Steve Purcell's Blog, page 2

The Li'lest X-Wing Pilot

At the risk of further ratting myself out as a kit basher or doll maker here's another impulse project. This little person head came extra with a Billiken vinyl Saucer Man model - supposedly depicting an actor who wore one of the Saucer Man costumes in the old movie.

I painted the head with acrylics, cut down the limbs on a reissued Captain Action body to give him the right proportions and used the X-Wing pilot costume from a cheap Hasbro 12 inch Luke Skywalker.

The whole thing didn't take more than an evening. If it had it probably wouldn't have been finished, and isn't it a much better world to have such things in it?..... Well...?

--Starchie

My Li'l Monkey

At the risk of ratting myself out as some kind of kit-basher I occasionally decide to mutate one toy into another.

I used to keep the normal version of this monkey doll in my car to wave at kids in other vehicles. At one point I had steel marbles in his eyes which gave him kind of a friendly terminator effect.

Then suddenly one day I decided to cut his face off and replace it with a a Super Sculpey version which just happened to be the right color so I only needed to add a little acrylic wash to it to pull out the detail. I used plastic teddy bear eyes behind the mask and actually wired the eyes to light up if I someday choose to add a battery pack to his forearm.

Standing upright on a doll stand he glares hatefully at me from the corner of my studio.

--Starchie

Love Them Monsters

If you've spent any time looking through these pages you already know that I love to draw monsters. I've drawn a lot of monsters and other characters in various capacities over the years. These are concepts for an unrealized feature project.

Pencil, smudge stick and marker - 8 1/2X11

--Starchie

I Love to say Monkey

Sometimes an early character design is like a first draft of a story. There are some obvious choices made and much unrealized potential. I still like this little painting but it's the first draft of this character. His design and backstory has changed since I did this painting. Hopefully I'll get to share some more of him with you in the near future.

Acrylic 8X10

--Starchie

PotO

Can't stop drawing the Phantom of the Opera. These were drawn last week during a hugely important meeting. I have stacks of them numbering in the hundreds. I might compile them in a book, use them to build a shelter or paper the walls of the cabin where I write manifestos. Prisma and Tombo pen Each 8 1/2 X 11

--Starchie

The Kid

Here's my part of an overdue barter exchange. It'll be nice to finally have it off the books. I wanted to do some kind of pulpy western cover but cute. Or as cute as I can manage. I like working in garish colors, maybe from growing up looking at Basil Gogos Famous Monsters covers. It's more of a challenge for me to go more neutral which I might try in my next piece.

Acrylic 8 X 11 1/2

--Starchie

BUY ME!

Posting this image again because the auctions have gone live this week.
Click here for this one. Check out all the pieces - there are some really great paintings up for auction and the proceeds go to a good cause.

ART BLOCKS FOR GHANA AUCTIONS

--Starchie

The Bloody Lip

Speaking of Monkey Island; here's a rough sketch from one of the backgrounds for LeChuck's Revenge, the Bloody Lip Bar in downtown Wood Tick. Due to my severe brain cel loss and lead poisoning I don't tend to remember the names of these locations or much about the creation of these backgrounds, except that they were to be done in markers, so this one is a value sketch to spot the light source and shadows in anticipation of doing the final color art.

I do remember adding the ropes and hardware in the right foreground, thinking it would be fun to have the character pass behind those elements to create depth. Also I would look for opportunities to add fun details like the spitoon with overshot loogies all over the doorframe. I also liked adding anachronistic elements like the 50's era jukebox which sadly appears not to have made it into the final background.

Pen and Marker 8X10

--Starchie

A Stone Monkey Head

I don't see this one online right now. It was painted for The Adventurer, LucasArts game fan newsletter. When we drew the screen art for Secret of Monkey Island we had only a handful of ghastly colors to pick from, hence the blue green Monkey Idol in the game. For that reason as well as the tiny characters it was always fun, when I had a chance, to draw Monkey Island concepts the way I thought they should look.

Pen and Ink and Gouache 6X9

--Starchie

Diligence

Here's an auction piece from a few months back for the Mother Hen Project. The auction was to benefit Chicks in Crisis, which supports unwed mothers and facilitates adoptions.

Acrylic 6X9

--Starchie