sam

socal pop artist. visit samcarterart.com

The 3B Show “It’s Showtime!”

May 102011
 

May 5th at first seemed so far away, but it came and went. The whole night seemed like it was about 10 minutes long. Thanks to everyone who made the long haul up to Venice. Thanks to Oscar for grabbing the folks from BTTF.com to get me an interview. Thanks to Steve Czarnecki for hooking it up on the BTTF website. It was awesome to finally meet the curator Joseph, AKA Chogrin, thanks for letting me a part of 3B, I keep wondering what 3 movies could be done next year. I really hope to do more shows with him and the talented group at the Autumn Society. I got asked to be a part of their next show “Shell Shock”, in Philadelphia. It’s themed to the one and only TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES. Ain’t nothing wrong with that. I’ve wanted to be in a Gallery 1988 show since I first checked it out at the 2nd Crazy For Cult on Melrose in 2008. I hope this is the first of many more shows like this for me. They always have the best collection of Pop Artists, each with their own style and vibe. I love everything about it. A truly, most excellent evening.

The Usual Suspects of DL

May 022011
 

This is an something I started about 3 years ago and let sit for a while. In between my newer paintings I like to update the site with some of my older stuff. I figured it was time to get this one on here in more detail. What I like about this is that it is not finished, and hopefully wont be. There are a few more of the randoms that I would like to do a little 5″ x 5″ canvas block painting of. I think the characters that I want to go after is something that represents an attraction of some sort at the Park. I was trying to stay away from the main characters that have attractions based around them, but in some cases I couldn’t not use them. Indy and Dumbo for example, compared to the goat eating dynamite and Elliot. Some of the others that I have on deck would be Gadget (from her Go-Coaster), a shrunken Wayne Szalinski in his flying machine, a random Small World doll (not sure which one), Trader Sam, Benny the Cab, etc. Any other ideas of what might be good?

Awwwwwwww What’s in the Box!?!?

Apr 282011
 

File this in the category of “Really?, This hasn’t been done yet?”. One of the best movies with one of the most F’d up endings ever. I just thought this design needed to be done, it was kind of askin’ for it. Enjoy.

And for those of you who aren’t familiar with the film Se7en, i recommend you watch this clip. I don’t want to ruin it for you but Brad & Gwyneth don’t live happily ever after.

SE7EN ending scene on YouTube

The Autumn Society & Gallery 1988 present 3B

Apr 152011
 

It was going to be hard to top a show like last years’s 3G. ( Ghostbusters, Gremlins & Goonies ) As a fan of all 3 of those movies and a fan of Gallery 1988 this show was a blast and a real inspiration for me to crank out some art in the following year. So the second I heard about this years 3B show I got a little excited, not just because I’m a huge fan of Back to the Future, Bill & Ted’s and Beetlejuice, but because i knew i needed to be a part of this. Luckily The Autumn Society thought so too. I am so stoked to be a part of 3B. I really hope everyone gets out to Venice to check out the all the art that these people brought together. If you can’t wait until May 5th to check out a sneak peak of some of the artwork that will be on display, hop in you virtual DeLorean and/or phone booth and check out The Autumn Society‘s website.

As for my art in the 3B show, I went the pin up route. Why not, right? I hope you like them. The first one featured Jennifer, Marty’s girlfriend from the original Back to the Future. Not that I dislike Elizabeth Shue, but I just think the first one was hotter. I call this painting “Oh La La”.

The 2nd entry was for someone a little random but very memorable. It’s a diptych of our friend who was cut in half from what I have to assume was a magician’s saw trick gone bad. I call my Beetlejuice entry “Hack Job”.

And as for my “Bill & Ted’s” entry, I have this double pin up of the two princesses from the Renaissance period that Rufus brought back to our most excellent heroes. I was playing with the idea of what would life for these two hotties be like if they got to live in San Dimas in the 80′s. But the part about this painting that I had a really good time with just was the icons for each of the fellow time travelers along the boarder.

After checking out just some of the kick ass entries that the other artists have turned in, I am convinced this show will blow people away. Even more so if you kinda like these 3 flicks. And if you love these 3 flicks like I do, then it is certainly not to be missed. I’m really excited and proud to part of such a talented group. Thanks to those who let me be a part of it. See you in Venice!!!

For info on how to get there check out this link.

 

 

 

 

Strange Things Are Afoot at the Circle K

Apr 082011
 

Here are a couple of paintings inspired by the classic 80’s movie “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure”. This was one movie that I definitely grew up with. The weird thing being I haven’t seen the original for a long time, but it’s one of those movies where even though you haven’t seen it for about 10 years, you can still quote it. It’s not the best movie by any means, which is what makes it so good. Not to mention George (friggin) Carlin is in it! The first painting was a stab at trying to do their faces as simple as possible. I usually tend to put too much detail and line work into my stuff. I’ve learned there is such a thing as too much. Bill S Preston Esquire was the fun one because his face is has a lot of distinct characteristics, plus no one has ever seen that actor since. But as for Ted (Theodor) Logan, since it was Keanu Reeves, I struggled a bit. I didn’t want to do a portrait of Keanu, but tried more to get the vibe of his goofy carefree attitude, dude. Plus I through the phone booth in for good measure, inspired a little by Metallica’s Ride the Lightning. Really a time traveling phone booth? I guess it works because it is so ridiculous, like the movie. I, myself, would rather time travel in a DeLorean.
This next piece was something that came up after doing the first Bill & Ted’s piece. When I entered my pieces in the 3B show at Gallery1988, the curator Chogrin mentioned it might be cool to see a pin up version of the Princesses from Bill & Ted’s. SOLD!!! Awesome idea, and I went for it. This is my take on what those two “Historical Babes” that Rufus brought back from medieval times would do if they lived in the modern 1980’s. I also wanted to give subtle nods to the other time travelers so I through something for each of them in the frame. I thought about putting in something for Rufus, but I think he is more deserving to get his own painting. Add that idea to the list.

 

and THAT is what happens when SHE dies. It’s all very personal.

Apr 062011
 

Beetlejuice

Beetlejuice

Beetlejuice

Yea, I said it. This may be a little random for some, but if you have seen Beetlejuice in the past couple of decades, you may remember that babe sitting on the couch waiting politely for her turn to talk to her afterlife case worker. Here is a pin up styled painting of our nameless friend. My guess she is a magicians assistant and the ol’ saw trick didn’t go as planned. Of course she doesn’t dress this skanky for her show, but I took some liberties with her outfit. But it was Stolle’s idea to make it on 2 canvases. Thanks for that, it kinda made the piece for me. And in case you don’t know there is an awesome art show coming up in May at Gallery 1988 Venice. The 3B show. ( Back to the Future, Beetlejuice & Bill & Ted’s ) But more on that later.

;)

 

New Beginnings: DCA 2.0

Mar 292011
 

MICKEY & OSWALD at CARTHAY CIRCLE

Taking a break from painting 80′s movies that i am obsessed with quoting, I found some time to work on a piece based on the rebirth of Disney California Adventure. Obviously World of Color, Mermaid, and Carsland are/will be amazing, but one of the things I am really looking forward to is Carthay Circle Theatre and Buena Vista Street. I think it will be a real Icon for the Park, something that DCA 1.0 was lacking.  This painting shows Mickey and his long lost friend Oswald checking out the new Park in front of a replica of the Theater where Walt premiered “Snow White” in 1937. I’m going to assume you may not know the story of Oswald, it’s a pretty cool story. The quick version is Walt created Oswald before Mickey, but lost the rights to him. 80-some year’s later the Company bought back the rights. They haven’t really done too much with him yet, a couple of T-Shirts maybe. Since the new entrance to the Park is based on this time in Walt’s life, what better dynamic duo is there for Buena Vista Street? I definitely think all of DCA’s extreme makeover stretchmarks will be worth the wait. Turns out construction walls are your friend.

Park’s Closed

Mar 252011
 

While cranking out the previous Vacation painting, I was putting texture on the antlers of Marty Moose and thought a skull version of him might be kind of cool. So Messing around on Photoshop a little bit later I came up with this. In case you are wondering , yes those guns both are Magnum P.I.s. They will put your eye out. It could get under the skin and cause a very serious infection.

National Lampoon’s Vacation

Mar 112011
 


National Lampoon’s Vacation was a must for this series based on pop cult movies. As I was painting the Family Truckster I did some research on the car and found out there have been a few painting representations made of this beautiful “metallic pea” beast. Figures, it’s a classic, and totally iconic. Not to mention almost everything has been “done” already. So from what started as just a painting of the car, turned into a little something more. I thought it needed a little Marty Moose, after all, he was the reason behind this family Vacation from hell. They were going to see him at Wally World. In a way, it’s his fault. ( Clark Griswold too, of course ) And the addition of the road map of the United States helped tie everything together. I usually don’t use Graphics with my paintings but I like the text heavy road map feel of this map. And I’m ok with this being a mixed media piece. I might do this more often, if it works with the piece. Which in this case I think it does.
I’m a huge “Vacation” fan. They all are awesome, not so much European but even that has its moments. And yes, I even like “Vegas Vacation”. If you haven’t seen it, and you love the Griswolds and Las Vegas, what are you waiting for? Now if only they can finish up the series, and end it with a “Hawaiian Vacation”. Hawaii is mentioned in all 4 of these movies, as the place they wish they were really going. Come on Clark & Ellen, take Rusty & Audrey to Hawaii. Bring the whole fam. Besides, Cousin Eddie REALLY needs work.

Caddyshack

Mar 112011
 


Some kids were raised on things like “Barney”, “Captain Kangaroo” and “Mister Rogers”. Ya, I had my taste of those things too but I was raised on this movie. I was quoting “Caddyshack” before I knew what the words I was saying actually meant. Some of the more colorful phrases were heard coming out of my mouth, and after my cousin’s wife told my mom what “Varmint Poontang” actually was I learned a valuable lesson. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE. Anyway, this movie might be the most quoted movie of all time, it’s up there with Anchorman for sure. A definite classic. If you’re into this movie and haven’t seen the DVD extra feature about the making of it, DO SO NOW. I consider this Rodney Dangerfield’s best work, and I don’t think Chevy has ever been cooler that Ty Webb, although Fletch comes pretty damn close.

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