The pop culture community lost another legend recently, with the passing of artist Jack Davis, known for his illustrations in Tales from the Crypt and MAD Magazine, and also for his numerous efforts in magazines, advertisements, and movie posters. I grew up idolizing his style and knack for skewering society with his pen and ink, and […]
The Art of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
The Masters of the Universe toys of the 80’s probably had the greatest artwork of any toy line ever, and that’s saying something, because there was plenty of amazing packaging art put out in that decade. The Art of he-Man and the Masters of the Universe is the first book to gather all that art into […]
Airbrush art of the 80’s was chrome-tastic!
The 80’s was a decade of many things — excess, greed, and big hair, to name a few — but it was also the heyday for airbrush art. As a teenager in the late 80’s, I desperately wanted an airbrush so I could paint my favorite band logos on the back of my jean jacket, and maybe make […]
What’s going on back there? Taking better toy photos
It’s amazing how the background of a picture can take a photo from meh to magnificent! It’s not difficult to achieve some really exciting results using items you can find laying around the house. If you want your subject to really pop out, use a background color from the opposite side of the color wheel. Greedo is green, so an orange sheet […]
Lights, Camera, Action Figures!
So, there’s a theme going on this week — action figure photography. Taking photos of action figures is one of my favorite hobbies, it’s like being a photographer to the stars, without the big budget and celebrity egos. Action figures are just lifeless lumps of plastic, but you might be surprised at how life-like those figures […]
“Explosive” trick for action figure photography
I’ve been playing with my toys lately, and found this amazingly simple trick to really add some bang to your action figure photography. You only need three things that you probably already have laying around the house: 1. cotton, 2. yellow spray paint, and 3. flashlight. Spray paint the cotton — don’t worry about total coverage […]