Tag: art

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Gothtober Day 11 Parisian Catacomb Adventure!

Visit the Gothtober Countdown Calendar and CLICK DAY ELEVEN  to go underneath the city of Paris! 

Once upon a time, Coral was offered the awesome adventure of a lifetime, spelunking with fabulous friends underneath the city of Paris in an underground network of catacombs underneath the city of lights! What’s down there besides mud, water and darkness? Plenty! See some of these exciting scenes that will hopefully inspire YOU to wander around in small, cramped quarters underneath Paris, when you visit it. Bring a flashlight with NEW batteries, lol.
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Gothtober Day 20: Dancing with Cindy and Barry Morse!

Visit www.gothtober.com and click on DAY 20 to see an adorable yellow-dressed sweetheart!
It’s true that pennies are a girl’s best friend, and here to prove it with her umbrella and pigtails is smiling, four-year-old Cindy!
“Pennies from Heaven” was made one of the biggest hits of the 1930s by none other than Bing Crosby. The melody was composed by Arthur Johnston with lyrics by Johnny Burke. It was then recorded by many famous artists, such as Billy Holiday, Frank Sinatra, and Louis Prima (to name a few) but the Skyliners made it a hit again with their version in 1960.

Pennies from heaven are a sign of serendipity, it is said that no matter how badly it rains, this too shall pass, and good things are just around the corner. One just has to wait out the storm. This was an especially optimistic sentiment for the depression era, when the song came out.

 

Such a song still resonates today, which is why it’s such a beloved classic.
And you know, it’s kind of hard to mope with Cindy dancin’ around in her tapping shoes, go go Cindy! Come to think of it… she’s got pretty strong arms, she’s kinda ripped! I bet she can weather any storm!

Find out more about Cindy and Barry Morse  here! 

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Gothtober Day 8 Drawings from Nora Rachel

Visit www.gothtober.com and click on DAY 8 to see drawings of the Frankensteins by Nora Rachel!
I bet you didn’t know that “Frankenstein” means “Stone of the Franks” in German, eh? It was a castle that sat near the Rhine River, and a fellow named Konrad Dippel lived in there, trying to make a potion that would help people live past age 100. He was a pretty weird guy, the stuff he was working on was going to be called “Dippel’s Oil.” There was a rumor that Dippel would go out at night, dig up and then experiment on bodies, you know… for research.
There are some who believe that Mary and Percy Shelley visited nearby this location and that it was the inspiration for Mary’s character, Dr. Frankenstein.
The story of Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus, was written when Mary was merely 18, and published two years later in 1818 to critics who gave it reviews that were beyond harsh. However, stories of a gothic nature were all the rage, so people kept buying and reading the book, and it’s now considered to be the very first science fiction novel.

Even though body modification and transformation has existed since humans have been around, something about science gave people the heebie jeebies and they just couldn’t view it as “natural.” The Bride of Frankenstein film gave consciousness and voice to society’s misgivings about technology.

Today we’ve got people walking around with artificial heart parts, robot knees, botoxed foreheads, liver transplants, all kinds of Franken-stuff… we’re getting closer to throwing out all that “Icarus” baggage and living longer/happier lives through the applied sciences.
Here then, are portraits of two icons, the”forbidden” creatures of the undead: One of Dr. Frankenstein’s creation (the monster itself) and another likeness, that of the monster’s bride.
 See more of Nora Rachel’s art for view and for sale right HERE! 
 Read Nora’s bio and other Gothtober contributor’s bios here! 
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Gothtober Applications Close at MIDNIGHT TONIGHT!!!

Ask not for whom the bell tolls… it tolls for THEEEEEEEE!!!!

Midnight TONIGHT the door creeks closed, the vault is locked, the tomb is shut, there is NO TURNING BACK.

When witches go flying,
and black cats go MEOW
the moon laughs and whispers,
“Apply for Gothtober NOW!”

Join your fellow autumnal enthusiasts! Share your pumpkin collection, your autumn gardening tips, a recipe for severed finger soup!

Here’s the FAQ for 2017 (theme, tech specs, etc.):
 
READ THE FAQ!
 
Here’s how to fill out the Gothtober Application by August 29th:
 
APPLY TODAY!
 
Participants will be notified of admission on September 1st, 2017.

Upon acceptance, a $25 registration fee is required.

 

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Gothtober’s Application Deadline EXTENDED to Sept. 1st!!!

GOTHTOBER APPLICATIONS EXTENDED! 

 

We’re so close to our roster being complete, but we are still seeking new blood!

Make Public Internet Art and achieve worldwide FAME!!!

APPLY BY SEPTEMBER 1st!

Learn about and Apply for Gothtober, here’s the FAQ for 2017 (theme, tech specs, etc.):
 
READ THE FAQ!
 
Here’s how to fill out the Gothtober Application by August 29th:
 
APPLY TODAY!
 
Participants will be notified of admission on September 1st, 2017.

Upon acceptance, a $25 registration fee is required.

 

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5 Reasons You Should Make Art for Gothtober 2017

AUTUMN WANTS YOU! 

Less than SIX days remain for you to join this happy haunted hovel of depraved creative souls called GOTHTOBER! Why should you sweat and toil to make some kind of artistic offering for the Gothtober Countdown Calendar?

1.) It’s ALL Art! Music, Photography, Recipes, Singing, Dancing, Acting, Gardening, Performing, Fencing, Drawing, ANYTHING can be art! The definition is wide open, we have some perimeters for movie and slideshow length, but other than that, there’s nothing to keep you from being as fabulous and weird as you want to share!

2.) Yes huh you can do it! You’re a human being, which means you’re just naturally curious about stuff, and creativity is an inherent part of your nature. Making, doing and sharing things is your legacy as homo sapiens. You were born to create, use those opposable thumbs and give us a whirl!

3.) Find “You Time” Who has time to make things anyway? NOBODY. That’s where getting your butt kicked by me, Gothtober’s Head Candy Corn, will help you figure out how to carve out time like a pumpkin to meet your Gothtober deadlines. You’ll begin and finish to completion something of yours, for you, for the good of the Halloween season.

4.) Fire Up Your Passion Is your guitar gathering dust? Did you forget what it’s like to spend hours working on paper puppets with joints made of dental floss? When’s the last time you shared that awesome recipe for Fall Flavor Allspice Cookies?  What happened to those ghost throw pillow crafts you were going to make and share? Get back into that feeling of making something from your hands, and feel profoundly alive and happy.

5.) Give Something to the World When you make art for Gothtober, along with your fellow Gothtober contributors, you bring something new to thousands of spectators waiting to see what you made! You might get fan mail, you might get weird comments about your work, you might inspire someone, you might surprise yourself with what you’re capable of making!

So come on down, send in your application, commit to a thing even though everything’s crazy and there’s no time! We wanna see what you will do!

Learn about and Apply for Gothtober, here’s the FAQ for 2017 (theme, tech specs, etc.):
 
READ THE FAQ!
 
Here’s how to fill out the Gothtober Application by August 29th:
 
APPLY TODAY!
 
Participants will be notified of admission on September 1st, 2017.

Upon acceptance, a $25 registration fee is required.

 

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Horrific and Fantastic, Mellowcreme Style! • Day 28

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Mellocreme Fairchild III invites you to gaze upon 13 paintings from the human race that explore the horrors, the darkness, the eerie and the depraved. Please look, take a gander, dance with your fears in a safe way upon this little gem of monstrosities and unsettling moments. Some of these images are freakishly weird and threatening, others are more subtle, but explore deeply important themes of our times: past, present and future.

For to see these things is to see a truth that is sitting just below the surface, the patina of contentedness can only last so long, and the sheer terror of breathing in and breathing out bathes you in a cool, terrified sweat. In a world constantly trying to lie about the terrors of living and making everything appear to be “just fine” here instead is a refreshing collection of reminders that maybe every cloud has a bloody lining, not a silver one.

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Thomas Family Treats! DAY 2

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Usually it’s kids asking Grownups for treats, but today this kid is giving us an art treat! 

Go to www.gothtober.com and click on day 2 for a nice surprise.

Today we present a beautiful collection of FOUR seasonal images for you to download, print and hang in your home, your office, your classroom!  C. Thomas, renowned kid artist gives you this packet of full color images that will give you merry Halloween memories for years to come! Here’s what you get:

  • The Web of Wonders! An orange and black web of varied creatures provide a succulent meal for eight-legged arachnids! 
  • Dimensional presentation of hissing creatures! Look out, they might bite! 
  • The Annual Night Time Food Festival, where they’ve got a very gory farm special for sale! Supernatural savings! 
  • A 13th birthday party for Gothtober, complete with mini ghosts, pumpkins, banners and plenty of other happy guests! 

The Thomas Family worked together to make these tableaus for us to enjoy, they are indeed a family of many talents. This family loves to make stuff, and Heather Thomas, the Mom of the operation, has a food blog with recipes on it like dairy free Mac-n-Cheese, Ginger Snaps, and Mexican Chocolate Brownie cookies!!! Her husband, Russ, is a chef extraordinaire, if you are ever up in San Luis Obispo and they offer to cook you anything… just say yes.

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German Counting Fun for Gothtober DAY 12


Pumpkin #12 on the Gothtober calendar is a beautifully illustrated German counting lesson by Christy Stout Chambers! You see, as it is the 10th year of Gothtober, I asked contributors to either follow the basic “Halloween Theme” like the very first Gothtober, or do something with the theme of “10.” This is the first piece so far that addresses the power of 10! This is also the very first international submission this year, Christy and her family moved to Frankfurt, Germany, and in the middle of it all, Christy was still able to get her piece out to us here in California! Hooray computers!

With the help of my German friend Annika the whole family is learning German…. Which is hard. We all just thought it would be fun to have our piece be about what is going on right now for us. We have all mastered counting to ten so it seemed appropriate. We are living in Frankfurt Germany, which is very close to Hanau where the brothers Grimm lived when they were little. They grew up playing in the forests here and the traditional folk stories told by the locals are what eventually became the fairy tales we all know today.

At one point, Christy even used an airplane window as a light box to help her transfer sketches from her sketchbook!

The pictures were drawn by hand and painted with watercolor, old school style. Since we were literally moving while I was working on them, I had no fancy materials. The only art supplies I could locate were a pencil, ink pen and my trusty box of watercolors which I had taken on the plane.

I concur, as an illustrator myself, I think old school supplies pack a whollop that computers still can’t touch, and the style of the artwork is full of such loose and exuberant watercolor-y wonder, it is, dare I say, quite Grimm-like in its execution. The line work is contagious, making me itch to go find my own pens to make some fun drawings!

I asked Christy what’s going on in Germany right now, and what kinds of exciting snacks are in the spotlight right now:

They have pretzels and sausages. Right now everything is fall/ octoberfest themed. There is beer EVERYWHERE and in Frankfurt there is a ton of apple wine which is a regional bitter cider. It is sometimes served with haxen a crispy grilled pork shank. The Germans make over 300 kinds of bread so there is usually a bakery….and chocolates. There are a TON of Turkish immigrants so there is also “doner kebab” which is turkeys version of schwarma.

If going to Germany right now isn’t practical for your schedule or finances,  just find Christy’s Gothtober window and you can have a small immersion language countdown! Better than Rosetta! Don’t forget the apple wine…

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Creepy L.A. is Looking for Coffin Hunt Artists!

Coffins aplenty, coffins abound, your world could be full of tiny arty coffins… if you just let the spirits wander where they may. Participate in creating the creepiest coffin you can for Creepy LA’s Coffin Hunt! Check out this gallery of coffins to see the amazing coffins from 2011, and register to decorate a coffin that some poor (lucky) soul will find in a significantly historically creepy or crazy or morbid or weird location of Los Angeles!

Here’s the skinny from Creepy LA:

  • Participating artists will each be sent TWO coffins by the end of August. They will need to decorate, design, and return their finished work to CreepyLA by October 1st.
  • Artist will be responsible for all costs of designing and decorating the coffins.
  • One of the coffins will be used in the Coffin Hunt, given away, free, at CreepyLA’s discretion.
  • The coffin not used in the hunt will be used in a Kickstarter campaign or a related promotion to help raise money to cover the costs of the Coffin Hunt. Artist will receive 50% of any sales, Kickstarter or otherwise, this coffin is sold through.
  • Each participating artist will have their Facebook fan page, if available, and/or link to their personal site tagged or mentioned on Hidden Los Angeles and CreepyLA’s Facebook pages, exposing them to hundreds of thousands of online impressions.

Sound good? Then please fill out their form by August 16th. Selected artists will be notified by August 23rd!