It's On!

I frequent and occasionally work at a local cafe and roaster, Revolution Coffee Roasters. For enjoyment, I drew a dramatic pen and ink poster featuring a mermaid named "Stormy" holding one of our signature drinks, the Dark and Stormy Cumulus (a kind of cortado).

I don't have a large format scanner, so here are a couple of the best pics. Hope you can stop by the shop and see it in person soon!

Something fun is always brewing at Revolution Coffee... where it's ON!

Stormy (c) 2016 Christina Spallone

Commissions Available!

Hi trading card fans!

I have some blank artist's proofs/returns/sketch cards or whatever you want to call them. Please contact me through email or send a message to the Bibliowhining Facebook page to make a request!

Here's what I have available:

Monsterwax

Spook Show (3)
Legendary Lovecraft (1)

Viceroy

Insectae (2)
The Deep (2)

Upper Deck

Marvel 3D (5)
Avengers: Age of Ultron (7)
Ant-Man (2)
Dinosaurs (12)

Thanks for your support!

Flame Broiled: Diary of a Burger Flipper Issue #2 is here!

I've put off making comics long enough, and once again used Mini-Comics Day as an excuse to break from paying work and just have fun drawing as I did in the days before adulthood.

Flame Broiled: Diary of a Burger Flipper Issued #2 is finally here! Contact me to order your $2.00 copy today (free shipping).

In this episode, New Girl graduates from toasting buns to making cheeseburgers and hamburgers! But is she up for the job? Plus, someone orders a four-piece chicken strips meal, but there's only an eight piece left! How will New Girl get out of that one?

Like Issue #1 (the most popular comic I've ever done), this episode recounts based-on-true tales of working in the fast food industry. Not an undercover, Nickel And Dimed type expose on the working poor, this is more like a casual diary sharing humor and humiliation from a time when no other job prospects were available. Many will relate to these silly fast food dramas, so just enjoy the read!

Email me to order your copy today! Issue #1 is still available, too. Get the full set -- a bargain at $2 each -- that's half the price of a measly gluten-free cupcake, but it lasts twice as long!

(Now I realize that I left one of the originals on the copy machine, and oh how smart I feel. Hopefully it's still around, not on its way to being a sheet of recycled paper. I remember the last time this happened...)

Monsterwax "Legendary Lovecraft" Sketch Card Checklist

Just in time for Hallowe'en, Monsterwax is opening up orders for their "Legendary Lovecraft" trading card set, a cool project I'm proud to be a part of. Ricardo Garijo, Jr., carrying his late father's torch, brushed out a batch of beautifully rendered cards for the base set, capturing the spooky mood and otherworldly colors described in Lovecraft's tales. Though I'm typically not a fan of computer generated artwork, Garijo, Jr.'s is tasteful, painterly and organic. My foil inserts, in contrast, were tortuously scratched out with micron pens in a style emulating that of Virgil Finlay or Basil Wolverton. So you see the set offers something for everyone.

If Lovecraftian tales intrigue you but seemed too dense upon first attempted readings, the artwork and summaries on these cards will gently draw you in to the Mythos. Lovecraft's writing -- particularly the Cthulhu character and The Necronomicon -- has influenced heavy metal bands and cult classics like The Evil Dead, but it's no less highbrow than Poe's (in my grumbling opinion). One thing that impresses me most about his stories (though it made them pretty tricky to condense into card-sized snippets) is the intricacy of them --  every little detail means something. So when you're writing story summaries, don't leave out that seemingly throwaway bit about the rock the narrator kicks out of the way on a forest path, nor the direction in which the path is going or the direction in which he kicks the rock, or the material the rock is made from and the number of facets it has, because all of it will be INTEGRAL to the story's denouement every time. I wonder if he drew maps or created model cities to ensure the perfect continuity of his universe.

In addition to the six printed insert cards I did for the set, I'm creating some of the original art sketch cards, one of which is included in each box. Other top sketch card artists are working on the set, too, so there's no guarantee you'll get one of mine, but I thought collectors would appreciate a checklist of my "Legendary Lovecraft" sketches. I'll be adding to this list as I create more, so it's not complete yet:

LOVECRAFT PORTRAIT SKETCH CARDS

IN GRAPHITE
1. Young Lovecraft with glasses and pink background
2. Lovecraft with tentacle shadows and blue background
3. Lovecraft and Yithians with grey background

4. Smirking Lovecraft with carved monoliths and yellowish background
5. Serious Lovecraft holding black cat with pink background
6. 3/4 view of serious Lovecraft with glasses, bowtie and faint blue background
7. Lovecraft w/rats on his shoulders and red-orange tint
8. Lovecraft 3/4 view with cream/grey background
9. Sketchy Lovecraft with orange/grey background
10. Lovecraft with tentacle heart "frame" and yellow/grey background

 

  

IN PEN AND INK 

1. Lovecraft and fanged, winged ex-wife with pink background

2. Pensive-looking Lovecraft

3. Lovecraft reading Necronomicon

"AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS" SKETCHES

IN MARKER

1. Elder "fossil" discovered in cave
2. Men running from shoggoth
3. Penguins running from shoggoth



IN GRAPHITE

1. Elder monster close-up with yellow background

"THE CALL OF CTHULHU" SKETCHES

IN GRAPHITE

1. Cthulhu bas-relief (gray-green background)
2. Cthulhu and a couple tiny sailors

IN PEN AND INK

1. Cthulhu in the sea with wings spread

"THE CATS OF ULTHAR" SKETCHES

IN MARKER

1. Three feisty-looking cats

"THE COLOUR OUT OF SPACE" SKETCHES

IN MARKER

 1. Colour rising from well with trees in background and pig corpse

 "THE DREAM-QUEST OF UNKNOWN KADATH" SKETCHES

 IN GRAPHITE

1. Moon beasts (pink background)

IN MARKER
1. Shantak bird
2. Night gaunts

"THE DREAMS IN THE WITCH HOUSE" SKETCHES

IN GRAPHITE

1. Brown Jenkins with classic yellow background

IN PEN AND INK

1. Witch with strangling hands

"THE DUNWICH HORROR" SKETCHES

IN GRAPHITE

1.  Henry Armitage's wife w/blue background
2. The "Horror"

IN MARKER

1. Pregnant Lavinia Whateley

2. Whippoorwills singing  
3. Wilbur shooting dog (Mars Attacks! homage) 
4. Wilbur holding Necronomicon

"THE FESTIVAL" SKETCHES

IN MARKER

1. Wax mask falling off to reveal what should have been a face

"HALLOWE'EN IN A SUBURB" SKETCHES

IN GRAPHITE

1. Lemurs

IN MARKER

1. Flying vampires

 "HERBERT WEST: REANIMATOR" SKETCHES

IN MARKER 

1. Herbert West injecting a rabbit/monkey creation

 "THE HORROR AT RED HOOK" SKETCHES

 IN MARKER

1. Mrs. Sudyam sacrificed ("Lilith" written in background)

"THE LURKING FEAR" SKETCHES

IN GRAPHITE

1. Martenses rising from the hills (red background)

 

 

 

 

"THE OUTSIDER" SKETCHES

 IN MARKER
1. Outsider looking in mirror

IN GRAPHITE

1. Outsider looking in mirror

"PICKMAN'S MODEL" SKETCHES

IN MARKER
1. Pickman's model gnawing on unfortunate human

"THE PICTURE IN THE HOUSE" SKETCHES 

IN MARKER
1. Butcher shop illustration

"THE RATS IN THE WALLS" SKETCHES 

IN MARKER
1. Black cat scratching at pillar, aerial view

2. Swarming rats
3. Black cat scratching at pillar, side view

"SHADOW OUT OF TIME" SKETCHES"

IN GRAPHITE
1. Yithians holding books with blue background

IN PEN AND INK
1. Lone Yithian reading book with neon yellow background

"SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH" SKETCHES 

IN GRAPHITE
1. Bus driver Joe Sargent

2. Innsmouth creatures in lake

IN MARKER
1. Innsmouth creatures rising from lake
2. Lone fisherman with stormy sky

"THE TEMPLE" SKETCHES

IN MARKER

1. Old-timey scuba diver

"THE THING ON THE DOORSTEP" SKETCHES

IN MARKER

1. Asenath Waite

IN GRAPHITE
1. Shub Niggurath with pink background

"THE WHISPERER IN DARKNESS" SKETCHES

IN MARKER

1.Old Akeley sitting in balloon chair

IN PEN AND INK 
1. Dog with tentacle in mouth
2. Dogs barking

IN GRAPHITE
1. Tsathoggua with orange background

Viceroy Insectae and The Deep Trading Card Sets

Hi gang,

I just finished making sketch cards for Viceroy Trading Cards' new "Insectae" and "The Deep" sets. I've always enjoyed drawing insects, and it was fun researching and completing these nature sketches. For "The Deep," I limited myself to true deep sea creatures only. There are some weird ones, many of them bio-luminescent and translucent. Many subsist on hydrogen sulfide expelled from hydrothermal vents. Sounds like a great life, huh?

Here are some of my favorites from "Insectae":

flat bark beetle, death watch beetle, Jerusalem cricket, Mormon cricket, eyed click beetle, hickory horned devil

And here are some favorites from "The Deep":

tadpole snailfish, Dumbo octopus, vent clams, blind lobster, frilled shark, firefly squid

The above is just a small sampling. I did 40 cards for each set, and I still have proof cards to make. If you're interested in an original art card, contact me and we'll talk. I also put sketch cards up on eBay from time to time.

Secret Project Unveiled!

Monsterwax unveiled the project on which I've been working, and many salivate as they await our LEGENDARY LOVECRAFT trading card set, planned for release this fall. To promote the set, company president and writer Kurt Kuersteiner and I handed out promos and displayed my original art at the latest Philly Non-Sports Card Show. The set will feature all your favorite monsters, including Cthulhu, the Great Race, and Nyarlathotep, and summaries of the best stories to elevate it all beyond mere eye candy while introducing new fans to H.P. Lovecraft's elegant body of work. I created six inserts for the set, but Ricardo Garijo, Jr. did the lion's share of the artwork.

Monsterwax at the Philly Non-Sports Card Show, Spring 2013

I wrote summaries for many of Lovecraft's stories, and it wasn't easy! Every little detail means something -- I would gloss over the number of dots on a seemingly random rock, for example, only to discover that "insignificant" detail was the key to the story's denouement. Discerning, scientifically-minded intellectuals would be remiss to pass on Lovecraft, as would the heavy metal and Evil Dead crowd (and all who fall into the middle of the Venn Diagram).

Note in the above picture that my hair hangs in separated tendrils -- kind of reminds you of Cthulhu, huh?

The following weekend, I presented all my Lovecraft drawings -- plus some older published work and a few recent nature sketches -- at the Grooveground coffee shop in Collingswood, NJ. All of it is for sale, so definitely take a peek if you live in South Jersey or Philadelphia. My art will be on display for the entire month of May through the first week of June. I sold a few copies of "Mediocre Narcotica's Greatest Hits: Vol. 1" and "Flame Broiled: Diary of a Burger Flipper" at my art opening, so be sure to search for these titles on eBay or my Etsy store to secure your copy while you still can!

Yours truly at my recent art show

I'm going to do things a little differently this time and REFRAIN from posting all my artwork for free on this blog, but here's a little taste of what's to come in the Monsterwax Legendary Lovecraft set:

Lovecraft's Great Race (c) 2013 Chrissy Spallone

Thanks for reading as always!

Happy Saint Valentine's Day from Bibliowhining!

Heresy's Hisses, 2013 Christina Spallone

Happy Valentine's from all of us at Bibliowhining! Thanks as always for your readership, and be sure to check our Facebook page for the juicy little bits of news we don't always post on here. It's time consuming to cross post the same news in multiple locations, and Facebook is the big kahuna of the bunch. I'll continue to post most of my comics here, but you won't miss a thing if you join us on the ol' fb.

What's This Effect Called?

There's a "floating" effect that occurs when one solid block of color is drawn inside another block of solid color that clashes with it in a certain way. One famous example of this is this album cover for the punk band The Adolescents:

 Another example is the album cover for The Waitresses "Bruiseology":

The '80s offered a lot of this sort of thing, but let's not leave it in the past. It's a legitimate art effect that I enjoy and would like to experiment with. BUT WHAT IS IT CALLED? My love of classic punk and new wave brought me to the above examples by chance. When I actually try to describe and search for the effect, to find photo references, all sorts of other things pop up --"3D color effects" brings up anaglyphs and Disney Pixar type renderings, while "clashing colors" displays tints that look garish together without any special floating properties...

If there's another term for it, let me know, but I'm coining the term HOVERGLYPHS to name images that exemplify this property. There's a neat obscure font called "Hoverglyphs," too, but that's such a narrow use for the term and I can't come up with anything better, so hopefully we can share.

Here's my attempts at hoverglyph effects in some Spook Show cards.:

 

Have you seen any hoverglyphs lately? What colors can YOU think of that go together to produce hoverglyphs?

Hoverglyphs.

What Chrissy is Doing

I've been writing for some other sites, so if you like my style you may enjoy checking them out.

Here's my profile page for Stereo Subversion, a music review site. I recently had my first album review published there (Lightning Love's Blonde Album) and will be writing more for them in the future.

I wrote a few satire articles for Campus Basement (nee 'Cuse My Campus) in graduate school, but some current events lend themselves well to satire. Here's an article I wrote about the NYC soda ban, and here's my profile page with links to all the articles I wrote for the site.

I've been making sketch cards for Monsterwax, a neat trading card company that makes non-sports card sets, usually with a horror theme.

A free original art card comes in each box of Spook Show cards, and I also sell some of the originals. Contact me if you'd like to buy one. Here are some of the cards I've done so far:

There are more cards on my Monsterwax artist page. I'll be promoting the cards at the upcoming Philly Non-Sports-Card Show in Allentown (not Philly) on October 20-21. That's all for now, friends! Thanks for reading Bibliowhining. And don't forget, you can follow us on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates!

Courage for Halloween

Halloween postcards are now available for $2/each or $16 for a set of 10. Shipping is free, and all are 4x6 with blank backs. Contact me or simply send payment via Paypal with a note describing what you want to buy (my Paypal email address is the same as my contact email). 

 

Get all the same style or mix and match. There's the vintage-inspired "Hope your Halloween goes swimmingly," the goth-type tonal drawings and the ever-popular lowbrow evil cat blowing up those two unfortunate monsters that someone told me look like some monsters in a Radiohead video or something even though I didn't plan it that way.

Send one to your sweetheart this Halloween! 

You Name It, We Draw It!

I've been posting some drawings on a fun site called Draw Me Something. Anyone can request a drawing, and one of a team of artists might draw it. Here are two of my requested drawings so far:


A Chihuahua in a Pink Top Having Tea:

A Pumpkin Swimming:

Be sure to check Draw Me Something periodically for the latest random drawings. Feel free to request anything you want, no matter how random. You can vote and comment on the drawings, too!

The Colors, Luke; The Colors!

Isn't it ironic how Dr. Seuss' The Lorax is all about the environment vs. corporate greed but the new movie has product tie-ins up the wazoo? To address the matter, I wrote and illustrated a Lorax parody called "The Loraxe."

I made this with Prismacolor markers. Those things are expensive, so I layered colors over each other to make different shades of green, grays, etc. I never did anything significant with Prismacolor markers before, and I was pleased at how well they worked.

Proposed Facebook Changes for the New Year (2012)

Hi, I'm Mark Duckernerd, the dark lord of the Internet.

Just as a heads up: over the next few weeks, I shall be rolling out some changes to "You-Know-What" that some might find upsetting. These changes will greatly affect the way you interact with friends and loved ones, and, more importantly, the way you buy and sell things on the Internet.

As the Apocalypse draws nearer, it is of utmost importance that I make as much money as possible from its great whore, a creature more commonly known as FACEBOOK.

I have billions of dollars, but it is imperative that I make trillions more at the risk of severing countless friendships with silly drama and sucking all of you into a mind-numbing, addictive rut. What is more insulting, the facts explicated in the last sentence or the strongly implied assumption that I know what's best for you? Yes, despite your initial whines and protests, you will yield to and eventually love everything I do.


But it's all the same in the end. Of course I know what's best for you -- after all, I went to Harvard for a year. What's best for you is what's best for me: instant gratification at the risk of losing your soul.

tl;dr? No problem! I understand you're very busy. Enjoy this list of awesome fb changes!


1. Auto-Comment
Great news! Now you don't have to think about writing anything anymore! Facebook will use its AMAZING algorithm to scan your "friends'" statuses for content, and will auto-reply with the appropriate stock comment!

Somebody's birthday? No need to go through the GRUELING procedure of "walling an hb!" Facebook auto-comment will do it for you! Someone's loved one died? Facebook will scan for the words and phrases "passed away," "RIP," or "died" and will auto-comment "I'm sorry for your loss" or one of five similar messages on your behalf.

Facebook will also scan for jokes and profound quotes! If a mutual friend comments "lol," "haha" or "you're absolutely right" in response to a friend's status, Facebook will slap on a similar message in your name!

2. Facebook Storefront
We've noticed how much you enjoy logging in to your Facebook account before commenting on news stories and blogs around the Web. All of your friends are interested in all the same news stories that you are and want to read everything you have to say about all of them, with all anonymity removed! Taking that logic one step further, it will soon be impossible to buy or sell anything online before logging into your Facebook. After making a purchase, the item you bought will be displayed on your wall and your friends' feeds! That way, they can share in your shopping pleasure with the option to purchase an identical item!

3. Facebook Wingman
Men: Facebook got your back! Whenever one of your unattached lady friends posts a cheesecake photo of herself, Facebook will scan the photo and compare it to your past girlfriends' body types to see if it suits your tastes. If it does, the machine will "like" it and auto-comment a stock compliment! Don't worry about drama; Facebook will first check whether you're gay, in a relationship or married before "liking." Or maybe not...its capricious like that.

Check out how Facebook Wingman aids Mallard Failmore as he courts young Downy Duckbottom:

4. "Peek-a-Boo" Chat
Imagine: everyone on your friends list can join the party as you engage in a private conversation with one of your pals. We plan to implement this feature randomly, when you least expect it. It gives us the element of surprise.

As you can see in the lower right hand corner, Mallard can enjoy Downy and Marshy's little virtual catfight, all thanks to "Peek-a-Boo" chat.

...So them's the changes, folks! I know your little mouths are agape, your heads shaking vigorously at the creepiness of it all. I also know you'll grow to love it -- just like you've acquired a taste for the budget beer that features so prominently in your photo galleries. I love how you all contrive situations and moments with the ultimate goal of posting them on Facebook and getting loads of little red notifications in the upper left hand corner. By all means, don't enjoy the simple pleasures of that party, concert or trip in real time as you had in years gone by.

Sometimes I sit back in my cubicle throne and chuckle at your exhibitionism. Sheep, think I. Then I get distracted and tab over to YouTube for a bit.

Remember: this is Duckernerd talking, I have temporarily taken control of Chrissy's blog.

tl;dr? Awesome! Hope you like the changes, honey!

"Thanks For the Great Changes, Facebook" a meme by Chrissy Spallone

ETA: Oh yeah, and Happy Thanksgiving!