Good old Vincent Price has been featured all this month on Turner Classic Movies, bringing back fond memories. The Roger Corman/Edgar Allan Poe movies were a staple of my childhood TV viewing. I remember with a particular thrill a full week of these on WGRZ Buffalo’s 4:00 p.m. “Money Movie”, hosted by Barry Lillis. “The Masque of the Red Death”, from 1964, was my favourite, with its moody, psychedelic colour-coded sets. Jump to the early 80s. I’m in art school and Slava Tsukerman’s “Liquid Sky” is having an extended run at the Bloor Cinema in Toronto. (My friends who work there refer to it as “Liquid Shit”). Despite this, the film has made a deep impression on me, especially the New Wave-esque makeup design. I have decided that Mr. Tsukerman should remake “The Masque of the Red Death” with costumes designed by me!

I was deeply influenced by a host of things here: i-D Magazine, Boy George, Kansai Yamamoto’s costumes for David Bowie…

… Mel Odom, Antonio Lopez, Aubrey Beardsley and Fiorucci.

This last image shows the lead character, Prince Prospero, who throws a big party at his palace as plague ravages the country. I really thought Pete Burns of Dead or Alive was the ideal actor for the role! Unfortunately I mounted this onto a piece of board for display at OCA Open House, circa 1984 and the rubber cement has seeped through and stained the paper.

Here are a few more pictures in this style (almost 30 years old, ack!!)

Most of these pictures were done in spare time after I completed my OCA assignments. This one I handed in as a project for Mary Corelli’s Fashion Illustration course. “Vanity” was an amazing Italian fashion magazine that was chock full of illustration.

Happy Halloween!