Monster Maker Journal #1

Monster Maker Journal was released in February 1995 as the Organization of Amateur and Professional SPFX Make-up Artist's Magazine.

I have incredibly fond memories of Monster Maker Journal Magazine. I must have read through it's pages several dozen times. The issue sprung up on a shelf at my local comic book store in early 1995. It couldn't have arrived at a better time, as I had just begun my journey into making latex masks a few months prior to it's release. The magazine was packed with how-to info and loads of pictures. Much to my delight, it even contained several photos of monster masks by other aspiring artists and established professionals.

The monster mask fun began on page 14 with a profile on up-and-coming artist Jeff Prettyman...

Alien Mask, Beast Mask, and Vampire Sculpt by Prettyman

About a dozen pages later a nice write up on the Chiller Theatre Expo could be found. The article had some great shots of the Henry Alvarez display...

Henry Alvarez Spock and Freddy Krueger Busts

Henry Alvarez Colossal Beast, Robocop, Ragnarok, Dracula

The issue would wind down nicely with a Reader's Photos department that would also contain it's share of monster masks...

Gillman, Gorn, Dr. Smith, Strange Invaders

"Vic Rattlehead" by Ron Chamberlain, "Wild Ass" by Mark Fitzgerald,
and "Splatter Storm" by Eric Scherer

To the best of my knowledge, Monster Maker Journal would only release one more issue. Sadly, that issue would never make it's way to a shelf in my local comic store. As to not end the post on a down note, I did just find issue #2 online and picked it up for a mere two dollars! Once the issue arrives I certainly plan to post on issue #2 at some point in the future :)

Random Sunday Morning Mask Pic - Doin' the Caveman

New Darkside Studio Website

The Darkside Studio website has a new home and a new look. Check 'em out creeps...

2012 Don Post Studios Catalog

Fresh from the scanner bed, here is the 2012 Don Post catalog. In a departure from previous scans, I omitted the first 21 pages of make-up and appliances and got straight to the monster masks. 

The 2012 catalog builds on the large amount of licensed characters present in last years catalog. I counted a total of 34 licensed masks in this years line-up! As always, I've assembled a .pdf version of the catalog for download, just right click here and save. It's a bit large at 24MB, but the hi-res scans are worth it.

The highlight of the catalog, and the masks collectors have been waiting for patiently for since the prototypes debuted at Maskfest last year, are the Halloween 3 re-issues...

Don Post Studios - Halloween III Mask Re-Issues

Building on last year's "Back from the Grave" re-issues, DPS will be re-releasing the Vermillion Skull, as well as a green Veridian Skull as the 2012 Back from the Grave editions. Personally, I can't wait to finally get my hands on a Vermillion Skull, but the Veridian is the mask I'm the most excited about in the entire 2012 line-up. In my humble opinion, the mask represents pure Halloween goodness.

Don Post Studios - Vermillion Skull - "Back from the Grave" Re-Issue

Don Post Studios - Veridian Skull

For those of you who don't want the PDF, here are the catalog pages...

DuMars Ghoul Mask

A young artist by the name of Jeremy DuMars created his first monster mask recently and sent over these photos...

Awful impressive sculpture and painting for a first mask! The bone structure and general forms are all sound, and the detailing in the sculpture looks great too. Hopefully Mr. DuMars continues making more monsters.

Accourtments Horse Head Mask

Oh the wild and wacky things you'll find while tooling around the internet. Apparently there's quite the following for the Accourtments Horse Head mask...

The customer gallery for the horse head mask on Amazon has over 300 user submitted photos. Here are a few of my personal favs...