Vijho'Hazhu

I've been doing a Halloween Day shoot with one particular model off and on for the last few years, it was never an official thing but as of this past Halloween, and this shoot, we talked about it and decided to make it an official yearly scheduled thing from now on.

While not every year we do this will feature a brand new prosthetic like this one did, depending on how things go it might be. This piece, the Vijho'Hazhu, was brand new. It was sculpted, moulding and run in foam inside of about 2 weeks (normally I take my time when I do prosthetics), and the piece used in the shoot was the first from the mould about 2 days before the shoot. It was cut pretty close, hopefully that won't be a yearly thing.

One reason the sculpt went so quickly was because I had a fairly strong idea of what I wanted. Usually there's days, weeks even, that go by while I just look at a piece trying to figure out what it needs, while this one just came together with very little effort.

I wanted something that had a kind of regal or powerful feel to it. Something that had a much more darker vibe to it than I usually got for as well. I feel like in the end what turned out was a fairly versatile design, from evil ancient vampire to some undead ancient one from deep space - which sounds weird to say that's exactly what I was going for, but seriously, that's what I was going for.

Last minute I decided to add a piece I'd made for another shoot, that I'll most likely never get to - the large clawed finger - and while it's not super obvious in most of the shots, I'm still glad I threw it into the mix.

Also, the cloak being worn here is about 20 years old and was custom made for me for the first movie I ever made. It was incredibly well made and has held up perfectly over the years - but it's heavy as hell.

The Lost Girls

This was a relatively simple shoot, I just had to make a fairly simple prosthetic, buy some contacts and fangs (which I already have a supplier for and at wholesale prices), all the models did their costumes themselves.

And while I'm not a fan of night shoots, or multiple subject shoots, I'm happy with how the shots turned out. I was able to make good use of the Closeup/Background shots (I'm still trying to come up with a name for the shots where I focus on one subject with the others in the background).

 

 

Updated Vampire Brow Prosthetic and other stuff

As the title said, here's an image of the update Vampire Brow prosthetics, it'll sell for $25.

In other, less awesome news, anyone who finds there way here who might've been trying to access The Monkey Rodeo website would have noticed it's down for the moment. Yes it is down, for how long? I've no idea, maybe a week, maybe longer. Reason being, I am very poor and my host tends to be a little pricey compared to others I've recently noticed.

While the service has been excellent, the price is just too high for me so I couldn't afford to pay for another full year for something which is really just a presence - most of my business is wholesale so the website is really a pit stop/catchall for information, pictures and what stuff I carry. I've done some minor retail through the site, but not enough to justify paying over $200 a year any more. And yes, that seems like very little, and over the course of a year it is, but when it comes time to pay it, it's a lot.

I'm hoping to get it squared away and I'm thinking of trying some cheaper methods of hosting. We'll see what happens. In the meantime if you're trying to get a hold of me, you can use this address: themonkeyrodeo@gmail.com

Shrunken Demon Heads for sale

Finally got them online for sale, they're $20 each. All hand made. They're made from latex, filled with flexible foam, hand painted and hand stitched. They're a lot of work, but well worth it.
Available online here

The Ugandian Vampire Head

 The Frell Beast Head

 The Korellian Rage Beast Head

Demonic Antiquties finally online for sale!

Getting things back in order now that I've returned to normal from the conference last weekend. And finally got around to putting the new props for sale on the website.

The Golem Icon.

The Shamanistic Demon Head

A Calcified Vampire Heart

Not really Demonic Antiquities, but really Magnet Sculptures.

A Mayan Cthulhu Totem

Protective Reliquaries containing

vampire fangs and the finger bone of a saint.

I've got a few more oddities planned and in the works and I'm hoping add about one, maybe two more, per month until Halloween this year.

4 Days to go...

The clock is kind of winding down on me these days as the date I take off for the Canadian Haunted Attractions Conference looms closer and closer. I've still got a huge pile of work to do and I'm slightly behind schedule on a couple items. It wouldn't have been so bad had a few freelance things not popped up - but money is money, so things went a little off schedule.

Just got 2 items left to mould, one I should get done today, the other probably by Saturday it'll be ready to go and then I just have to make sure I have enough. That's been my ever flip-flopping concern about this, it's either "Am I making too much stuff?" or "Am I making enough stuff?" I reckon too much isn't that big a deal in the long run, what doesn't sell simple becomes stock - which is great for the resin props since they don't have a shelf life, they're pretty much permanent. If they don't sell next weekend, then they'll be around until they do, so nothing's wasted really.

Been taking a look at the list of items I wanted to make vs the items I did make. I made 3 foam weapons/tools, intended to do 5 but there wasn't time or materials. 17 props/Demonic Antiquities, ranging from a couple Cthulhu variations, the Cyclops Fingerbone Dagger, Shrunken Demon Heads, a Golem Icon and even (still working on it) a Calcified Vampire Heart. And there were 6 or 7 items I just didn't have time for.

I'd also hoped to make about 7 latex masks, 3 full 4 just a face. Never had a chance to even think about it those. But they're on the agenda for when I get back.

In total, I did make 20 totally new items for the shop in the last couple months, that's not too bad. Got a few ideas for some new stuff. And while I intend to keep doing the prosthetics, now that the book is done I'll be letting that slide for a little while, just producing them from the moulds I've got rather then cranking out new ones constantly.

Also I'll have some of the books, The Secret Lives of Demons, for sale and some DVD of some movies. And I'm hoping to have some prototype T-Shirts I'll be taking order for should anyone be interested and I'll even be showing off my silicone mask I made. I've never put that online for sale, mainly because it was being hidden away for a project that's now never happening, so it's going to see a little more daylight now. I want to see what the reactions to it will be, I've put it through some major abuse so I know what the problem spots are - so I'm hoping a few folks might be interested in one at the low price of $300 (most silicone masks are $600 and the material cost alone is pretty steep).

Now I just have to see how much more I can make. I'll either run out of time or supplies, whatever comes first.