Tag Archives: tv shows

Svengoolie Portrait Gets Resurrected Art Frame by Living Dead Girl Nicole 💀🖼🐔

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A couple of weeks ago I shared my latest split face portrait “You’re All Grown Up Now”, a tribute to Jerry G. Bishop and Rich Koz and the history of our Chicagoland local legend Svengoolie. Well with Flashback Weekend on the horizon and me anticipating gifting the piece to Sven, I needed to get a frame for it. However, I knew not any frame would do for the essence of Svengoolie. It needed to have a bit of unique, campy yet spooky razzle dazzle.

So I found a frame to resurrect and went to work. I chose this specific frame for a few reasons. For one, the beaded look reminded me of Svengoolie’s red beaded rubber chicken necklace. I also liked how there were layers to the frame and immediately envisioned various ways I could incorporate the colors of the show’s set. I also loved that it was made from natural wood which would give me a nice base.

This was the end result after I conjured my creative magic…

I purchased the little rubber chickens and hand sculpted larger “beads” to attach them to the frame securely. I wanted them to dangle because if you give them a squeeze they actually make a fun little squeaky sound!

I wanted there to be a center piece to the frame between Bishop and Koz, so I decided it would be the perfect opportunity to pay homage to Zallman T. Tombstone. So I hand sculpted a little skull and used some wig hair to make him his iconic mustache. Not getting the hair in the clay while it was drying was “fun times” but I succeeded.

I then hand painted everything (besides the rubber chickens of corpse), added a metallic finish for each section of individual color and then gave it a lacquer finish. When it was dry I was so happy with how it all turned out. Then when I put the original art piece in the frame my creepy little soul felt its artistic mission was complete. Another piece of art framed in art completed and to be honest I can’t stop smiling at it every time I look it and how my whole vision all came together. I hope it gives Sven the same sense of joy and nostalgia and it reminds him of how much us horror geeks love what he does and are so happy he kept Bishop’s vision alive for us boils and ghouls all these years.

Maybe, just maybe one day I will be tuned into the show and be lucky enough to see this special piece of hand drawn and hand made art on the show’s set. A living dead girl can nightmare can’t she? Never say never! 📺💀⚰️🐔✨

New to my work? Be sure to check out the other portraits and custom matching resurrected frames that I have masterminded on the Spitting Image page of my portfolio website!

Stay Strange & Magical ✨
LDG Nicole

“You’re All Grown Up Now” a Tribute to Svengoolie by Artist Living Dead Girl Nicole

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As a Chicagoland horror geek, I will be the first to say that checking this portrait piece off my art bucket list was well over due. I have had the honor of being on a stage with Svengoolie (it was a costume contest at Flashback Weekend but still.. legendary) and been in his presence at countless conventions and hearse club shows over the years but I have always wanted to express the impact he has had on our local horror community through my art.

Svengoolie on stage with Living Dead Girl Nicole dressed as Baby Firefly at Flashback Weekend's Costume Contest in 2006


Svengoolie on stage with Living Dead Girl Nicole (dressed as Baby Firefly) at Flashback Weekend’s Costume Contest in 2006

I really wanted the piece to be a reflection of the history of the legendary tv horror host over the years. Similar to the way I paid tribute to Jim Henson with my “The Lovers. The Dreamers. And Me.” piece. With half reflecting the earlier years so the piece actual tells a story.

So for this split face portrait I decided to go back to the 70s by drawing the left side as a tribute to Jerry G. Bishop who was the mastermind behind Svengoolie. The original on air host from radio and television that brought the character to life on Screaming Yellow Theatre. Complete with his long green hair, aviator glasses, hippie attire and sidekick puppet Durwood.

The right side represents Rich Koz joined by his puppet pal, Kerwyn. Koz not only wrote jokes for Jerry, but he also resurrected the role as the Son of Svengoolie on WFLD (Fox) 32 in the 80s. He later received Jerry’s blessing to make the character his own in the 90s, when Jerry told him, “You’re all grown up now… be Svengoolie.” At that point, he dropped the “Son of” from his name and became the face of Svengoolie that we all know and love on MeTV today.

So in my best “Yiddish/Transylvanian” impression (as Jerry described it), I type and recite his words “The time has come for scary things“. So hold on to your rubber chickens as I emerge from my coffin to present to you my latest piece I call “You’re All Grown Up Now” hand drawn in pencil, colored pencil and chalk pastels.

For my art collectors who can’t get enough of hearing “Calling all stations. Clear the air lanes, clear all air lanes for the big broadcast!”, “I have made-to-order* prints and wearable art t-shirts of this special tribute piece listed in my Etsy shop. Now remember.. “NO PERSONAL CHECKS!” but you can apply coupon code BERWYN at check out to get 10% off your order! 📺😱⚰️🐓✨

Canvas prints are currently in production with my printer for my art collectors to see in person and purchase at a discounted price* at Closet Collectibles (in Crete, IL.). Keep an eye here for restock/art drop alerts.

New to my work? Be sure to check out the other portraits I have masterminded on the Spitting Image page of my portfolio website!

Stay Strange & Magical ✨
LDG Nicole

*Read more about my “never mass produced” creative process and in store discounted art prices here

“I Am The Magics” a Tribute to Willow Rosenberg by Artist Living Dead Girl Nicole

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Earlier this year, I decided to rewatch the entire series of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I hadn’t seen it since high school, back when I was a real-life graduate of the class of ’99, just like the “Scooby Gang.” It was fun revisiting the show for nostalgic reasons, but my main focus was to be engulfed in the “Buffyverse” once again so I could finally check Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg off my art bucket list.

Willow was always my favorite character on the show. Despite being framed as the sidekick or best friend, I was always drawn to her more than Buffy. Maybe it was our shared 90’s fashion sense, her ability to research every monster-fighting scenario Buffy was faced with, or watching her grow into her powers, but I always saw her as the true emotional core of the series and the character I related to most. She always felt less like a fictional character and more like someone I would want to genuinely hang out with.

I really wanted to encapsulate Willow’s character growth from the beginning to the end of the series. An artistic reminder that we all have the battle of good and evil inside of us and that it is ultimately up to us to choose which path we take. With that in mind, I knew this had to be one of my signature split face portraits. One half representing the sweet, quirky and shy Willow, with the other side reflecting cold, broken hearted, “I’m the Slayer now” lethal Dark Willow. A part in the series that even though she becomes consumed by her overuse of power, she finally finds the courage to express so much of what Willow fans had always wanted her to say out loud, unfortunately pushing her toward nearly destroying the world with dark forces.

In the end, however, she recognizes the darkness she is heading toward and learns to control her powers. By doing so, she evolves into her true strength as a white witch, bringing light back into the world by activating all potential Slayers and saving humanity. The underdog ultimately becoming the true hero of the series in the show’s finale.

A storyline worth picking up the drawing pencils for, I completed the piece last week and am excited to share it with my art collectors. Done in pencil and chalk pastels, I call it “I Am The Magics”….

For my art collectors who never underestimate the “side-kick”, “I have made-to-order* prints and wearable art t-shirts listed in my Etsy shop. Apply coupon code BUCKLEUPRUPERT to manifest a spell that will magically take 10% off your order! ✨

Giclee and canvas prints are currently in production with my printer for my art collectors to see in person and purchase at a discounted price* at Closet Collectibles (in Crete, IL.) as well as at the upcoming Unruly Art Market on May 31st.

New to my work? Be sure to check out the other portraits I have masterminded on the Spitting Image page of my portfolio website!

Stay Strange & Magical ✨
LDG Nicole

*Read more about my “never mass produced” creative process and in store discounted art prices here