I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas! (Detail)

This is a sneak peek of my Christmas card. Hopefully with everything I have to do, including homework, I'll have it finished next week. It was inspired by a Saturday Evening Post cover painted by J.C. Leyendecker.

I don't want to give too much away. So I'm not going to say too much about it. The model is my son Emmett, plus Buster Brown curls. I'm using a 1930s inspired color palette, like Leyendecker would have used. When I post the finished painting, maybe a post before, I'm planning on posting a little tutorial/progress.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Mine was great, other than wrecking my car on the way to dinner. Luckily my turkey didn't go through the windshield. If it had, I just would have brushed it off, and warned everyone to watch for broken glass.

Thanks for looking!

Cheers

– Kyle

A little narcissism goes a long way…

I'm always posting my artwork, but rarely anything about myself. So after playing a silly Facebook trivia game. I decided to post it here.  So here are 7 mild to moderately interesting facts about me. 

1) I absolutely hate Facebook games. I  hate playing them, and I hate being invited to play. This includes surveys and being tricked into using a giraffe as my profile pic. That said, every once in awhile, I'll find one that looks fun. Hence this. 

2) I have a severe revulsion to purple flavoring. I didn't say grape. I said purple flavoring… grapes don't taste like that, brother!  I had a lot of Dimetapp as a kid. If you were chewing grape gum 50 feet away, I would feel instantly nauseated. 

3) … I used to feel the same way about popcorn. It's only been within the last ten years that I've been able tolerate even smelling it. That stems from eating an entire economy size bucket of popcorn, while watching The Empire Strikes Back in 1980…

4) Speaking of really really really old… I love old music. I have a serious music addiction. I listen to everything from ABBA to Zappa.  I love classical, Cab Calloway, Carmen Miranda, Cat Stevens, and Captain Beefheart. Whenever I play Beatles or Pink Floyd at work, some customer will come in and say, "You're too young to listen to this!" Mister, l own music you're too young to listen to. 

5) … but for some reason — this usually brings angry phone calls. I don't like bands that evoke traveling or locations. It's actually 1970's stadium rock, bands like Boston, Foreigner, Journey, Kansas, America. The song Horse With No Name, angers me to no end. If it's bothering you enough to write a song about it, name the damned horse. 

6) I love to cook! I'm a classically trained chef, and I'm good at restaurant work. But I hate cooking professionally. I like cooking for friends, family, and the occasional wedding. But I leave it at that. Maybe I should host a cooking blog. 

7) I can't watch a classic Disney movie without bothering my friends. I'm always pointing out the great moments of animation. For an example– all the backgrounds in 101 Dalmatians are monochromatic 2D line drawings. The furniture appears as though it were drawn on the wall with a pen. 

Thanks for looking, and have a fantastic Thanksgiving!

Cheers

-Kyle 

"It Ain't Cool Being a Jive Turkey" Happy Thanksgiving!

"Mother, the bird's a bit tough this year. You reckon?"

I was asked to do another holiday comic for Utah Valley University's newspaper, The UVU Review. It depicts one of the many uses of the greatest invention of the 20th century. . . The Rubber Chicken. 

"Run free dear turkey, run free!"

The history* of the rubber chicken is quite fascinating. The first rubber chicken was invented by Klaus Schäfer, a German watch maker in New York City, 1907. Originally meant as a food product to stave off world hunger. But through the conspiring of man and irate poultry farmers, this was not meant to be. In 1933, while touring the zoology department at Harvard, Albert Einstein saw one of the first prototypes of the rubber chicken. He found it to be one of the funniest things he had ever seen. 

Dr. Einstein brought it back to New York and suggested its use to his dear friends, The Marx Brothers. Although Harpo and Gummo were skeptical, Groucho, Chico, and Zeppo loved the galvanized pullet. Harpo eventually recognized its appeal. But Gummo could not be persuaded, and ultimately left the group. 

The Marx Brothers routinely used it in their act. But they never forgot Albert Einstein, who collected royalties for every laugh the rubber chicken  received.

Thanks for looking
Cheers!

"Run free pretty bird, run free!"

*I may have fudged most of the facts in this history. . . 

Edgar Allan Poe's worst nightmare…

This is a screen shot of a painting I'm working on. It's Edgar Allan Poe being haunted by the movies of his stories: Vincent Price from 'The Pit and the Pendulum', Boris Karloff from 'The Black Cat', and Peter Lorre from The Raven. Although I love these movies, they are nothing like the stories. I'm thinking about adding a couple more characters. We'll see…

I'm still several hours from finishing the BW stage of the painting. Then I'm going to add color, which will take a few hours as well. I'll post another update later. 

Thanks for looking!

Cheers 

I Would Never Want To Belong To A Club, That Would Have Me As A Member. . .

© 2013 Kyle Wiggins, All rights reserved.

I am a big Woody Allen fan. . . especially if I don't think of his personal life. Obviously, Woody Allen isn't going to sit for me, for a painting. I use eight different photo references to get the expression, age, hairstyle, and clothing that I wanted for the piece.

Thanks for looking!

  

Coming Attractions!!!

I'm shivering with anticipation… New blog post tomorrow! Obviously, I'm really excited about this picture! Stay tuned folks…

… because I'm pointing a gub at you

It's been lightly snowing outside, and I'm inside, working on my Woody Allen painting, and listening to Parliament-Funkadelic. Which as far as I'm concerned, makes for a great afternoon indoors.  

My plan is to to have him finished, tomorrow or Wednesday. Have a fantastic day. 

Until next time. 

Cheers