Fangirl is not a term I would typically use to describe myself. The last
time I saw a Star Wars film it was on VHS. I haven't seen over half
of the superhero films that have been hitting theaters in the last
40 years. I've never gotten into Star Trek, I've seen less than a
full season of Doctor Who (though I still get the jokes and love the
Daleks), and the only conventions I attend are usually horror
related. So why would I, a person who isn't into geek culture, be
interviewing a person whose art work covers all of these bases?
Because amazing art is amazing art.
Last
year I attended Monster Mania and one of my favorite vendors was
there. He sells small movie posters for films of all sorts. Whether
you like popular horror or something more lesser known, this guy has
it. The last time I saw him vending I went home with four awesome
prints. They are pop art prints of Pinhead, Freddy Krueger, Michael
Myers, and Elvira. I keep them in my craft room and everytime I see
them I can't help but smile. The joy that these bring me is sweet and
twisted, but is joy nonetheless Looking at the prints Barry of
Barry Sachs Barry Goods reminds me of the joy and excitement I when I
not only found my horror pop art but when I brought them home. My
hope with this post is to not only expose my readers to an amazing
artist, but to help you feel happy, geek out, and maybe even find
something for your own homes as well. So sit back, relax, and meet
Barry Sachs!
My
name is Barry Sachs. I am 30 and live in a small city called
Lancaster, PA.
I
received my Bachelors of Fine Art majoring in Illustration from
Pennsylvania College of Art & Design, also
located in Lancaster, PA. I'm from a very small family and I
have an awesome girlfriend and an adorable
cat that I have trained to play fetch. I work full-time as a graphic
designer to the pay bills while
pursuing a career in illustration. On the side I also paint
traditionally and have exhibiting in several
local fine art galleries as well as the occasional photography gig.
1.
What do you make and sell?
I
create and sell prints on Etsy which focus on comic book, fantasy,
movie and TV characters portraits. At
this point in time, most my work focuses on portraits and characters
that exist as TV and movie versions. I
will continue to create portrait work, however in the near future I
will be starting some more original projects that will be based on
horror and mythological monsters.
2.
How did you get into making art with comic book characters?
I
got into making these portrait illustrations, painted digitally using
Adobe Photoshop and sometimes started traditionally in either
watercolor or a monotone oil painting as a way to get excited about
illustration again. After college I was somewhat burnt out and this
was a way get back into illustration and to focus on improving my
digital painting skills and knockout paintings in a shorter amount
of time, which is an issue since I also work full-time as a graphic
designer in order to pay my lovely college loans.
3.
How long do you typically spend on a piece from getting an idea to
the finished product?
I
spend a lot of time creating lists of characters I want to paint and
when to finish them by. I tend to go over these lists over and over
and choose the ones that have a big impact on my inspiration. A
typical portrait can take anywhere from 10 to 20 hours to complete.
Sometimes 30 hours if I get really hung up on it.
4.
Do you think there will be a time where you decide to put your images
on things like t shirts, tote bags, necklaces, or id holders? I know
this is a common trend with artists on Etsy that start out selling
prints that do well. I have seen everything from prints transferred
onto skateboard to shower curtains.
I
may someday put my art on other products, however at this time its
just not very affordable to create and
sell items like shirts, which would have to be pretty expensive just
to break even.
5.
One print that I noticed right off the bat was the pin up Snow White.
Lately, there's been a boom in the re-booted Disney Princess
department. Everything from zombie Cinderellas and goth Alice in
Wonderland to same sex Eric(a) and Ariel from the Little Mermaid
putting Princesses in current times, like Jasmine in military
clothes, covered in weapons. There seems to be a split between fans;
some love this art and some hate it. What do you personally think of
this type of art and what inspired you to do it?
My
Snow White piece is one of my older pieces and probably my least
favorite. I would actually remove it,
however it has had a decent amount of favorites which is why I keep
it in the shop. As far as pinup fairy tale art
goes, if its tasteful and creative I like it. Pinup illustrations can
be sexy, however I feel that there are too many people
who try to exaggerate and turn fantasy characters into softcore porn
and that just doesn't interest me.
6.
I was going to refrain from asking who your favorite superhero is,
but I can't resist! Who is your favorite superhero and why? And which
of your superhero prints is your favorite and why? I am very curious
to see if you will pick the same super hero for both questions.
My
favorite superhero is the Christopher Reeves version of Superman. I
saw one of the films as kid and from that point on I was hooked and
probably drove plenty of teachers crazy with my massive amount of
crayon drawings and talk of Superman. Print wise, my favorite print
is the 9th Doctor played by Christopher Eccleston. Doctor Who is a
close second when it comes to a favorite comic and/or science
fiction/fantasy character.
7.
Something that I really like about your superhero art is that you
have the same Batman characters played by different people. You have
the Heath Ledger Joker, but you also have a piece with the Cesar
Romero Joker. You also did the same with Batman. What made you decide
to not stick with one actors portrayal Joker in particular?
I
love both old and new versions of superhero characters. Classic and
current characters are equally exciting to
me and I simply felt the need to paint and illustrate different
versions. Also, since having an Etsy shop is like running a small
business, it just makes sense to have items that appeal to a wider
audience.
8.
One print that really stands out for me is the one titled: To The
Moon. What can you tell me about this piece? It is very different
from your other pieces and that is one of the main reasons it caught
my eye.
To
the Moon was a piece that was created as a competition project in
college for a live job. My entree for the contest was not chosen,
however later on it was published in Pocketful Magazine.
9.
A lot of your art is based on characters from comics and graphic
novels that were turned into films or a television series. A few of
your pieces are on characters that came from regular novels such as
Dexter and The Wizard of Oz. Do you think that you will ever do more
pieces based on literary characters/works? Working at a bookstore, I
feel like I must ask this, especially with Game of Thrones, True
Blood, and Boardwalk Empire being so popular these days.
I
have actually had a lot of close friends constantly suggesting that I
create Game of Thrones artwork. It
is something that I plan on doing, however if its based of the TV
series I need to actually watch it first. Being
able to understand the characters goes a long way to successfully
painting and portraying them. I
believe thats why my Doctor Who pieces succeed. I am a huge Doctor
Who fan and that translates into my art. Game
of Thrones will probably happen in the near future as well as some
more original art based on other books that do not focus on
existing actor's portraits.
10.
Lately there seems to have been an explosion when it comes to all
things Geek. Comic Con is bigger than anyone could have ever
imagined, it
feels like every other few months a new comic based film is coming
out, and everything has a fandom. My Little Pony has a huge
following.
A few weeks ago
there was a huge Brony Con in Baltimore and a Star Trek one not too
far from there. Why do you think there are so many fan bases
suddenly, or why do you think they are so much bigger than they have
ever been before?
I'm
honestly not sure why there have become so many specialized
conventions. I can understand comic cons, anime
cons and science fiction and horror cons because there is a large
audience for those cons. However a convention for something like
Bronies seems a bit weird, but who am I to judge. I wouldn't pay to
get into a con for such a specialized subject, but if there is an
audience for it and it makes those fans happy than by all means go
have fun. I also have nothing against Bronies, I don't watch My
Little Ponie so it has no appeal to me.
My
next few questions are horror related because it's kind of what I am
about.
11.
Since you are talking to a ghoul, I must mention your classic horror
prints. So many Universal Monsters from Frankenstein and The Bride to
Dracula and The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Are there any other
horror icons or images that you have in the works or are thinking of
making into prints?
When
I decided to start selling work at Comic Cons, my horror art
temporarily went on the back burner for these
last few months. I plan on getting back to creating horror themed art
very soon. Some will be original work, original compositions based on
classic horror icons and some will be based on horror and
mythological creatures and monsters. I hope to create some portraits
of Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, Hell Raiser and similar horror
icons. In addition to those guys, I want to create some original work
as well. As stated earlier on, horror and mythological monsters are
subjects I hope to work on in the near future. They will probably be
pretty ambitious and will take a lot of time, more planning, taking
photo reference since I plan on having an environment and full
figures or even multiple figures in these illustrations. I also plan
on doing a good amount of academic research in both historical texts
and classical paintings.
12.
There are 70 days until Halloween! What are your Top 5 Must Watch
Horror Movies for the season?
My
top 5 must watch films would have to be: A Nightmare on Elm Street
(Original version), Halloween 1 and 2 (Original version, I know these
are 2...but I consider them almost one since the story continues
right into the 2nd movie), Christine, High Tension, American Werewolf
in London. There are so many great movies and I'm sure that I could
even change my mind on these at any time. However, at this point
these are the 5 that I want to watch right now.
13.
If you could sit down and talk to a villain from any horror film, who
would it be and why?
Thats
a tough one. Pretty much all my favorite horror icons would kill me.
Jason Vorhees and Michael Myers are not big talkers, Freddy is
fun...but the whole invading my dreams and his hands of blades would
be a bit painful. I think I would have to go classic, most likely
Dracula.
For
those of you interested in learning more about Barry and his work,
you can Check Out His Shop, Add Him on Facebook, Follow Him onTwitter, and Follow Him on Tumblr.
For
all of my MidAtlantic EAST COAST FANS!!!!!
Barry has some events
coming up!
August
24th : Comiconn in Connecticut
September
7th and 8th : Baltimore Comic Con at table A140
Did
you like what you read? Have a question or a comment? Leave us some
love in the comments below.
No comments:
Post a Comment