John Lathrop Mugs

At heart, I am an absurdist. In modern times, it's getting harder to separate reality from absurdity ... but that's a conversation for another time. In this piece, I wanted to marry two completely different worlds, each relatively absurd in their own way. Two worlds so distant from each other that when thrown together, they become utterly surreal. Honestly, the thought of Frankenstein's Monster and the Creature from the Black Lagoon earnestly competing in the Showcase Showdown on The Price is Right (in the 1970s, no less) simply makes me laugh. So I created it. But I wanted to do it right, so I added an absurd amount of detail.

"Stevie" was only the second piece I did when I started this particular pop art adventure in early 2015. It's got many of my staples, but one of my techniques that I don't use quite as much as I would like is the thick-lined color gradients you see here. On this one, I went with a circle that evolves into elliptical waves emanating from Stevie Wonder's amazing mind. For my color gradient technique, inward to outward I use dark to light gradients on the main image and light to dark on the background palette. The result is a surreal, psychedelic effect I have not seen used in art before, which is one of the reasons I am proud of this piece and the technique.

Ah, Mrs. White ... my favorite character from Clue, played to perfection by the incomparable Madeline Kahn. Any fan of Clue knows instantly what this image is referencing. Pop art is a great way to bond with people all over the world who have similar tastes and interests. Sometimes this bond can be achieved by using one single image that says everything. And this one - both literally and referentially - says exactly this: "Fla-flames ... flames ... on the side of my face ..."

As I tied my Joe Versus the Volcano collection together with the iconic "crooked path" lightning bolt symbol that occurs throughout the film, I thought one of the pieces should be just the symbol itself. But I needed a color scheme that was thoroughly Joe-centric. Upon one of countless viewings of the film, the orange Jump Soda cans the Waponi drank (and wore) *jumped* out at me and then I had the answer.

Picking a favorite Billy Wilder film is kind of like trying to narrow down my favorite Beatles record - too many masterpieces to choose from; besides, it kind of depends on the mood. But if I had to choose, it would be The Apartment. In my opinion, it's a near-perfect film. In my poster, I wanted to capture my favorite moment, the ending. C.C. professes his absolute love and adoration to Miss Kubelik, and her response is, simply, "Shut up and deal." It's a romantic comedy in which the two stars never even kiss each other. And yet, at the end we all know they are going to be together. This kind of subtlety shows a respect for the intelligence of the audience that is rare, and one of many reasons it's one of the best ever, film-wise.

Classic horror is often actually more melancholy than scary, and the audience has a tendency to sometimes end up relating to and feeling more for the "monster" as a victim than the people, and humankind is revealed to be in truth more of a monster. This trait in particular is the true art of classic horror and is rarely seen in modern films. In Creature from the Black Lagoon, this is the case when Gill-Man, an innocent piscine amphibious humanoid creature who was simply trying to live his life in peace, is attacked by frightened men ... a common tale ... especially metaphorically. As for the Price is Right nametag, that's just my little absurdist twist ... and a reminder that this monster's name is not "Creature."

For this piece, I created an old school medical chart, simplifying the dreaded "Brain Cloud," Joe Banks's condition in Joe Versus the Volcano. I first drew it with just the cloud, but it was missing something. Then I realized what it needed was the iconic lightning bolt shape that continuously appears in the film. I decided to use this recurring "crooked path" symbol as the glue that ties together the three pieces in the collection, just as it ties together the various themes in the film.

The third of three pieces in my Joe Versus the Volcano collection is my personal favorite. I love to use silhouettes in my art (can you tell?) and I was happy that my drawing of Tom Hanks came out fairly recognizable in silhouette profile. The scene is a depiction of Joe serenading the unconscious Patricia while stranded in the ocean on his "tight-as-a-drum" luggage, which is one of my most beloved moments in the film.

"They're coming to get you Barbara ..." in the beginning of the film Night of the Living Dead, this phrase is said mockingly, and yet, it still comes off creepy as hell. It wasn't technically the first film to feature zombies, but it was the first centered around a world where the dead rise to literally eat the living. With one small, low-budget black and white movie, George Romero created an entire genre that would be adored by zillions forever. Why are so many people fascinated by zombies? There are many reasons, but the thought of people who were once good, sentient humans with thoughts and dreams and families, turned into mindless beasts whose one primal goal is to eat living people is pretty scary. Not to mention cool as hell.

I love simplicity in many things, including art. This piece is inspired by not only the film Halloween, but also John Carpenter's brilliant soundtrack: simple but direct. I love the overwhelming feelings, emotions, and number of thoughts that can be conjured up by presenting a single simple image, like a knife superimposed over a mask ... a mask of William Shatner, at that (although if you're a Halloween fan, you probably already knew that). To get back to the soundtrack, true fans will know the title of this piece is borrowed from one of the many cool track names.

Picking a favorite Billy Wilder film is kind of like trying to narrow down my favorite Beatles record - too many masterpieces to choose from; besides, it kind of depends on the mood. But if I had to choose, it would be The Apartment. In my opinion, it's a near-perfect film. In my poster, I wanted to capture my favorite moment, the ending. C.C. professes his absolute love and adoration to Miss Kubelik, and her response is, simply, "Shut up and deal." It's a romantic comedy in which the two stars never even kiss each other. And yet, at the end we all know they are going to be together. This kind of subtlety shows a respect for the intelligence of the audience that is rare, and one of many reasons it's one of the best ever, film-wise.

I don't like when people call Frankenstein's Monster "Frankenstein." So putting a Price is Right name tag on him serves two purposes: 1) It reminds people that his name is NOT Frankenstein. 2) It's silly. (I like silly.)

Official T-shirt of mod power-pop band The Stan Laurels!

"Stevie" was only the second piece I did when I started this particular pop art adventure in early 2015. It's got many of my staples, but one of my techniques that I don't use quite as much as I would like is the thick-lined color gradients you see here. On this one, I went with a circle that evolves into elliptical waves emanating from Stevie Wonder's amazing mind. For my color gradient technique, inward to outward I use dark to light gradients on the main image and light to dark on the background palette. The result is a surreal, psychedelic effect I have not seen used in art before, which is one of the reasons I am proud of this piece and the technique.

"They're coming to get you Barbara ..." in the beginning of the film Night of the Living Dead, this phrase is said mockingly, and yet, it still comes off creepy as hell. It wasn't technically the first film to feature zombies, but it was the first centered around a world where the dead rise to literally eat the living. With one small, low-budget black and white movie, George Romero created an entire genre that would be adored by zillions forever. Why are so many people fascinated by zombies? There are many reasons, but the thought of people who were once good, sentient humans with thoughts and dreams and families, turned into mindless beasts whose one primal goal is to eat living people is pretty scary. Not to mention cool as hell.

Support the glory of the past in style with this sweet art deco-style vintage gramophone design!

The Blackbird chooses mod power-pop band The Stan Laurels!

Rep your favorite band with this vintage-style logo that goes perfectly with the cover art for one of The Stan Laurels' greatest songs and biggest hits, the cracking power-pop smash, "Lost and Found"!

"They're coming to get you Barbara ..." in the beginning of the film Night of the Living Dead, this phrase is said mockingly, and yet, it still comes off creepy as hell. It wasn't technically the first film to feature zombies, but it was the first centered around a world where the dead rise to literally eat the living. With one small, low-budget black and white movie, George Romero created an entire genre that would be adored by zillions forever. Why are so many people fascinated by zombies? There are many reasons, but the thought of people who were once good, sentient humans with thoughts and dreams and families, turned into mindless beasts whose one primal goal is to eat living people is pretty scary. Not to mention cool as hell.

Ah, Casablanca. Due to Ilsa & Rick's obvious deeply important connection to France, I laid out this piece to be an abstract depiction of the French flag - blue, white, red, left to right. For the background, I used something that appears on the surface to be merely decorative but is actually an extremely important element of the story; true Casablanca aficionados will notice the background was based on the ornate design on the piano Sam plays in Rick's Café Américain. The result is one of my favorite works to date.

Support the glory of the past in style with this sweet art deco-style vintage gramophone design!

Rep your favorite band with this vintage-style arrangement of the cover art for one of The Stan Laurels' greatest songs and biggest hits, the cracking power-pop smash, "Lost and Found"!

Support The Stan Laurels in style with this sweet art deco-style vintage gramophone design!

Support The Stan Laurels in style with this sweet art deco-style vintage gramophone design!

It's a blue psychedelic Mod Pop Art lion! I mean, what more do you need?

Official T-shirt of mod power-pop band The Stan Laurels!

Who doesn't love a good vinyl record? 33 1/3 RPM FTW!

Official T-shirt of mod power-pop band The Stan Laurels!