Marilyn Manson

Originally was doing this sketch for another blog post. Decided to let this sketch stand on it’s own. It was intended to get the full ink and watercolor treatment, but the weather was too hot. Instead, I got a little lazy, sticking only with pencil.

Pencil sketch of Marilyn Manson. Next to the sketch was the photo reference. Drawing by Michele Witchipoo. July 2020. 

The thing is, many ‘traditional’ Goths from the ’80s and early ’90s weren’t fond of Marilyn Manson. I’d give credit towards one thing: it gave ’90s kids an introduction to the Goth subculture. Marilyn Manson wasn’t really considered officially ‘Goth’. The band was more of a hybrid of Hard Rock/Metal and ’90s Alternative. Goth wasn’t still considered mainstream. After Kurt Cobain’s death, Marilyn Manson filled a void for some. His imagine, and interests, influenced by LaVey Satanism, Alister Crowley/Thelema, and philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche hit a core with some. Many of his fans ended up going into the Goth subculture anyway.

Not really a fan of Marilyn Manson anymore, but I appreciate what him and the band did back during the ’90s. I ended up seeing Marilyn Manson in concert either four or five times. First time was in 1994, when Manson was the opening act for Nine Inch Nails.  That might’ve been at Roseland Ballroom, NYC. Speaking of NIN, I saw a very early incarnation of NIN, when Trent opened for Skinny Puppy, way back in October 1988. Back to Manson, they shared a tour with Monster Magnet, which I also saw. Last time was maybe sometime during the early 2000s, at an Ozzfest show in Camden, NJ, just outside of Philadelphia. By then Marilyn Manson was doing repeat of everything they had done in concert before. To be fair, my interest of Manson was fading anyway.

Occasionally I’ll do a search online to see what Brian Warner, aka, Marilyn Manson is doing with himself. He’s taken up painting, collaborating with film maker David Lynch. In addition, Manson still makes music, acts, and has his own sex toy.

With that, here’s my pencil sketch, done on a really humid night. Cheers.

Marilyn Manson, early days. Pencil sketch by Michele Witchipoo. July 2020. 

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Psycho Bunny Sketch of The Week 10/17/2018

Lately I haven’t had a lot of time. A good time as any to ‘go back to my roots.’ Here’s a bare bones pencil drawing. Introducing the Psycho Bunny sketch of the week for Oct. 17th, 2018.

Psycho Bunny. Pencil sketch. Based on the comic written and drawn by Michele Witchipoo on WitchesBrewPress. Oct. 2018.

Social Media, as always: 

Facebook: pages for Psycho Bunny and for Michele Witchipoo – WitchesBrewPress.

 Twitter: One account for me, and one for Psycho Bunny.

Tumblr: World Ov Witchipoo

Instagram: there’s WitchipooArt.

Get yourself some cool stuff on RedBubble, featuring my designs.

Sunday, October 28th, I will be at IncrediCon, in Poughkeepsie, NY. (Upstate NY)

Stay tuned for more Inktober 2018 sketches.

 

Alf Meet Grumpy Cat On Sketch Lottery

Starting from June 1st to August 31st, Sketch Lottery is having a free-for-all. Basically for summer 2018, draw any of the past Sketch Lottery subjects. Which meant I finally had a chance to sketch Alf.

Alf had this thing where he ate cats. So it’s only fitting that Alf met his match with Grumpy Cat.

 I met Grumpy Cat once. During the summer of 2014. A Barnes and Noble book signing, located in the Union Square area of downtown Manhattan, NYC. Tartar Sauce (Grumpy Cat’s real name) was asleep. Tartar Sauce’s human liked my shirt. Here’s a photo of me when I was platinum blond. Before I went with my signature blue hair.

Posting with Tartar Sauce, better known as Grumpy Cat. June 3rd, 2014, Barnes and Noble book signing/meet and greet. Union Square (Manhattan) location.

Anyway, back to the sketch. Originally I was going to ink the piece, but liked how the pencil work was coming along. So I kept it just the way it was. Really like this one a lot. Besides. Grumpy Cat is sort of like my spirit animal.

Alf meet Grumpy Cat. As seen on Sketch Lottery. Pencil art by Michele Witchipoo, July 2018.

You can see my sketch, along with other sketches on Sketch Lottery.

 

Locked Heart (Valentine’s Day Art)

In honor of Valentine’s Day, I created this in pencil:

“Locked Heart” drawn by Michele Witchipoo, February 2013. Pencil sketch.

Contrary to what this drawing suggests, I already had a good Valentine celebration. So regardless of whether you’re single or attached, Happy Valentine’s Day.

Squeaky Loves To Eat!

By request, someone suggested that I should post this sketch:

Squeaky Loves To Eat!
Drawn by Michele Witchipoo
Pencil sketch 2011.

Stages of Freya

Just wanted to show everyone the three initial stages of the most recent illustration I had worked on.

Stage One: Pencil.

Stage One: Pencil. Michele Witchipoo, June 2012.

Stage Two: Pen

Stage Two: Pen. Michele Witchipoo, June 2012.

Stage Three: Color.

Freya. Norse goddess. Artwork by Michele Witchipoo created June 2012. Ink, pen and digital color.

Wham Glam Thank You Ma’am

To be Glam. Last night I came across some photos on the internet. Soon afterwards I did this pencil sketch.

Back in the mid to late ’80s, the whole ’80’s ‘Hair Metal’ scene was huge. Bands like Poison, Motley Crue and such ruled. They were the fantasies of American teenage rebellion. Although I was never into the whole ’80s hair metal thing. In fact, I hated it. I preferred the ’80s Goth subculture, which I suppose would be considered ‘old school’ among today’s gloomy youngsters.

In the 1980’s, Goth subculture wasn’t as mainstream as it is today. To get a better idea of that era, nothing captures the underground Goth following like the NYC magazine Propaganda. I remember Propaganda not so much for the reviews, but for the conceptualized photography.

Now what ’80s Goth and Glam did have in common was androgyny. Personally to me, the classic Glam Rock wasn’t really the ’80s L.A. glam rock era, but more like from the 1970’s. Early Bowie when he was Ziggy Stardust, T-Rex, The Sweet, etc. I still love Sweet. In fact, their album ‘Desolation Boulevard’ is still one of my all time favorites.

Although hair glam metal was never my thing, there were a few exceptions. Take Hanoi Rocks for instance. I remember meeting Hanoi member Mike Monroe in NYC back when I was a teenager. He was a pure rock star through and through. Even in broad daylight, he would walk down St. Mark’s street in full glam gear. It wasn’t uncommon to see him somewhere in the Greenwich Village area. Last time I saw him, it might’ve been during 1986 or ’87. He was in some deli on Broadway, near NYU. (FYI, when I met Mike Monroe, he was a nice guy.)

Today I’m not so hateful towards hair metal. Now bands like Motley Crue is sort of like nostalgia to me. Although I still much prefer the ’70’s glam stuff. Does it really matter anyway? ‘Cause you realize that everything intertwines and connects anyway. It’s just depends on personal opinions and tastes.

Having said all of that, I still prefer Sweet over Cinderella.

Glam guitarist, pencil sketch by Michele Witchipoo. Created June 2012.

MoCCA Art Fest 2011

Entrance For MoCCA Art Fest 2011.

MoCCA came and went. Kinda glad its over in a way, although I still haven’t caught up on sleep. If I didn’t have school, I would have gladly stayed home. The MoCCA Art Fest itself didn’t tire me out. Actually, it was staying up all night working on the latest Psycho Bunny mini issue that did it. By the time I had arrived at the fest itself, I was pretty much zombified. At my table I practiced the art of sleeping with my eyes open.

It was around this point that I swore never, ever again will I attempt to pump out a self published issue within a 24 hour period. These might be empty words though. Somehow I can see myself doing another 24 hour art marathon.

If that wasn’t enough, I found myself sketching this despite only getting three hours of shut eye:

Pencil sketch done morning of April 9th, 2011. To be inked by artist & podcaster Peter Palmiotti.

At this point I had become a mean, not so lean drawing machine. Still amazed that I was able to sketch while suffering from sleep deprivation. The piece itself, done on illustration board with Dewitt brand pencils was for a collaboration between me and artist/writer/inker/podcaster Peter Palmiotti. He’s done stuff for Marvel, DC, Image, Valiant and numerous independent titles. When he asked me to collaborate on this, I considered it an honor.

My own influences have always been more of the Fantagraphics Books style. What really got me into comics was the likes of Los Hernandez Brothers (Xamie and Gilbert) and Peter Bagge. I’ve been reading titles from these two parties since the early ’90s. Got dog-earred copies of their comics to prove this.

Peter Bagge panel at MoCCA Art Fest 2011.

Yeah, I’m getting all sentimental here. Meeting both Hernandez Brothers last year, and Peter Bagge this year reminded me of why I dug comics in the first place. Also reminded me of why I put up with various nonsense over the past few years. Its due to my love of this medium. Honestly, if it wasn’t for these two, I would have never been a comicbook fan in the first place. When I was a child I read comics, mostly Harvey titles, Rupert The Bear, Archie, Peanuts, along with various newspaper strips. Yet it wasn’t until the late ’80s/early ’90s that I fell in love with what comics truly had to offer. After discovering those two, I explored different titles, like Sandman, Joe Matt’s Peepshow, Omaha The Cat Dancer, some Robert Crumb stuff, etc. In the end, I always went back to L&R and Hate. So if anything, you can always blame Hernandez Brothers and Peter Bagge.

My table at MoCCA Art Fest 2011.

Back to MoCCA. It was a bit slower for me than it was last year, but still managed to sell some stuff.

Here’s some more photos from this past weekend:

Miss Chris table display at MoCCA Art Fest 2011.

Animator Bill Bill Plympton and friend, MoCCA Art Fest 2011.

This was the table to my left. The two female artists were Vanessa Taffuri & Amy Lynn Duengf. MoCCA Art Fest 2011.

Fur hat for sale at MoCCA Art Fest 2011.

Here's a poster for the Peter Bagge exhibit being held at the Scott Elder gallery. Like a true fan dork, I took the poster. Not that I usually swipe stuff, but hey. Don't worry, I still have ethics; I waited until the weekend was nearly over before I took it.

Still like MoCCA Art Fest better than some of the more mainstream comic cons. Probably because with the Alternative cons, its more mellow, and focuses more on the artists than numerous collector items.

Anyway…MoCCA was fun as always. Before I left, I swiped a poster from the wall, an advert for some Peter Bagge exhibit over at the Scott Eder gallery. Still got ethics, so I waited until the weekend was over until I took it. And with that, until next time…

*Photos by Ben Herman & Myself

Despondency Oct. 2010

This past weekend at the New York Comic Con (NYCC 2010) was interesting. As always you learn new things, etc. Sold some items, did a commission. Sold mostly Babalon Babes issue four and Tales of Woe. Looking back, when there’s plenty of well established artists in your section, people who are ten times more known than you…moving books and being asked to do a piece, its not too bad.

More about the NYCC 2010 later. Don’t have the time to spare at the moment, so I’ll have to post about the NYCC later. In the meantime, here’s a pencil sketch done over the weekend:

Despondency. Done Oct. 2010. Pencil sketch by Michele Witchipoo.

Been working more with pencil lately, thanks to my current drawing class.

Memento Mori Pencil Sketch Sept. 2010

Did this quick pencil sketch over the weekend, trying to work on my shading. Pencils used was 2B and HB. Here’s the result:

Memento Mori Pencil Sketch, Sept. 2010. Drawn by Michele Witchipoo