Spooky & Creepy Issue 12 Mini Issue 2018
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Thank You!
CREATOR: Alex Lucas www.ohtheraven.com INSTAGRAM @ohtheraven
Thank you to everyone who has followed and supported this little magazine. It means the world! - Alex
WRITTER: Amanda Wright INSTAGRAM @lets_talk_books @am_wright
CONTENTS 38
4 YASUAKI OKAMOTO
12 MELISSA CROOK
16 SHAWN COSS
24 OLIVIA FAUST
34 ABIGAIL LARSON
ON THE COVER Poe by Abigail Larson
‘NOT ALONE’ Olivia Faust
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FOUNDING OF NATION, 2017, Lithograph Edition of 15,
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Yasuaki Okamoto Yasuaki Okamoto was born in Japan and lived in England, Spain and Canada before settle down in New York who is working on oil. watercolor, mixed media and recently printmaking especially lithograph. His paintings perform a kind of surrealist that incorporates animals, plants and everyday objects as an icon of a death, life, and/or nature. The artwork is metaphorically based and inspired by his interest in the ecology of animals/insects and travels.
SOCIAL MEDIA yasuaki.info
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DEATH SERIES SCARAB BEETLE, 2017, Lithograph Edition of 6
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SHOULD’VE CALLED THE LAST WORLD WAR
DEATH SERIES SNAIL, 2015, Oil On Canvas
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ANOTHER ME INSIDE OF ME, 2013, Oil and Gold Leaf On Canvas,
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TRACES OF NATURE, 2010, Oil On Canvas
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GUESS WHAT SERIES 02, 2016, Pencil and Watercolor On Paper
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GUESS WHAT SERIES 04, 2016, pencil and watercolor on paper
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Melissa Crook From a young age, Toronto, Canada-born Melissa Crook has been interested in depicting nature with elements of fantasy. She started drawing at the age of 5 when her Mom taught her the basics, and has never stopped. Her highly detailed subjects are often isolated on blank backgrounds, and are inspired by classic literature, the gothic novel and folk tales. Ever the active imagination, she has always found beauty in the unconventional, or was otherwise inspired to give the conventionally beautiful, a subtle touch of darkness. Her work aims to evoke the viewer’s own imagination, as well as offering a glimpse into her own mind.
SOCIAL MEDIA @melissacrookart
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INTERVIEW WITH
SHAWN COSS Cyanide & Happiness artist, Shawn Coss, is a multifaceted talent. BY AMANDA WRIGHT
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he comic series he’s worked on is well known for its witty and “unplugged” humor, but there’s more to Shawn than stick figures.
Rising as an artist at an early age from the “cesspool of the states” known as Ohio, he’s made a name for himself as an EntreprenArtist. “I’ve been a professional artist for 9 years,” he said. “And have been creating weird creatures my whole life.” But he didn’t start out that way. He didn’t always have the proper encouragement to pursue his work as a full-time career. He lived in a part of the states that did not see art as a viable option for employment. Often, this is the case for some artists who are told time and again that art is not profitable. So, instead of that creative pursuit, he first pursued nursing and earned his RN license. It was around the same time as his licensure that he met Kris Wilson, co-creator of Cyanide and Happiness. Brought into the fold of the company, Shawn was introduced to an entirely new world of creative possibilities. And profitable ones!
He discovered during this time that making a real living off his creations was, indeed, possible. Aside from now famed Cyanide and Happiness, Shawn’s creativity persists, as he is also the founder of his own clothing line, Any Means Necessary, as well as advocating for mental health by way of his awareness project, “Inktober Illness”. The series is based on a fan suggestion he received in 2016. “With my fascination of mental health and illnesses, I enjoyed researching each disorder and depicting it in my style of art.” And Shawn’s style of art is uniquely twisted and morbidly fascinating. His series is done in the order of a photo, prescribed by the illness that he is illustrating, followed by the definition of the mental disorder. His personal depictions and advocating to “end the stigma” with his photos have earned him worldwide attention. This attention attracted a mass following of people across the internet. He said of his series that “some enjoyed it, some hated me for it.”
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KNOCKING ON DEATHS DOOR
More admirably than his devotion to spreading mental health awareness, is his lifestyle and his company’s message: “It’s more than a clothing line’s name, it’s our way of living. We strive at nothing less than success and constantly moving forward. Refusing to let anyone slow us down, we hold onto that dream of living a better quality of life at any means necessary.” - Any Means Necessary Clothing (amnclothing.com) His fascination with the medical mind has taken him into even stranger waters. A tide we would happily sail our ship into. But Shawn’s fascinations and interests aren’t his inspiration. In fact, he said he doesn’t know where it comes from. It’s always been there, and no single event or person has been a source to draw from. “It’s the one question I get asked most and have never been able to answer it properly.” Personally, we think it’s a great answer! He has a natural spark for his art and it shows in the care and consideration he takes to produce his work. As for his process, Shawn keeps a notebook and file on his phone with sayings and concepts to pull his ideas from. In the past, he used to draw random sketches up until a solid idea formed. These days, he’ll sketch out poses from his collection to tell the story deeper, often playing a horror movie in his living room for background noise. When he’s in studio, however, working on his clothing line, he’s hard at work. We look forward to his future projects and the continuation of his Inktober Illness series. Coss an artist to watch. What is your favorite part of Halloween? The month long marathons of horror films on TV.
SOCIAL MEDIA shawncossart.com @shawncoss
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Bipolar Disord
der
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FOR THOSE WHO LOST
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THE VEIL 22
WRATH 23
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Olivia Faust TELL US LITTLE ABOUT YOU AND WHAT YOU DO. My name is Olivia, and I am a freelance illustrator and creature maker. I have always loved making things, and I like to get creative with the tools and techniques I use. I create my work using a variety of traditional mediums, including gouache, ink, and pencil crayon. I have recently discovered my love for needle felting and doll making, and have created a number of soft sculptured creatures based off of my illustration work. I am a collector of antiques and lover of ghost stories. YOUR WORK HAS THIS FOLKSY, WHIMSICAL YET CREEPY STYLE TO IT. HAS YOUR WORK ALWAYS BEEN IN THIS STYLE OR IS IT SOMETHING THAT IT HAS EVOLVED INTO? I’d say it’s always been folksy and whimsical, for sure. The creepiness has always been something I’ve had in my heart, but wasn’t sure how well it would be received by others. I went to an art college that was highly focused on editorial and commercial illustration work, so there wasn’t a lot of room for creepy stuff. Being surrounded by so much editorial illustration made me think there wasn’t really a market for the spookier stuff I loved, or really much place for it in the illustration world. Throughout school, I was still drawing whimsical girls with big eyes, and long necks, but they all stayed more on the cuter side. After graduating is when I really saw my work evolve and grow. When I could fully be myself and paint exactly what I wanted to paint, that’s when the creepiness found it’s way into my work. I am much more confident in my work today then I ever was while I was in school, and it feels much more like me. After all, we all have a dark edge to us, we’ve all been through hard things in life. It didn’t feel genuine to me to only be painting the sweet stuff. My work is still very whimsical and folksy, but it also has that creepy edge to it, which makes it feel so much more sincere to me.
WHERE DO YOU FIND INSPIRATION FOR YOUR WORK? A lot of my inspiration comes from folklore and nature. Animal and plant symbolism is something that really fascinates me, and I use a lot of it throughout my work. I have always found Victorian children’s poetry to be very interesting. So often in those poems you can find weird things like talking animals, flowers with faces and silly ways to tell someone’s fortune. They are so imaginative and odd, and I really love that. I am also very inspired by the kitch and mod eras of the 50’s and 60’s. After finishing art school I discovered Pop Surrealism, and fell completely in love. That mix of sweetness and eeriness really resonates with me, and it’s a huge inspiration for my work today. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING (WORD, CREATURE, CHARACTER, ETC.) TO ILLUSTRATE OR CREATE? There are a few motifs that show up in my work again and again. Some of my favourites are moths, moons, ghosts and disembodied hands. On my faces, I always most enjoy painting/ drawing the eyes and noses. The animals I love to illustrate most are cats and goats. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SPOOKY AND/OR CREEPY CHARACTER OR ANIMAL? MOVIE OR MUSIC? My all time favourite spooky character would have to be Edward Scissorhands. I love his whole story and how something that looks so horrifying, can actually be the most kind and gentle thing. I love how the pretty and pastel coloured neighbours are actually the “monsters” in the end. I am actually dressing up as Edward this Halloween, and am currently working on constructing my own set of scissor hands. I am a huge horror movie fan, my favourites being The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original 1974 version only), and A Clockwork Orange. Favourite spooky music would be Goblin’s soundtrack for Suspiria, and anything darkwave synth. SOCIAL MEDIA oliviafaust.com @oliviafaust.art
HAUNTED HEAD
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GHOST GIRL
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NOT ALONE
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SLYTHERIN
WEDNESDAY’S CHILD
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BAT BABY
FALL
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LIVE DELICIOUSLY
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SOLACE OF SHADOWS
INTERVIEW WITH
ABIGAIL LARSON BY AMANDA WRIGHT
“A strange lady who draws strange things.” Rather, I like to think of her as the Mistress of Spooky in this special October issue. As a fan of her work for more than a few years, I had to reach out and learn more about her process. So, in the spirit of All Hallow’s Eve, in the season of falling leaves and steaming hot cocoa, I asked Abigail a few questions. Born and raised in Virginia, she is a US native and a graduate of VCU’s illustration program. She’s an accomplished artist who has shown her artwork all over the US and Europe. And now she finds herself sitting comfortably in Turin, Italy, spending time with her husband and working eagerly on new, and exciting projects. “I’ve worked on everything from children’s books, to advertising, to comics and games anything a little spooky!” A well-rounded resume. Her career jump-started with a little help from a high school art teacher who suggested she look into studying illustration in college. Because of her love for artists like Arthur Rackham, responsible for whimsical illustrations depicted in classical literature,
she took her teacher’s advice. She went on to study more than illustration, honing her skills in painting, color theory, photography, sculpture, and art history. Her commitment to learn is as admirable as her process. From imagination to page, it takes a great deal of focus to take the picture in your head and put it to paper. For Abigail, she starts by sketching concepts into “really messy little thumbnails”. Once she has a pose that she likes, she blows it up and draws it over again until she has all the detail she wants. During this process, she takes time to do a bit of research. Historical clothing, furniture, and other reference material to create the atmosphere of the image. “I work with a lot of model reference, as well,” she said. “Half the time, I have to pose and take photos to get the right sense of movement. I’ll have anywhere from 2-10 roughs on paper before narrowing it down.” Once the final sketch is ready, she transfers it onto watercolor paper and redraws it in ink. From there she will add a watercolor wash over it to add texture. Then it’s scanned into Photoshop, and the piece is then finished digitally. 35
And each project is special in its own way. Every piece she’s created is its own adventure from start to finish; and they each tell a different story. For the #MonthofFear on Instagram, she has featured a series of scenes and characters from the titillating tale of Bram Stoker’s, Dracula, a story she can always return to and find new inspiration. But by looking at her work, you can see more scenes from familiar stories, like Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s, The Yellow Wallpaper or Edgar Allan Poe’s, Ligeia. And like these indisputable classics, the story of Beauty and the Beast has been a personal favorite of hers to date. In a series of separate illustrations, Abigail has reconstructed the story as a gothic retelling. “That story is so dear to me, and all the pieces I’ve created from it are extremely precious as well,” she said, when asked about her favorite project. There is an undeniable depth of darkness to her work, and an even greater understanding of the image that she is attempting to recreate. Her biggest undertaking has been her work on The Dark Wood Tarot, in collaboration with Llewellyn Worldwide and writer Sasha Graham. The artwork is currently being developed, with sneak peeks posted every now and again on social media. And while there is no release date set, she expects that it should have a late 2019 release. Fingers crossed that it falls in October, just in time for the next spooky season. What is your favorite part of Halloween? Everything! Literally everything about Halloween is wonderful. The candy, the costumes, the full moon rituals, the midnight séances... it’s all fun!
SOCIAL MEDIA abigaillarson.com @abigail_larson 36
LIGEIA
THE YELLOW WALLPAPER
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TWO OF WANDS TAROT
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TOIL & T
TROUBLE
SHARK TEETH MERMAID
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VAMPIRE LOVERS
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CELIA NIGHT CIRCUS
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