Entertainment

It’s Been A While…Again

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Yes…it’s been a while. More than a month this time between status reports. Anyway, I’m sharing the collage I did for Easter with the evil bunny Easter egg hunt featured to the right. It’s not complete. I wanted to add blood and smoke. Maybe I’ll finish it later, when I start to publish all the collages in a book.

I’ve been very busy with ArmLin House work, which is why I haven’t been here much. And last week I finished a painting that’s been sitting around forever. Worked on it in between a visit to the theater to see Civil War. It was a good movie and properly showcased mans inhumanity to man, although it could have been a bit more brutal. I love Kristen Dunst, and she was excellent in the film.

Here’s the painting, also inspired by Hilma af Klint. Not sure I’m going to do anymore of these that are more similar to her work. I really want to do something that’s more dark like me.

I did another painting that’s basically a bunch of brush stokes with a lot of black. I had a technique in mind, but I got a little distracted with it, so I really hated it at first. Next morning, when I got up and looked at it, I wasn’t quite so critical. I started with a few stencils and wanted to go with outlines, but I started to use the stencils as stamps. It didn’t work as well as I’d hoped. Still want to try my original idea.

Otherwise, I did a little writing/editing of the next Angels Dark and Dumb book and continue to struggled my way through the next illustration for The Pumpkin and the Mouse Jinn. Hopefully I’ll have it done before I do another one of these posts.

And, last but not least, I started the Evil in Pop Culture series using AI. The first part is in a post before this one. I started with the infamous evil stepmother. In fact, the first book will probably be all evil women.

That’s all for now. Hoping to be back soon with some more artwork and news.

A Good Horror TV Shows & a Werewolf Gets a Manicure

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Werewolves need manicures too! This is what AI thinks it looks like. Stumped again! I had a hard time finding just the right style and mood for these AI generated images. The challenge was keeping the werewolf in the picture. It wanted to replace it with humans like it did with the demons. This is my favorite. More on my Instagram account. Searches were progressive, starting with the first keywords below.

werewolf getting a manicure; werewolf with red nail polish; werewolf filing claws; spa setting; long claws; smiling; towel; yellow glowing eyes; wax treatment;

I watched the new Fall of the House of Usher series over the last few weeks and it was awesome and highly suggested. The modern take on Edgar Allan Poe was quite well done. Creative spins on the deaths of the family members. Interesting that I had reread the main tale recently and then saw the show on Netflix, which of course was the driving factor to get me started. What shall I do next?

Also want to mention that I’ve been working on a children’s book I wrote a number of years ago, The Mouse Jinn and the Pumpkin. The mouse to the left the main character in the story. His magic is in his red mittens. Like most jinns, he grants wishes that don’t always turn out as expected. I’ve finished all the mice for the illustrations and have started the backgrounds for the story. The book will be done and out before Halloween this year under my real name, Wendy Spurlin. Stay tuned for some more images.

Why Image Generators Need Much Work

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I’m not feeling threatened by AI image generators this week because I totally stumped Adobe Firefly with this strange ask below:

demon; eating tacos; in taco bell in a booth; horns on head; evil look; masculine; wearing a red t shirt

I also added ‘bulls head’ to the ask because I couldn’t get a demon look without adding an animal to the mix. Every search resulted in a human look including women with the masculine ask. Before I added ‘wearing a red t-shirt’ they were all wearing suits.

The image to the right is pretty similar to most of the results with different art styles as I changed the query. So AI thinks humans are demons, which of course is correct.

If you wanna see more of the results, check out my @meanwinniejean Instagram account.

I watched The Pope’s Exorcist this week. Was kinda in a mood for demons after trying to get the image generator to create demons eating tacos. The movie starts with this, which I loved. Fun going in knowing that the story is based on a real priest, but the movie was way beyond reality.

“When we jeer at the Devil and tell ourselves that he does not exist, that is when he is happiest.”

Father Gabriele Amorth
Chief Exorcist of the Vatican 1986-2016

Obviously a high-budget horror flick, so I appreciated the dark, dreary settings and quality acting. While a priest who performs exorcists is thrown out of his position, a family moves into an old, broken down abbey. Nice set up! But the Pope has to pull Russel Crowe back into the mix when a demon possesses a kid in the family. I loved the plot or demon’s intention in the storyline, which I won’t spoil.

Russel Crowe and the possessed kid were good, with all the other characters way too minor in the story. I appreciated that they jumped into the action right away. I wasn’t bored at any point while I watched, so no checking my email while watching. But the cringe and squirm in your seat wasn’t there for this horror freak. The movie is worth watching, especially if you prefer light horror.

That sums up my week. Did you watch any new horror films, good or bad?

New Collage and AI Image Generated Grim Reapers

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It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted. Mostly busy.

Here’s a steampunk collage I created this week. It started with the hat and grew 20 more images from there. Maybe a bit busy, but there’s something to look at in every nook and cranny.

More art worth a look is my AI image generated Grim Reapers. Two sets are available on Instagram. My focus is stumping the image generators with bizarre asks, so I asked for Grim Reaper sitting on toilet in gas station; with rats. Then I asked for grim reaper; holding balloons; kids birthday party; cake; presents; with children. If you have any weird mixes in mind, add a comment below.

And I’ve got a movie suggestion for ya. Little Bone Lodge with Joely Richardson, who I love. She can play some really creepy characters. “Set during a vicious storm, two criminal brothers on the run seek refuge in a desolate farmhouse. Taking the resident family captive, they find the house holds dark secrets of its own.” This movie is really twisted. More psychological thriller than gory blood and guts. The movie was well done and the acting was good. You can watch it on Tubi, but look for the movie title The Last Exit there.

That’s all from me. Have a great week!

Thank God The Holidays Are Over!

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Quick update this week, mainly because I’m been working on this and that and recovering from the holidays as we all are. I’ve been eating way too much crap, so my year starts with a detox.

This week’s collage is Barry and a hellhound he runs into in the first book. The beast gets the better of him, as do most of the bad guys in Call for Obstruction. I like to think that Barry would have a hellhound as a pet in a future book. Not sure how to write it in yet though.

Watched about the worst holiday horror movie this week. The Curse of Jack Frost came out last year, and it has that same slow motion problem. Jack Frost wasn’t at all frightening, and too obvious a guy in a mask. The storyline was lacking and the characters were annoying. Boy can I pick ’em. The only written reviews for this movie are 1 out of 10 on IMDB, and they were generous. Give me some credit for sitting through the entire movie. But I do give credit to anyone who finishes a film and gets it out there. It’s a huge accomplishment. In this case, you can only hope they learn from their mistakes and make it better the next time.

All I got this week. HAPPY NEW YEAR! It’s going to be a good one!