FROM THE DEPTHS OF THE GRAVEYARD...

I was asked to design a poster for burlesque performer/producer Victoria Vengeance, to sell as a limited edition silkscreen print. The only instruction was that it should be themed around a recent photo shoot Victoria had with the Munster Koach. If those two words don't immediately ring familiarity, you either don't know the name or have not been exposed to television for the past 50 years.

The Munster Koach was the family car that was used in the old 60s television sitcom, The Munsters. Awww...now you know what I'm talking about. The infamous hot rod (cut from a Model T frame) was designed and built by famed Hollywood customizer George Barris.

I'm known for illustrating many things (mostly monsters) but hot rods are not one of them. I'm a car enthusiast. I love old classic cars, hot rods, dragsters, rat rods, choppers and bobbers. I would be a happy man if I opened the garage and saw a 60s Lincoln Continental with suicide doors, a Cadillac Hearse and a custom bobber inviting me for a joyride. It just hasn't been a theme in my artwork.

When it comes to car culture, I gravitate towards the monster hot rod scene (Ed Roth, Odd Rods, Weird-Ohs and Nutty Mads). When I am given a job to illustrate a vehicle, I give it the same warped abstraction I give my characters. I finished up the piece, inspired by Ed Roth and the Monster Hot Rod scene as well as vintage racing ads and exploitation posters like Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, The Mini Skirt Mob and Drag Strip Riot. Here's the concoction that spewed out:



Copyright 2011, Gris Grimly