagel style, although I kept the integrity of the character because Fatso wouldn’t look good without depth. I started these to better learn the Pen tool in Adobe Illustrator, and they’ve become an obsession. Now, with this one, I’ve mastered gradients…well kinda. If there’s a lady in a horror movie or TV show you’d like to see, leave her in a comment.

While this is my first try at a major use of gradients in Adobe Illustrator, I’m quite pleased with how it turned out. Can’t wait to start a new project with gradients! Not at all sure what I want to do, but I feel it should be something original. Maybe I’ll try the Grim Reaper, who is a character I’ve mentioned in a book I wrote awhile back but never published. I want to revisit the book as a graphic novel.

No news on Angels Dark and Dumb. The cover artist is still working on the updates, but she’s getting close. Until next week…

Hooked on Art

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Here’s this week’s artwork for ya. Did this piece, obviously titled Hooked, in my drawing class. I expect you can figure out the theme pretty quickly. We were assigned a line drawing of objects found around the house. Funny how these things evolve in my head because I remember walking around the house to find things. I had a big pile of stuff and had to pull out a theme. The only vice of mine represented here is the wine glass. Any other obsession or addiction is a contrary to my controlling personality, gambling and injecting drugs especially. In fact, I’m the one you want holding your money at a casino.

No news on Angels Dark and Dumb. The cover artist is still working on the updates and the new character drawing for Margery. What I can say is that they are coming along quite nicely. Otherwise, have a great week, and hopefully I’ll reveal the covers next week.