Here’s an old illustration done in 2008. Drew this when I first arrived back in NYC. Never really posted this online too much until now. It goes perfect with the upcoming Beltane holiday, which is just around the corner, May 1st .
Beltane
Month: April 2016
Psycho Bunny Does Prince
Dearly beloved
We are gathered here today
To get through this thing called life
Electric word life
It means forever and that’s a mighty long time
But I’m here to tell you
There’s something else
The after world
A world of never ending happiness
You can always see the sun, day or night
So when you call up that shrink in Beverly Hills
You know the one, Dr. Everything’ll Be Alright
Instead of asking him how much of your time is left
Ask him how much of your mind, baby
‘Cause in this life
Things are much harder than in the after world
In this life
You’re on your own
Prince 1958 -2016
Event At Lovecraft Bar NYC
Next Saturday, I will be showing and selling my work at Lovecraft Bar NYC, along with other creatives.
The event, which will be on May 7th, starts at 7pm. This was posted on the Lovecraft Bar’s Facebook page:
‘Lovecraft NYC & The Set NYC presents: Illustrators, Tattoo Artists / Cosplay CON. Saturday May 7, 2016. 7pm – midnight. An event to help end new york homelessness and help build up New York City.
A NYC illustrators artists showcase, live music, tattoo artists, NYC tattoo model showcase, Venus Pain Creations, Michele Witchipoo, Margarette Ghost, Ellen Stedfeld, Christopher Lucero, Indigo Ortiz, Radioactive Material, Bodega Dreams, Black Space Odyssey, Cosplay model showcase, art networking event, trade show, art show, & meet & greet. $5 donations to help make nyc better. Food & drink deals. Dinner, art, and shows. Absinthe cocktails.’
This promises to be a fun night, but also helping a much worthy cause.
You can also go to Psycho Bunny’s Facebook page to check for any forthcoming details.
Psycho Bunny and Grim Reaper’s Musical Tastes
The year 2016 has not been kind to music. Psycho Bunny wants to have a word with the Grim Reaper in regards to this.
Don’t forget to “like” Psycho Bunny’s Facebook page here.
You can also order Psycho Bunny comics through WitchesBrewPress.
Truth
Here’s a candid blog post for you.
In my life, out of everyone I’ve met, only two or three have been completely honest. Honest with themselves, and with others. My mother was the most honest person I knew. She couldn’t lie even if she wanted to.
Well, except for one thing. She was lying to herself about how happy she was with my father.
Anyway. Due to this, I now realize I was never prepared to deal with chronic liars, or manipulators. Everything I learned in this department, was learned the hard way. I’m still learning. Being vulnerable is a dangerous place to be.
So why am I bringing this up? Recently someone asked “Do you believe everything that you’re told?” Not necessarily. I don’t believe the media. I don’t believe politicians. Hell, I don’t even believe the MTA will be running on time. You see, I’m actually quite cynical, except when it comes to matters of the heart. Playing with someone’s emotions is one of the cruelest things you can do. Nonetheless it happens every second of the day. It’s almost accepted now, as a means of survival. That’s the scariest part. As well as the saddest. Humanity is a beast. Thus the older one gets, the more illusions crumble.Â
The person who had asked me that question was a chronic liar himself. The trickster is not always the funniest.
Pen and digital color. Drawn and illustrated by Michele Witchipoo, Feb., 19th, 2015.
Psycho Bunny Issue Two – Open Culture
Life is full of surprises. I was in the worst mood yesterday. Out of the blue, someone tagged me in a Facebook comment. A very old issue of Psycho Bunny was seen in this Open Culture article. Below is a screen shot.
Fellow artist and Facebook friend Norn Cutson had tagged me in a comment, and it was amazing timing.
According to the article, the University of Kansas now has acquired over a 1000 zine titles from a zine library in Lawrence, Kansas. Â That’s the same town where William S. Burroughs spent the last ten years of his life. Back in 2006, I was visiting Lawrence trying to find Burrough’s house. If you’re not familiar with Lawrence, Kansas, it’s a small progressive university town. There’s the usual assortment record stores, boutiques, bars, and a venue where I later saw Peaches in concert. It’s a nice little place. Occasionally I would visit Lawrence. It was during these occasional day trips when I came across this small zine library. I donated a few of my self published titles at the time. Never would I thought it would end up in a university archive.
In 2006, it was the same town where I later got a small tattoo of the number 23, in honor of Burroughs.
Funny thing is, looking back on this now, I can see a million and one things wrong with my artwork. For starters, the lines should’ve been bolder. The cover itself still makes me chuckle. I had drawn this after walking around in Long Island City, Queens. My job at the time was located around the Queens Plaza area. There I saw a passed out derelict sprawled out on the sidewalk. The man had urinated in his pants as he slept, holding a bottle. The street hooker was from someone telling me her mother was a drug addict who used to sell her body for drugs in Long Island City. Of course, this was way before the current wave of hyper gentrification in NYC.
My drawing skills have improved massively since then, but for now, you can always read the back issue online.
Read the article here:Â http://www.openculture.com/2016/04/download-834-radical-zines-from-a-new-online-archive.html
Review of MoCCA Fest 2016
The past weekend of April 2 and 3, 2016 was a good one. It was my first time back at MoCCA Fest since 2013. Like back in 2013, I had shared a table with two other associates: artist/writer E.J. Barnes and writer Paul Curtis.
This time around, I mainly focused on the latest WitchesBrewPress releases. Okay, my own self-published comics. Also on hand was my line of greeting cards, featuring Krampus, Lemmy Kilmister and Wendy O Williams valentines, and a steampunk Cthulhu.
In my opinion, MoCCA 2016 went well.
Candid shot. Sharing a table with artist E.J. Barnes. She specializes in historical comics. MoCCA Fest 2016. Photo by Michele Witchipoo, April 2016.
Guess who showed up? Artists Ray Felix & Tim Kelly. Candid photo by Michele Witchipoo. April 2016.
Inside the MoCCA Fest was a small gallery. On display was artist Rick Meyerowitz, known for his work with National Lampoon.
Artist Rick Meyerowitz known for his work with National Lampoon. Gallery inside MoCCA Fest 2016.
Artist Rick Meyerowitz known for his work with National Lampoon. Gallery inside MoCCA Fest 2016.
Artist Rick Meyerowitz known for his work with National Lampoon. Gallery inside MoCCA Fest 2016.
Artist Rick Meyerowitz known for his work with National Lampoon. Gallery inside MoCCA Fest 2016.
Also on display inside the MoCCA Fest gallery was work by T.P. Moynihan. T.P. Moynihan was a self-taught artist who went under the pen name of “M.” He was also known as the son of U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. “M” passed away earlier this year after a battle with cancer. As I was snapping these pics, his friend sat in a chair watching. Still mourning over his best friend, he got up and spoke about “M.” It was touching to hear his friend speak about “M” obviously a bit still shaken up about his death.
Went back to my table as I noticed lack of sleep creeping up on me. It had been busy prior to MoCCA, so getting shuteye was far and few in-between.
Scene from MoCCA Fest 2016. April 2016. Photo by Paul Curtis.
Scene from MoCCA Fest 2016. April 2016. Photo by Paul Curtis.
There was an after-party for MoCCA exhibitors at The Society of Illustrators. An awards ceremony taking place, along with a generous bar and dinner. The Society of Illustrators is located inside a townhouse on the upper east side. Various floors had different galleries and art on exhibit.
Inside The Society of Illustrators, explaining MoCCA.
Artist Denys Wortman illustration from 1934. Inside on display inside The Society of Illustrators building.
Inside on display inside The Society of Illustrators building.
Inside on display inside The Society of Illustrators building.
Artist Coby Whitmore (1913 – 1988) who was published in The Saturday Evening Post. On display inside The Society of Illustrators building.
Artist Gabby Schultz. Inside on display inside The Society of Illustrators building.
Inside the lobby at The Society of Illustrators. April 2016.
The main exhibit downstairs was a retrospective on Zap Comix. Zap is best known for Robert Crumb, but it also had work from Gilbert Shelton (Fabulous Freak Brothers, Fat Freddy’s Cat), Spain Rodriguez, Victor Moscoso, Rick Griffin, Paul Mavrides, S. Clay Wilson, and my personal favorite, Robert Williams who did many albums covers for Marc Almond and J.G. Thrilwell, and Guns and Roses.
Zap comics retrospective at Society of Illustrators for after MoCCA party. April 2016.
Artist Victor Moscoso Zap #2. Zap comics retrospective inside The Society of Illustrators museum. April 2016.
The one and only Robert Crumb Zap #0, 1968. Zap Comics retrospective inside The Society of Illustrators. April 2016.
Artist S.Clay Wilson Zap #14. Zap Comics retrospective inside The Society of Illustrators. April 2016.
Artist Rick Griffin Zap#6. Inside Zap Comics retrospective at The Society of Illustrators. April 2016.
Artist Robert Williams Zap#10. Zap Comics retrospective inside The Society of Illustrators. April 2016.
Artist Gilbert Shelton Zap#6. Zap Comics retrospective inside The Society of Illustrators. April 2016.
Artist Robert Crumb Zap #1. Zap Comics retrospective inside The Society of Illustrators. April 2016.
Artist Gilbert Shelton Zap#15. Zap Comics retrospective inside The Society of Illustrators. April 2016.
Artist Robert Crumb Zap # 8. Zap Comics retrospective inside The Society of Illustrators. April 2016.
Robert Crumb letter Zap #8. Zap Comics retrospective inside Society of Illustrators. April 2016.
Robert Crumb, Victor Moscoso, Robert Williams, S.Clay Wilson, Spain, Gilbert Shelton, and Paul Mavrides. Circle o’ Jerks. Zap # 15. Zap Comics retrospective at The Society of Illustrators. April 2016.
Robert Crumb, Victor Moscoso, Robert Williams, S.Clay Wilson, Spain, Gilbert Shelton, and Paul Mavrides. Mammy Jama Zap # 6 1973. Zap Comics retrospective at The Society of Illustrators. April 2016.
Next day back at MoCCA Fest itself. I took time away from my table to attend a panel about Wimmen’s Comics.
On the panel was Diane Noomin, Phoebe Gloeckner, and Leslie Sternbergh. The long running anthology founded by Trina Robbins was discussed. What struck me most about this panel was when Phoebe Gloeckner discussed receiving payment from Screw Magazine’s publisher, Al Goldstein. Gloeckner had sold artwork to Goldstein. Apparently Goldstein wanted to pay Gloeckner in person. They met for dinner, and somehow the dinner ended by Goldstein taking out a huge amount of cash to be paid to Goldstein. He slowly started to count the amount of dollars he was to pay her, and then says to Gloeckner: “Now you know what it feels like to be a hooker.”
Hearing that took me back. While we all knew what Al Goldstein was all about, hearing this was still hard to stomach. It was like as if he was trying to demean not just her talent, but her as a person. When one hears recollections such as this, it shows how silly the current fourth wave internet pseudo-‘feminists’ really are. They don’t realize what women had to endure prior to 2016. In fact, disguised misogyny is what women still deal with on a regular basis. So while these current internet feminists complain about silly things, like shirts that scientists wear, or about a particular Milo Manara variant cover (Marvel’s Spider Woman, issue # 1, 2014), there lies deeper problems. Variant covers and pin-up shirts have nothing to do with real feminist issues.
Enough of the soapbox. I went back to my table at MoCCA. In all, despite my lack of sleep, it was a good weekend.
Affordable Art Fair 2016
The past weekend of April 1 – 3 2016 was a busy one. There was MoCCA Fest 2016, in which I was sharing a table with two others. Before that, I decided to check out the annual Affordable Art Fair.
Basically I had free tickets by basically signing up for their email list, but hey. Inspired by last month’s VIOLA and The Armory Show fairs, I figured it was worth a shot checking this event as well.
According to the official website: “The concept is simple, yet unique: an inspiring and friendly atmosphere in which you can find thousands of original paintings, prints, sculptures and photographs all under one roof, ranging from $100-$10,000, with more than half priced under $5,000!” Well no, $10, 000 is really not affordable. Hell, $1000 isn’t even affordable but…
Still, there was some pieces that caught my eye.
One of my favorite pieces was by Mr. Revrac. According to one art dealer, supposedly the artist looks like a serial killer, but is the sweetest guy on earth. Sounds like something you would use on your Tinder profile. Anyway, I really enjoyed his work, as you can see here.
My other favorite was by artist Lucy Sparrow. She re-created old food packages by constructing them out of felt, cotton and acrylic paint. Each individual item was on sale for $100 a piece.
Artist Lucy Sparrow recreated food packages using felt, cotton and acrylic. Affordable Art Fair. April 2016. Photo by Michele Witchipoo.
Artist Lucy Sparrow recreated food packages using felt, cotton and acrylic. Affordable Art Fair. April 2016. Photo by Michele Witchipoo.
Artist Lucy Sparrow recreated food packages using felt, cotton and acrylic. Affordable Art Fair. April 2016. Photo by Michele Witchipoo.
Artist Lucy Sparrow recreated food packages using felt, cotton and acrylic. Affordable Art Fair. April 2016. Photo by Michele Witchipoo.
Artist Lucy Sparrow recreated food packages using felt, cotton and acrylic. Affordable Art Fair. April 2016. Photo by Michele Witchipoo.
Artist Lucy Sparrow recreated food packages using felt, cotton and acrylic. Affordable Art Fair. April 2016. Photo by Michele Witchipoo.
One difference between the VIOLA show, The Armory Show, and The Affordable Art Fair. With VIOLA and Armory, the works shown was showcased as more museum items. With the Affordable Art Fair, some of the dealers seemed to be a bit more pushy. As soon as you walked into their booth, a dealer immediately approached you. It wasn’t the case with VIOLA and Armory. Also, Pop Art and culture seemed to be more the focus with the Affordable Art Fair, compared to last month’s events. Where with VIOLA and Armory, certain underground subcultures seemed to almost have a bit of respect, as if you were looking at historic artifacts rather than something to hang in your office space.
I kept on thinking on what Damien Echols said recently during his talk at the Rubin Museum of Art, which was just the week prior. This is not an exact quote, but he said something along the lines that art shouldn’t be something just so it can match whatever is in your living room, for example. Echols thought art was more along the lines of expressing how you feel. In regards to art, I agree with Echols. Art isn’t necessarily pretty, nor should it be. Art should confrontational. Art should be make people think. Art should make people react. Art shouldn’t be afraid of controversy. Art should challenge. Otherwise, what’s the point? Art is a lot more than something that looks good in a lobby.
Back to the Affordable Art Fair. Below are more photos from that event.
Portraits. Top is Sophia Loren, bottom is Bjork. Artist Moriello. Affordable Art Fair. April 2016. Photo by Michele Witchipoo.
Artist Yann Guitton at Affordable Art Fair. April 2016. Photo by Michele Witchipoo.
Artist Ines O Farrel at Affordable Art Fair. April 2016. Photo by Michele Witchipoo.
Sculpture by Gaston Aita and painting behind by Andres D’Arcangelo at Affordable Art Fair. April 2016. Photo by Michele Witchipoo.
Artist Angelo Accardi “Misplaced” at Affordable Art Fair, April 2016. Photo by Michele Witchipoo.
Artist Virginia Valere “Captain Takes The Gallery” at Affordable Art Fair. April 2016. Photo by Michele Witchipoo.
Artist Nelson de la Nuez “Material Girl” mixed medium. At Affordable Art Fair. April 2016. Photo by Michele Witchipoo.
Stormtrooper Buddhas. Artist Ryan Callanan. Affordable Art Fair. April 2016. Photo by Michele Witchipoo.
Artist Adam Bridgland. Affordable Art Fair. April 2016.. Photo by Michele Witchipoo.
In all, I didn’t stay all day inside this event. It was time to pick up my MoCCA Fest exhibitor badge. Before I left, I stumbled across a section which encouraged people to draw whatever they liked in small boxes, markers provided. So I drew a Bowie/Aladdin Sane lighting bolt, and my main cartoon character Psycho Bunny before heading out.
A scribble I did at the Affordable Art Fair. An Aladdin Sane bolt. April 2016.
A scribble I did at the Affordable Art Fair. Psycho Bunny. April 2016.
This Weekend – MoCCA Fest 2016
This weekend. I’ll be at table F219, upstairs at this weekend’s MoCCA Fest 2016. Selling my comics and greeting cards.
Info for directions and admission price can be found here. See you there!
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