Black Devil Doll this weekend!

First off I'd like to thank everyone at the Chattanooga Tattoo Arts Fest for a great show last weekend. We loves us some Chattanooga!

But now I want to plug next weekend's show. The Black Devil Doll Cincinnati premiere! The show will be held at the Know Theatre in Cinci and is sponsored by the kick ass folks at Hell In A Handbasket. The show features artist Rob Meyer from It Came From The Basement, horror masks by Ghastly Productions, bands Season Of The Witch, Pumpkin Sluts & De Los Muertos. This could possibly turn out to be the most...uh...interesting show of the year!

If you're not familiar with the movie Black Devil Doll you owe it to yourself to check out the traliers so that you, too, can be just as offended as the rest of the nation!

Hell yes!

Number of the Beest?

This is just some goofy little thing that I shouldn't have noticed but I did:

I have an art gallery on Epilogue.net, http://billytackett.epilogue.net. They give me my gallery ranking and picture views and crap like that. Guess what I was ranked last time I checked?

Horror Rot & Roll Show

What a weekend! First off we headed down to the Fountain Square T-shirt Fest where I had planned on displaying but wasn't. That is another story and I'll be posting about that incident later in the week.

Afterwards we had our final gallery showing at the Southgate House. And once again it was a successful night. The entire show was awesome and the staff was fantastic. I want to thank everyone for a wonderful event and we can't wait to show there again!

On Saturday we did a little mini-horror con and concert. Tri-state Paranormal, Hell In A Handbasket, Kemper and Impaler all had booths set up. Kemper, Pagan Holiday 13 and Impaler supplied the entertainment.

Hell In A Handbasket were there promoting the Black Devil Doll Cincinnati premiere at which I will be set up along with some other horror themed artists and bands. We watched the trailer and I gotta say I am truly lookin' forward to this flick!

Kemper is a dark and gloomy band with an early Danzig influence. He has some great creepy stuff. I didn't get to chat with him as much as I would have liked to but I'm sure our paths will cross again soon enough.

Pagan Holiday 13 are an 80's glam rock throwback with a heavy dose of monsters, zombie strippers and blood! These are some great guys that really have fun with their horror. And c'mon, they have a song called Dead White and Blue so they can't be that bad!

Here's a little history: Being a teenager in the 80s I admittedly was a metal-head. W.A.S.P., Megadeth, Mercyful Fate, anything that wasn't glam! And the more shocking the better. Impaler, who has been around since '84 or so, was one of those. They got a boost in publicity when Tipper Gore put them on her PMRC "hit-list". And like a lot of bands from that era I kind of lost track of them. But lo-and-behold they're undead and well, putting out albums every couple of years or so. And from watching the show they are as brutal, bloody and disgusting as ever!

When I first met Bill Lindsey, the lead singer, I really didn't recognize him. It had been years since Impaler had last been on my radar. And plus he is such a nice guy that it took me several minutes to make the connection. We discussed how some people in the horror biz are waay to serious and need to lighten up. Horror should be fun. The horror kids from the 60s have it right: Scare the shit outta people and have a blast doin' it!

We had a great time hanging out with these guys. But I'm having this weird Twilight Zone thing going on in my head because of the fact that people that I have been a fan of for 20 years or so are now asking for my autograph! That's a little much to wrap my head around but being accepted by my horror idols and role models is great for a feller's ego!

Getting to hang out with these local horror fans has shown me that the genre ain't dead here. We're going to do our part to make sure there are more horror themed events in the Northern KY and Greater Cincinnati area. And with folks like Hell In A Handbasket, Pagan Holiday 13 and some other monster enthusiasts that seem to have risen from out of nowhere lately I can assure you that things are going to get a lot creepier here in the mid-west!

Me & Bill from Impaler

Heather is now a groupie!

Impaler

Mike Torok of Impaler sportin' a Dead White & Blue shirt

A fan!

Mykill von Pagan from Pagan Holiday 13

Me, El Rey and Amber Wave of Hell in a Handbasket

Me & Commander Court of Impaler

Impaler makes me look small and less scary than I really am!

Me & Mykill from Pagan Holiday 13

Me & Mike of Impaler

Impaler

And if you get a minute check out this petition I'm sponsoring:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/cinci_tshirt_fest/

The details are there and I'll be posting more to the story in a few days.

Billy

In case you missed the Southgate House show

After 2 great nights in the Southgate House gallery we've been asked back! As of now we'll be there Wednesday and Friday nights. Saturday we'll be at Shimmers in Ft. Wright KY for the Impaler concert. Unfortunately our show at the Fountain Square T-shirt Festival has been cancelled but I'll write about that later.

Both nights we met some great folks. After traveling so much it's good to meet some local zombie freaks. Maybe you can make it out as well?

Below are some photos from the weekend showings.

Held over by popular demand!!

Last night's show at Southgate House was great...So great that I'll be there tonight as well!! And maybe a few nights throughout the week!! If you plan on coming out tonight be forewarned that there will be a cover charge just to get through the door. Good news though is there will be 13 bands playing.

THE BOMB
Knife The Symphony
Bearclaw
Trophy Wives
Arms Exploding
Caterpillar Tracks
The Read
1,000 Arms
Karl Hendricks Trio
Kyle Sowash
Swear Jar
The Serfs
Mack West

Ass-Kickin', Zombie-Lovin' Local Shows...

Hey kiddies! I want to promote some local shows I'll be doing in the next few weeks. I'm really excited because this year is the biggest for me here in the Northern Kentucky/ Cincinnati area thus far and it all kicked off with the 7th Street Gifts Fearie Fest back in May and was followed by the Northside Rock n Roll Carnival last weekend.

Next up is the Rumble Club CD Release Party at Southgate House in Newport KY on June 10th. If you're into psychobilly you'll love these guys. We'll be upstairs in the gallery with tons of originals on display and prints & shirts will be available to buy and Rumble Club will be downstairs in the Ballroom.

On July 17th we're almost confirmed for the Fountain Square T-shirt Fest. I'll let you know when that's 100%.

The next night, the 18th, we'll be at Shimmers in Ft. Wright KY for the Impalers concert. If you're an old school metal head you may remember that Tipper Gore had a hard-on for these guys back in the day. They're still around spreading their gore-rock tentacles across the globe. Also playing will be my friends 13 Pagan Holiday 13 & Kemper.

On August 1st we'll be displaying at the Hell In A Handbasket sponsored Black Devil Doll premere at the Know Theatre in Cincinnati. If you're into B horror flicks I probably don't have to elaborate much on this one except that fellow lowbrow artist will be present. Rob Meyer of It Came From The Basement. Check his stuff out. You won't be disappointed.

And then we'll be at the Covedale Arts and Crafts Fair in Covedale (Cincinnati) OH on August 22.

Jump ahead a few months and we'll be at the first Horrorhound Weekend in Cincinnati. That's right, Horrorhound in comin' to Cinci on November 20 - 22! Elvira will be there. Need I say more?

Below is an updated calendar with events we'll be attending into May of 2010.

July 10, '09 - Rumble Club CD Release Party @ Southgate House, Newport KY 

July 17, '09 - Fountain Square T-shirt Fest, Cincinnati OH 

July 18, '09 - Impalers Concert @ Shimmers, Ft. Wright KY 

Aug. 1, '09 - Black Devil Doll Premiere, Cincinnati OH 

Aug. 13-16, '09 - GenCon, Indianapolis IN 

Aug. 22, '09 - Covedale Arts Fair, Cincinnati OH 

Sep. 11-13, '09 - Scarefest, Lexington KY (Guest of Honor) 

Sep. 18-20, '09 - Horror Realm, Pittsburgh PA (Guest) 

Oct. 3-4, '09 - Dark Carnival Film Fest, Bloomington IN (Guest) 

Oct. 10-11, '09 - ZombieConX, Milwaukee WI (Guest) 

Oct. 17-18, '09 - Nashville Comics & Horror Show, Nashville TN 

Oct. 23-25, '09 - CharCon, Charleston WV (Guest of Honor) 

Nov. 20-22, '09 - Horrorhound Weekend, Cincinnati, OH (Guest) 

Feb. 19-21, '10 - Con Nooga, Chattanooga TN (Guest) 

Mar. 12-14, '10 - Mid-South Con, Memphis TN (Guest of Honor) 

Mar. 26-28, '10 - Horrorhound Weekend, Indianapolis, IN (Guest) 

May 28-30, '10 - MarCon, Columbus OH (Guest of Honor)

Rock n Roll Carnival & a new show announcement...

...The Good, The Bad & The Wet!

Yep, that's about the long & short of it. Set up for what was our first real outdoor event. Yeah 7th Street's Faerie Fest is outdoor but it's one day, ends before dark and we can rent everything we need from them. The Northside Rock n Roll Carnival was different for us. We had to supply everything.

We bought our tent thingy on Thursday and since the event would last way into the night we had the problem of lighting to be solved so we set up the shelter in the front yard and wait until dark to light it. Not sure what our neighbors thought but our idea of lighting with white Christmas lights worked better than we had imagined!

The weather on Friday was awesome! The crowds were out in full force, the bands were top-notch and the beer was nectar of the gods (Christian Moerline O.T.R. really is the shit!)

Some of the folks from Hell in a Handbasket Zine stooped by and dropped off the fliers for the Black Devil Doll premiere where I'll be displaying. Nathan from HorrorHound also stopped by. The festivities rolled on until around 1 AM!

Below is a pic of the daytime booth. We were going to take one after dark to show all the awesome lights but we forgot. So our plan was to grab a photo on Saturday night. Man what a horrible day Saturday was! We set up in the light rain. Had a few sales after the parade but the rain sent most people home. There were several hardcore revellers they stuck around and braved the rain which wasn't a downpour but just a steady, run of the mill rain all day long. So we decided to pack up around 7. I really hated to leave but Heather was feeling under the weather, traffic was slow and we were all pretty moist. Alas, no nighttime pic. Maybe next time.

All in all it was a great weekend. The people of Northside dug my art, made some new friends and fans and drank good beer. Can't ask for more than that!

Now for the new show: I'll be displaying at the Southgate House in Newport KY during the Rumble Club CD release party on Friday, July 10! If you like you some psychobilly come check it out!

An open letter to those image thieves...

The above image, the original black & white version of Zombie Sam, is all over the freakin' internet now. Unfortunately the version floating around is one that amateur has hacked up and added some crappy text, see below.

Pretty shitty, eh? So when I began finding this image around I started asking for credit. Just a link back to my site. All I'm askin'. Nobody would respond! Nuthin'! So lucky for me image hosting sites like Photobucket, Flickr and MySpace can be held responsible for images on their servers and all it takes is a strongly worded email and the offending image is gone. Poof!

There are times when I still ask for credit. Looking over the site you can usually tell who's got enough class to stand up and give it. One of these sites is Zombies & Toys. Turns out he's actually a great guy and you should check out his site if you like...well, zombies and toys!

I'm seeing the tide is turning. More people are willing to give the credit and that's fine. But I shouldn't have to ask for it. When I approach these thieves the response I get 99% of the time is "I didn't know you did it. I just found it on somebody else's page and decided to use it". There are a couple things wrong with this excuse:

1. You found it on somebody else's page and decided to STEAL it...Yes, steal is the correct term. It's on their page, you thought it would make you look cool and you took it. Maybe it belonged to the owner of the page you stole it from. You didn't credit them either. You gave credit to nobody! Even crediting an image to the wrong person shows that you tried. You stole it!

2. Even if you knew the image didn't belong to the person you stole it from if they didn't credit anyone that means...Class? That's right, they STOLE it too! Because they did it doesn't mean it's OK for you to do it. If everybody walks by and punches your mother in the face does that make it OK for me to do it too? Maybe that's a bad analogy because she did raise a thief afterall but you get my drift. The point is someone drew that picture. And there's a chance that that someone is trying to make a living by drawing those kick-ass images you love to put on your MySpace page. Oh, and those really cool animated and glittery images that say "Happy B-Day" or "Thanks for the add!" someone out there drew those too.

I'm a professional artist. That means art is how I pay my bills. That doesn't mean I'm rich and famous and all that crap. Most professional artists are just like you, living paycheck to paycheck. And it's getting harder to be successful at what we do because of douche bag thieves laying claim to something that took hours of our time. Granted most thieves mean no harm. Most people don't realize what goes on behind the scenes. Thus the reason of this blog.

So just remember, that nifty little piece of art you want to use as your background is there because someone spent many, many years honing their skills and talent and because they took the time to sit down and dream it up and took even more time to make that vision a reality. They didn't do it for you, mind you, but for their families. That image helped keep bread on their tables and when you take it without giving proper credit that artist ceases to exist in the eyes of the public.

Don't be part of that.

Billy

Origins

Just got back from Origins Game Fair. We had a fantastic show but the four day events are exhausting and very slow getting warmed up. Setting up we had the pleasant surprise of discovering that we were neighbors with our old friends Zombie Buddy Productions. Strangely enough we first met them when we were neighbors at my last Origins show a couple years ago. Deja vu?

We also got to meet with a lot of old friends from my last Origins show. I'm flattered that my work was remembered because one can be easily forgotten with all of the "glitz & glamour" there.

We discovered that fellow Abyss Walker artist Katey DeHay was in attendance as well putting her mark on many of the faces there. We had the pleasure of chatting with her a bit. Heather and I also had the opportunity to have dinner with the guys from CharCon, a gaming con in Charleston WV at which I'll be Artist Guest of Honor the October. I dare you to find a better bunch of guys. I'm really, really looking forward to CharCon!

Speaking of guest spots; I also met some of the folks with MarCon which as some of know I will be GoH there next May as well.

Con on the Cob friends Armorcast & Andy Hopp was there as well. Unfortunately when we were in the art room Andy was deep in conversation so we didn't have the chance to say hi. So if you're out there listening Andy...Hi. We also had a brief conversation with Nigel Sade. My one complaint with Origins: The art room is waaay too far from the dealer's area! I feel so left out...

So other than the horrible hotel experience we had a great time. Did an interview with some guys and I can't remember the website they're with but I'll be posting a link once it's up. I also have some teasers of things yet to come...maybe:

1. A new deal with a company to put even MORE of my images on t-shirts.

2. A Zombie Sam model along the lines of the Aurora models of the 60s and 70s

3. Some higher end merchandise like...well, won't really say right now but I am excited about these possibilities!

Off to beddy bye for me but before I go thanks to everyone at Origins for the phenomenal hospitality.

B

Papa's got a brand new bag...

...of body parts that is! And we're bringin' back to Origins Game Fair in Columbus OH this weekend. We attended Origins back in '07 but that was before the Dead White & Blue. This go 'round we have better art, better merchandise and of course better ZOMBIES!!

Origins will see the debut of 3 new art prints including the newest Dead White & Blue piece. Our booth will be somewhere in the dealer's area so stop by, say hi and get some zombie lovin'!

How to art - Lesson 1...

Occasionally someone askes me some technical question about how I do what I do. I thought I take an opportunity to put together a FATQ (frequently asked technical question) for everyone. Because as we all know everytime I open my mouth gold falls out of it...at least that's what I've been told. And I really should look up the definiton of this sarcasm I keep hearing about...

1. Do you paint wet-on-wet or wet-on-dry? Yes.

2. How do you choose your pallette? I go through all my tubes of paint, openeing each one up until I have a bunch of colors I like.

3. What brand of paints do you rec- OK, this is pretty lame. And I can assure you all my answers will be lame.

Here's the deal: I really do go through my paint until I have a bunch of colors I like. But there is a method. I know by sight what colors are cool or warm, which ones are opaque or transparent, etc. But I don't know names. Name recollection is a left brained function and mine seems to work less and less as I get older. I know the tools at my disposal, I just don't know what they're called.

I use both wet-on-wet and wet-on-dry. Whatever I need to get the painting done. I approach each piece as a problem that needs to be solved. How I solved the previous problem may not be how I solve the problem before me. And my problem solving is a very fluid process. When I start I have an idea of the path I want to take but that could change as I go along. And I am open to that change. I'm a firm believer in happy accidents. All artists should learn to recognize them.

My inspiration comes from shit I like. And it helps a lot that you guys happen to like the same shit. That's inspiration enough.

So I guess you may be wondering exactly what the purpose of this blog is. I've type a whole bunch of words and haven't really said anything. My point is this: Enjoy art for what it is. Too many people worry way too much about the technical aspects or the purpose behind the piece and they miss the point. Granted it's OK to wonder about this stuff. Artists will dissect the work of others. Art critics & lovers will psycho-analyze it. That's OK. But there's time for that later. When see a piece for the first time clear your mind. Absorb what has been placed in front of you. Let your thoughts jumble together and as you take in the piece that was created just for you (and art was created for you) those thoughts will begin to fall into place and your feelings about the piece will take shape. You may be surprised at what you discover.

As a general rule I dislike abstract art but that rule does not keep me from liking a piece of abstract art. Don't choose the art, let it choose you.

This post may seem a little out of place for me. I'm usually talking in a down to earth manner about the business side of art and crap like that. Thought maybe a step back was in order. Yeah, art is my career but it is also so much more. Art is a journey. It is a destination. It's a struggle and a free ride. Art is everything to everybody whether they realize it or not.

I've said before that if everyone in the world went blind tomorrow except me I would still paint. I am not an artist because I create art, I create art because I am an artist.

So next time you run into your local neighborhood artist give him or her a big ol' non-sexual smack on the ass and tell them "Keep artin'!"

We now return you to your regularly scheduled ego trip...

I just added some new dates to my schedule. As you can see I'm doing a lot more local shows. I'm in the process of confirming two gallery shows, one will feature my fine art and the other will be inconjunction with some art related Halloween festivities!

Jun. 24-28, '09 - Origins Game Fair, Columbus OH

July 3-5, '09 - Northside Rock n Roll Carnival, Cincinnati OH

July 17, '09 - Fountain Square T-shirt Fest, Cincinnati OH

Aug. 13-16, '09 - GenCon, Indianapolis IN

Aug. 22, '09 - Covedale Arts Fair, Cincinnati OH

Sep. 11-13, '09 - Scarefest, Lexington KY (Guest of Honor)

Sep. 18-20, '09 - Horror Realm, Pittsburgh PA (Guest)

Oct. 3-4, '09 - Dark Carnival Film Fest, Bloomington IN (Guest)

Oct. 10-11, '09 - ZombieConX, Milwaukee WI (Guest)

Oct. 17-18, '09 - Nashville Comics & Horror Show, Nashville TN

Oct. 23-25, '09 - CharCon, Charleston WV (Guest of Honor)

Nov. 20-22, '09 - Horrorhound Weekend, Cincinnati, OH

May 28-30, '10 - MarCon, Columbus OH (Guest of Honor)

East Tennesee Tattoo Fest...

Just getting back from infecting Knoxville with my gooey zombie goodness! In some way this had to be one of the more unqiue events we've attended. I'll explain later but first I would like thanks Bryan from Tattoos by Bryan and the entire staff of the festival. East Tennessee Tatto Fest is a top-notch event! I'd also like to thank Lynda & Robbie from Coon Tattoo for helping us. You guys rock!

So we roll into the Hilton and set up with a primo spot just outside the ballroom. With nothing but awesome music and the steady buzzzz of guns as our soundtrack. At one point I said to my wife "If they play another Motorhead song I'm gonna have a big "O" right here!" Needless to say I had to clean myself up within no time!

Things started out well and never slowed. At this event I had the opportunity to chat with a lot of the artists there. Eventually I came to realize that I was in the presence of greatness! Ain't no posers or wanna-bes in this crowd! These were the real deal. True masters of their art.

On Friday an online friend, author Shane Berryhill stops by the booth. it turns out the pop-culture fest AdventureCon is being held across the street, just mere yards from where we're set up! We talked shop for a while, traded secrets and such. He lso lets us in on some of the industry people that are attending AdventureCon and offers to give us a pass! So now Shane has been added to the "You Rock!" list.

Just a side note: I'm sure some of you reading this have been to fandom conventions. If not they are pretty much the same in some aspects: Dorrs open around 10 am and the place shuts down around 6 or so. Occasionally some will be later. But tat fests are a different breed. Doors open at noon and close at midnight! So that doesn't leave much socializing time afterwards for us fuddy duddies.

We decide that on Saturday Heather will pop over to AdventureCon, give out some cards and do some basic promoting. Figured with us being so close it almost like being at 2 cons at the same time! While she's there she discovers that Kane Hodder is there as well so she pops in at his table to say hi and let him know we're just across the street. During the conversation he introduces her to a person who may help us take Billy Tackett Studios and Dead White & Blue to a higher level. Stay tuned for info on that!

Sittiing at my booth I usually have a drawing of some sort going on. This time I decided to do a car. A '58 Caddy to be exact. That got a lot of attention. Some of that attention came from Ian Jones and his wife (whose name escapes me at the moment...Sorry!) . If you're curious I highly recommend you check out his site, Hot Rod Pencil. Black and white hot rod art at its finest! And he's a swell guy to boot!

I had the opportunity to talk with Kelly from Kelly's Tattoos in Tyler TX. He let me watch while he created a tattoo using a bamboo stick. THAT'S something you don't see everyday.

I got to chat with Angel of Queen of Hearts Tattoos which is Nashville's oldest tattoo shop and the folks from Studio Ink in Lexington & Danville KY and Blackheart Tattoo in Youngstown OH. I know I'm leaving people out but those are the cards I happen to have in front of me at the moment.

Along with hanging out with Robbie & Lynda and Kane we met up with some folks we had met at the Nashville show like Megan Zass among others. Oh, and I got to sign Robbie's penis. I wasn't the first! Don't ask but you can read this article on Robbie.

Hanging out with tattoo artists is humbling and inspiring. It amazes me. These guys and gals goof around and joke but once they sit down with gun in hand it's all business. They are the best of the best for a reason and I'm glad they let me hang out with them this weekend.

B

Cashin' in vs. Sellin' out

So lately I've been thinking about the differences between selling out and cashing in. I won't bother you with the details of why but I figured that since I had a few minutes while waiting for a canvas to dry I would pose the question, my conclusions and maybe get some feedback.

I have heard a lot of creative folk called Sell-outs. Movie makers, musicians, artists and authors. But what makes a sell-out? Being an artist that makes an actual living doing what I love, making art, could put me in the Sell-out category in the eyes of some. But am I really?

I think selling out is determined by the intentions of the creator. Here's an example:

I have a picture of a vampire getting ready to do battle with a werewolf.

It's an old piece that was done for a book cover that was never published. It was on the verge of fading off into obscurity when lo-and-behold Twilight became bigger than Jesus and I was told by more then one person that this reminded them of the book. So I began to feature the prints a little more prominently. Because the picture was done before Twilight I consider this cashing in. 

But what if I had painted because Twilight had become so popular? I think the line gets fuzzy here but this is my take: For one thing vampires and werewolves would be something that I would do regardless. So taking that and the fact that it's not a particular character into consideration I think this would probably fall into the "Cashing-in" category. Maybe if I didn't do this type and/or it was a specific character I would have probably been a Sell-Out.

It's the same with my Dead White & Blue zombie paintings. Initially hadn't planned on doing any more other than Zombie Sam but because he was such a huge hit the others came along. Am I selling out because I've found something commercially viable? I would still be doing zombies whether people were into them or not. The types of zombies are inconsequential. Unless I painted a Twilight zombie...  There's that damned gray area again!

Here's some thought provocation: I used to consider Metallica Sell-outs because once they became commercially successful with And Justice For All everything after that seemed geared towards the general record buying public. But hold the phone! They were in it for the money. Music is more than fun it's a career. Very much like my art. So they're doing something they love and trying to make money at it and in order to make money they had to...that's right, sell records. So, even though I'm personally not fond of new Metallica I now respect them more.

Flip side of that? Megadeth released some music that was "radio-friendly". To me it looked as though they were trying to follow in Metallica's commercial footsteps. In my eyes that was selling out. I don't know what was goin' on in Dave's head but that's the way it looks to me on the outside. 

So with zombies being all the rage it's hard to tell the Sell-outs from the Cash-ins. But I think you can get some idea by the quality. Cash-ins are doing it not only for the money but also because they like it so the quality is higher. Sell-outs are doing it for the money and it will show in the quality. A perfect example is the remakes of the classic George Romero flicks Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead. Dawn was a good flick. Some purists will argue this point but I don't think anyone will argue the point that Day was a real stink hole! Somebody somewhere said "Hey, Dawn made a ton of money. Let's throw some shit together and call it Day. It'll make money on name recognition alone!" Dawn: Cash-in. Day: Sell-out.

The book Pride & Prejudice & Zombies? By reading the Wikipedia entry my money's on Cash-in but you can bet your sweet zombie ass the market will be flooded with many Sell-outs and a few Cash-ins very very soon. It happens with any successful venture. Look at all the freakin' pirate crap that was out there when Pirates of the Caribbean was hot!

During the elections several people told me I should do zombie versions of the candidates. But I felt that would be selling out. My criteria for Dead White & Blue is that the images I zombify need to be iconic. Now I knew that regardless of who won there would be an icon there, either Obama or Palin. But I feel there needs to be time. After an as-of-yet-to-be-determined amount of time I will be cashing in. Any sooner and I will be selling out. Make sense?

Some Sell-outs are obvious. Others are not. I suppose the difference between Cash-in vs. Sell-out is debatable. Like me everyone will have their own criteria and opinions. I'd like to here them. Maybe you can change my opinion...

Gallery Hop and a quick pro artist lesson

Pop quiz: You've gotten your art degree and one of your first gallery showings. One of the attendees at your show is someone who has been in the business for 20 years. Do you:

A. Chat this professional up to see what morsels of advice may be spewed  forth that could be relatable to you and your career path of choice

B. Chat this professional up because you never know who has connections...or may have connections in the future.

C. Dismiss this professional as soon as you discover their professional status and go drink cheap, warm beer with your buds.

D. A & B

Wanna guess what happened to me during the gallery hop last night?

So we head up to the monthly First Friday Gallery Hop in Covington KY last night. You know the drill; free wine and snacks, mostly good art, great company, fabulous networking opportunities, blah, blah, blah. *note* If you haven't done so I recommend reading my guest blog on Apex Books site regarding my experiences with artists and galleries here.

We start out at the Artisans Enterprise Center which is the hub of the Covington arts scene to say hi to the Arts District MAnager Natalie. The theme for the night was Re-cycled art which was nice. We were also happy to see a larger turn-out. While there Natalie told us about their Halloween themed shows. She has told us that she wants my work in one of the galleries for the October shows (details coming soon) and had mentioned a haunted house but last night she informed us of an art themed Zombie Walk! As long as our schedule allows we'll be volunteering.

From there we're onto Encore for a quick visit with Karen and displaying artist Holland Davidson. Rumor has it Encore is interested in displaying some of my fine art (meaning non-horror art) sometime this year. Details coming soon as well.

Before proceeding I think I must make clear my stand on art. Art is in the eye of the beholder. I don't like all art. Well, actually, if I don't like it I don't consider it art in most cases. Like Warhol for example. Or Dada. But it's my opinion and I would never consider arguing what is good art and what is bad art because all art is all a matter of opinion. And I would never slam someone else's talents or percieved lack of in public. But one's lack of professionalism is fair game...

And now to the MarX Gallery. We walk in and look around. The art is wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling. There are ripped up inflatable riding toys shoved into wooden crates. An old phone. A beer keg. A large Star Wars action figure glued to a board. A Pee Wee Herman doll nailed to the wall. A fairly nice city scape hung sideways.  And one pretty cool painting of a Lego version of Abraham Lincoln. Not my cup o' tea but hey, who gives a shit about what I think but me (see previous paragraph), right?

A young guy approaches and we begin to chat. He is one of four artists displaying that night. He tells us he's graduating with his MFA and this is one of their first shows. So I give him a card telling him I'm a professional artist. We notice his interest begin to fade, especially after he sees the pic of Zombie Sam on the card. We tell him how great things are for the arts scene in the area now compared to how they were when we first moved there. How I couldn't get the time of day from a gallery because I didn't go to school (see the Apex blog) but now I have two, possibly 4 gallery shows. BANG! Right there's when we totally lost him. He began looking over our shoulders. His side of the conversation stops. And all it took was me mentioning I never went to school. 

He may have missed an opportunity to further his profession. He didn't know who I was. He doesn't know who I will be. But I was dismissed. Possibly deemed unworthy. Here's the lesson to be learned: When you dismiss people, slam them, talk about or treat them badly you are burning a bridge. You never know if that artist you consider lacking in talent will someday become the curator of that hot, new gallery you want in or art director for that top-notch, top-paying book company.  At least be courteous to everyone. You never know...

Case in point: Later we end up at a small military museum on the gallery route who has local author Ellen Everman peddling copies of her book Pink Dice. During the conversation we tell her about my book and graphic novel that's coming out and we begin to pick up some advice from her on interviewing and such. But soon we're giving her advice on marketing. It's that give and take. Always be open and always be forthcoming. 

From there it's next door to Covington Clay. Owner Rick Hoffman is working on an installation piece called First Amendment Friday. Gallery hoppers stop by and make two ceramic tiles. The gallery keeps one and you get one. After the gallery has collected over 800 tiles they will be used for an art piece in the city. We made ours last hop and stopped by to pick them up. 

That's my contribution in the top right corner. My very first clay sculpture!

From there what is possibly the highlight of our gallery hops: A visit to our little gold mine of a restaurant AmerAsia. If you're ever in the area check this little gem out. Not much to look at but the food is spectacular! And the service is outstanding. So if anyone ever wants to meet me for dinner this is where I'll be taking you!

So kids always be kind to strangers. You never know when they'll be the hand that's feeding you in the future!

Showin' some love...

Recently I have been asked to do several interviews. I would like to take the opprotuntiy to list a few and give links back to those who have supported me!

BelkisNYC - If you're a creative type she can tell you how to market yourself. I wish I had run across her site a long time ago!

Interview

ZombieCommand - A cool site for zombie news!

Interview

Florence Recorder - My local paper.

Interview (PDF)

ImagineFX -  Digital art magazine. Whether you're a traditional or digital artist I highly recommend this magazine. I was a featured traditional artist in issue 43. Below is a scan of the page but if you want to read it buy it!

Night of the Living Podcast - A freakin' hilarious horror review podcast. Theu interviewed me at Rockin' Rooster Comics' Free Comic Book Day. My part is in the first 15 minutes or so. If you're a horror buff looking for some laughs I recommend listening to the entire podcast. 

Interview

Here's some places you can see some stuff from me in the future:

Infernal Dreams - A great horror review site that did a video interview from the World Independent Film Expo. Will be posted in the future.

Sketch Magazine - A magazine for comic creators. I'm working on a tutorial for a future issue.

HorrorHound Magazine -  Obviously a horror magazine but what might not be so obvious from the name is that HorrorHound is one of the best. Check 'em out. I'm doing some art to be featured in the near future.

ArtLibs - An interesting art based blog. The cool thing is that when she interviews she does a little mad libs game with you. 

Lastly but not leastly - A Prisoners Welcome - I'm doing art and book covers on a regular basis for Shane Moore's Abyss Walker series. If you're looking for a great read check it out. It has zombie deer!

Here's links to some events that have been very gracious hosts to me and my wife:

Con Nooga 

Imagicon

Rockin' Rooster Comics

Seventh Street Gifts

W.I.F.E.

Marc @ Comic City

Thanks everyone!

Billy

So you wanna be a pro artist?

Every so often I get a flurry of emails requesting information on how to be a professional artist.I thought I would pass along some tips here. But here's the thing: there's a really good chance that what worked for me won't work for you. So I won't be going into detail but I am going to list some very general, very basic stuff that should be a given but usually isn't.

Aside from that whole "Learn to draw" jive the following are some pretty good guidelines:

1. If you want to be a professional artist art has to be a passion. You can't be in it for the money because you will be severely disappointed. I've told my wife on numerous occasions that if everyone in the world except me went blind tomorrow I would still paint because it's part of me.

2. Sometimes in order to get to the point that you can do what you want you have to do stuff you don't want to. Just consider all that lame stuff you have to do as practice for the cool stuff.

3. Practice & observe. Look at others work. Dissect it. Figure out how it was done and try to imitate it. Art is a problem and they way you solve that problem determines your individual style. Practice, practice, practice!

4. Experiment. Try new mediums. Mix mediums up. Don't be scared. Again: Art is a problem. Figure it out. Think outside that damned box everybody talks about.

5. Learn. Read tutorials, books, blogs whatever. Just learn and don't stop learning. Speak with other artists. Everyone has something to offer regardless of their skill level or discipline. All you gotta do is listen.

6. Get that thick skin in place. Artists can be nasty and conniving and art directors can be blunt and rude. Figure out what to take as constructive criticism and what is bullshit. And then you can ignore the bullshit. Your life will be much easier that way.

7. If you wanna make money at art (or anything for that matter) you have to approach it as a business. Which means marketing, bookkeeping, networking etc.

8. And as a business you need to conduct...uh, business as such. Which means clients are customers. And you know what they say about customers and being right, right? If your client ain't happy you failed. And stay away from public drama. And by public I mean online. Nobody that's looking to pay someone for artwork cares about how your baby's noncustodial parent is a loser. And trash talking other artists is a HUGE no-no. If someone tries to drag you into a flame war? Ignore it. Remember, arguing via the internet is like the Special Olympics; even if you win you're still retarded.

9. Don't stop. Never stop creating. Someday it will work out. If not, see rule #1.

*note: The above rules only apply if you're going into the illustration or graphic arts fields. For fine & gallery artists all bets are off! The weirder you are the better they like you!

There are my 9 Golden Rules. I probably have 10 but it's late and I'm sleepy. If I think hard enough...OH! Here it is:

10. The more full of shit you are the less you should appear as though you're full of shit.

So do I appear to be full of shit or do I?

Billy

W.I.F.E. - A rollercoaster of emotions...

I've been recuperating from my first film festival, the World Independent Film Expo (WIFE) held in Richmond KY.  Let me first say that until I began doing the con and festival circuit I had no idea there were so many talented people in my home state of Kentucky. And the more events I attend the more they crawl out of the woodwork. I am extremely happy that events such as WIFE and Scarefest are here to give the local talent a place to get out and meet & make fans.

So Friday evening we set up at the Galaxy Bowling Alley where some films, some panels and the small dealer's area is located. After hanging out a while our friends Justin and Audrey make it in and we head out for the Hell-ephone premiere. Hell-ephone was made by our friends ZP International and features some old friends like Jim O'Rear, Daniel Emery Taylor, John Dugan & Kayla Perkins and some new ones such as Jason Crowe, David Fultz and James Tackett. Waiting for the movie we had our fill of fun, frivolities and beer! Afterwards more beer and a late dinner at Steak n' Shake which is where we finally got to meet Jason Crowe and Roni Jonah. During the evening we also met David Fultz who I found out was raised mere miles from where I grew up! Small world! 

Saturday was more of the same, set up, peddle some stuff, make new friends. Saturday night held a few surprises, most of which I can't (or won't) repeat here. The Big Guy Dance Dance Revolution Smackdown was hands down the highlight of the weekend! When Daniel Taylor and TJ Moreschi were denied a dance off against two teenage girls they decided to compete against each other. The photos are below and there will be video floating aound out there! It was an event that had to be seen to be believed! And then there was Steak n' Shake...God bless the poor souls working that night. They were great sports to put up with a crowd of...well, just a crowd such as ours! 

Sunday was a little slower, more laid back. We hung around doing our thing and stayed for the awards ceremony.  I was shocked at the number of folks that turned out for the event. This is one show that really has a lot of potential! 

Top 10 events from WIFE:

1. Steak n' Shake's newest menu item, the Tube Steak!

2. Tacketts, Tacketts everywhere!

3. Travel size George Bonillas are always a plus

4. Finding out an actor that has played Leatherface is a lot more complex than first imagined 

5. More simulated sex than you could shake a stick at, I tried

6. Little Sex Shop of Horrors

7. A very moist cinema

8. The fetish list

9. A Trolley Named Feigned Interest

10. Hanging out with people that continue to deny my existence

Thanks to Anthony, George and everyone that made our trip a memorable experience... On to the photos!

The Dance Dance Revolution battle is underway!

Daniel uses his brain almost as much as he uses his feet

Jim calls the winner

Dance weary warriors leave the arena

Daniel celebrates his victory with a nap

Me, Heather Justin & Audrey

Tube Steak

David Fultz and me

Me and my Travel Size George Bonilla

Me, George and Heather...see my horns?

Would you buy a Steakburger from this man?

Mad, bad and dangerous to know

Re-cap & pre-cap for this weekends event

Re-cap: Finally gettin' settled in so I can tell the world about Faerie Fest. Seventh Street Gifts holds this family-friendly event every year. They have a May pole dance, faerie parade and booths of artists and artisans. Food, drinks (Killian's on tap!!), live entertainment, the works! Since my booth setup I have is geared towards indoor events the day was not without incident. We were tearing when a gust of wind picked my t-shirt display up and set it on Heather's head! Even though it is massive luckily it only weighs a few pounds so the only thing hurt was her pride. But shortly afterwards another gust picked a tent up and set it on Heather's head...again! Otherwise it was a great day. The beautiful weather brought out loads of people. I met so many great people. I had the opportunity to offer some words of wisdom and encouragement to some aspiring artists in the hopes that I could pay forward some of the encouragement that has been given to me throughout the years. The folks at Seventh Street are fabulous. Back years ago when we first moved the area they were the only gallery that would give me the time of day and they ave the distinction of being the ones to give me my first solo gallery show! If you're in the Newport area stop by and check them out. You won't be disappointed!

Pre-cap: This weekend I'll be at the World Independant Film Expo (W.I.F.E.). This show, which is my first film fest, is held in Richmond KY and is put on by our friends George Bonilla and ZP International. Guests include our friends Daniel Emery taylor, Jim O'Rear, Mr. Terrific and Anubis Digital as well as a slew of others.

Films that will be showing include such titles as Trailer Park Ninja, Dusk of the Dead, Killdo, Chainsaw Cheerleaders, Fangs for the Memories, Little Sex Shop of Horrors and the premier of Hellephone! If you're a film buff you will kick yourself if you miss this!

Faerie Fest In Newport KY

Another local show this weekend. This one is Seventh Street Gifts' Faerie Fest in Newport KY. Seventh Street's events are always top-notch!