Visceral Visionaries: Krystal Fancey Beck

Our irregular look at artists throughout the universe of horror returns this time around with a gifted illustrator who has truly made the most of her prodigious talents, channeling them into the creation of all manner of chilling chotchkies. Nova Scotia's own Krystal Fancey Beck launched The Zombified in 2006, and uses the website to showcase, promote and merchandise the many kinds of items featuring her unique artwork. These items include anything from T-shirts and posters, to buttons and even comic books.

The Houston transplant was kind enough to speak to The Vault of Horror recently about her many endeavors...

You describe yourself as having been a "serial artist". Explain.
As an artist, I've experimented in a wide variety of artistic mediums--pencil, charcoal, paint (and again, gone through a variety of paint types: acrylic, oil, watercolor, etc.), and of course my main love, ink. Furthermore, I've ventured into photography, website & graphic design, sewing, writing, a bit of sculpture... pretty much everything! Hell, I even dance--though I still haven't got the guts to perform. Basically, if it's creative, I have, or have had, an interest.

What items were the first you created?
For The Zombified? Well, I started working on the Hallowhaus comic before I'd actually planned on doing art as a career, but I think the Halloween scene is the oldest design I have prints of available through The Zombified.

Which are you the most proud of?
I'm proud of myself for not giving up on the comic after a couple of pages! I'm easily distracted, and that thing's a lot of work. That aside, I'm usually most pround of whatever I've most recently completed, though I'm not sure if it's because I'm evolving as an artist, or if it's just because I've had less time to pick out all the flaws.

Why do you feel that drawing in ink is your favorite method?
I'm not sure, I just feel most comfortable with a pen in my hand. I like the contrast, the crispness of the lines. I'm not sure if I like that the permanence of it (you can't exactly erase ink that easily) leaves very little room for mistake or not.

Who are some of your inspirations?
I'm hesitant to use the word 'inspire', but there are artists whose work I adore, and perhaps inspires me to try to become more awesome at 'what it is that I do'. But the inspiration for 'what it is that I do' seems to come from somewhere else. I get most of my ideas when I'm supposed to be asleep, perhaps the secret is in the insomnia. I digress. Artists I admire include Gris Grimly, Chad Savage, Keith Thompson and Ben Templesmith.

How did you get into creating comics? Which artists inspire you as far as that medium?
As a kid I said I wanted to become a comic book artist, even though I didn't really have any ideas for a series or anything. Eventually, I decided that since I'd been saying that for ages, I should probably just go for it. I was never planning on showing it to anyone, it was just to sort of challenge myself and see if I could do it. I wasn't even planning on doing more than one issue.

I'm deeply inspired by anyone else who's doing their own thing, creating their comic from the ground up all by themselves, regardless if the quality or content is actually my 'thing'. As I mentioned, creating a comic is a hell of a lot of work, even if the artwork or story is fairly simple. In terms of my personal favorite comics, I'm particularly in love with Hellboy and, a bit more recently, Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse.

Tell me a little about the genesis of the story for Hallowhaus.
I'm making it up as I go along, honestly. Which is another part of the reason there's a large gap between issues. I have a couple future projects in mind for after I've finished the Hallowhaus series, that might (hopefully) be a bit more planned out, but there's still the chance that I'll just grab a new idea and run with it again.

When and why did you first realize that this was something you could turn into a business?
I was close to finishing the first issue of the comic when I learned of the glories of print-on-demand (yes, I know. But I have complete control of my work and can slack off when I'm not actually feeling inspired). I figured what I'd created wasn't entirely awful, started working on a few separate original designs, and just went for it. It was terrifying, since I had (have) the typical artist modesty (insecurity), but it's also been immensely rewarding.

What are some of the most popular items on your site?
The mirrors seem to be most interesting to people, but it's the prints that sell the best. In terms of my designs, everyone loves the Mummy (which was actually one of the very first designs I did with The Zombified in mind), though at the moment my most 'favorited' one on DeviantArt is one of my newest, 'The Dead Will Dance'.

What does the future hold for The Zombified?
More art, more comics, more awesome conventions like Texas Frightmare Weekend and Comicpalooza. A lot of the more interesting plans are a secret until I actually unveil them.

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In addition to The Zombified and the aforementioned DeviantArt, Krystal's artwork can be found on MySpace, Flickr and LiveJournal, among other places.

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Visceral Visionaries: Rachel Sims

If you've ever come across her stuff online, you may know her better as Lipstattoo. Rachel Sims is one of the most prominent and talented horror craft makers out there right now, and so it was a no-brainer that she would be the first craft-related artist to be featured in my little Visceral Visionaries series. Rachel recently took some time out from her thriving UK-based business to answer some questions about her work...

What initially attracted you to horror imagery in particular?
I think it probably harks back to the days when I was around 7 or 8 years old, when my Mum would take me to the video store, and I would always end up inching my way towards the horror section, when I should have been picking something with Chevy Chase from the family aisle!
I loved looking at all the lurid covers for the films. That kind of design and imagery has just stuck with me all these years. I think my interest in the horror genre stems from then.
I like most horror, be it in films, music or books. It's just something that has always been in my life, so I couldn't really see myself making anything different from that.

What inspires you the most in what you do?
Horror films mostly. There just has to be a tagline in a poster, a scene or a line of dialogue that strikes a chord, and I'm then trying to think of the next item to make. I get quite excited about watching films for that reason, especially the old '80s cheese which I'm so fond of.

When did you start creating your pieces? What led up to it?
Well, it was around 2002-03 ish, and an ex-boyfriend's idea--as much as I hate to admit it. I've always been arty and into crafts, but never really thought I could make money from it. But one day he told me about this new (at the time) social networking site called Myspace, and that I should get on there and advertise my drawing skills for hire for bands and tattoos, etc.
I drew a logo for the ex's record label, something for The Gallows (before they got sooo famous) and Spit Like This, but people were unreliable with payments, and were generally shadey, so I gave that up. I then DIY'ed up an old jacket for a Misfits gig I went to. Lots of people liked it. I started making transfers from my own artwork to put onto clothing, and that's just progressed into painting bags, bangles and my own jewelry.

When did you start to realize there was a real demand out there for the kind of stuff you were working on?
The amount of return customers I got spoke volumes. The more time I spent on the horrorpunk/psychobilly/deathrock scene, I could tell that people were crying out for the gore/horror stuff, as there are only a couple of companies making those kind of accessories (kreepsville666 being one). If you're in the UK, pretty much all the girls will be wearing at least one item from them. At least when you buy a Lipstattoo item and go to a gig, you will NEVER run into someone with the same item, as everything is OOAK [one of a kind].

What's been the toughest piece you've ever had to make? Which one are you the most proud of?
The toughest items I've made would have to be the handpainted bangles I produced as official merchandise for the band Devilish Presley. Each bangle had 'Voodoo Goddess' painted on it, each had to have three layers of paint, then a coat of varnish. And I made 40 of those! I had nothing but a gnarled claw for a hand by the end.
The items I'm most proud of are the severed finger keychains I hand-sculpted for Steve at the website Horror Extreme as promotional gifts. They were given out at the Gorezone Weekend of Horrors. They were so intricately detailed, and not only did I hand sculpt them all, but I then painted them up all gooey and gorey. I made 20 of those bad boys, and they did look amazing, if I do say so myself.

Has there ever been something that was just too difficult to pull off?
Not yet. Sometimes things have been a little awkward, but I just talk with the customer and alter the brief a little to fit it in with what I can do.
I don't tend to do exact copies of pictures or photos, as I prefer to use my own artwork. So sometimes I turn work down on those grounds. Now that I've said that, I'll probably get a request for some fantasical item that needs pixie feet and a unicorn's horn!

Do you get a lot of custom requests? If so, what are some of the more unique ones?
Bar the items I sell though my Etsy store, pretty much everything I make is a custom order. It's so much easier for me because I can get all the details I need to make a really unique item. I think the severed fingers that I mentioned before were the most fun to make and the most unique.

What do you find the most enjoyable aspect of what you do?
Other than the creating, I love the networking side of owning Lipstattoo. Be it on Twitter, Myspace, or Etsy, I've met some incredibly lovely, supportive people such as Goreboy, Tom and Matt at The Gentlemen's Grindhouse, and of course your good self. Knowing that people like my work is a huge boost, and keeps me going to make more gore-ific goodies!

How big do you see Lipstattoo Designs becoming?
I see big things in Lipstattoo Designs' future, but not just in accessories. I'd like to expand into greetings cards, shoes, jackets and homewares. Also, I'd like to become more well-known on the horror scene, and have a larger range of items in my store. I'm pretty happy with the way things are going at the moment, but more sales and promotion are always welcome!

Anything big on the horizon you might like my readers to be aware of?
Well, once Devilish Presley gets back on the road after their year break, I will be making a new range of merch, and will be vending at their shows. I'm also making merch for another band called Pink Hearse. On top of that, I'll be making official merch for the 2010 Mis-Fest festival. I've also I've opened a store at www.folksy.co.uk for my UK customers, it's in its very early stages, but keep 'em peeled.

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