“The Face of Humanity” Left to right, Top Row “Slave II”, “Slave” Bottom Row “Matriarch”, “Savage”

Sam Guin is a North Carolina-based artist who works with a variety a media including pen and ink, paint and even bone. I recently had the opportunity to talk to him about his art. See more of his work on his website.

The first thing of yours I saw was the ‘Savage’ mask, which incorporates bones and hemp. What was your inspiration for the series of masks and what were your favourite materials that you used?

The series itself was a result of the creation of the first mask, “Savage”. I wanted to create a mask that really showcased the animalistic nature of humanity, but in making the mask I came to the realization that it would be impossible to represent the many facets of such a complex animal in one piece (or several hundred for that matter) so I knew, even before the first one was completed, that this was just the beginning of a much larger undertaking.

Being at the place that I was at in my life the first mask ended up focusing on a more primal, aggressive side of humanity, a general representation of the “savage” that we spend so much effort trying to oppress. Subsequent masks have been representative of a sort of social hierarchy with themes such as “Matriarch” and “Slave”. I’m currently working on “Patriarch” and “Priest”.

As far as favorite materials, each mask has individual bones and pieces that I connect to in different ways, but I think that my favorite thing about them is that they are made of bones of animals that I have found and cleaned myself, therefore they are a direct representation of the environment in which they are made. Whitetail deer, Oppossum, Raccoon, Red Fox, and other native wildlife make up the bulk of the bones used in the mask, so whereas one might look at an African mask and see warthog tusks or antelope horns, my masks are full of fauna from the southeastern United States, and therefore have a sort of “Southern Primitive” look, invoking the woods and swamps that I grew up loving as a child, and am still fascinated by as an adult.

This is a woman’s elbow. A woman who could kick your ass.

You’re also a tattoo artist. How long have you been doing that? Where are you working now? If people want to schedule an appointment with you, what’s the best way to get into contact?

I’m working at a shop in Clayton, NC called Fair Trade Tattooers . people can see some of my work on that page. Or my Facebook page as well. I’m also on Instagram @samguinart.

I’ve been tattooing for 11 years, and if people would like to schedule an appointment with me the best way to contact me is through [email protected] or to call me (919) 359-2444 or come by the shop. Don’t try to contact me through Facebook for tattoo work, because unless you’re willing to make the effort to call the shop or contact me through my email I’m going to have hard time believing that you’re serious about it. About 90% of the communications that I get through Facebook regarding tattoos are people that are just messing around on Facebook and want to have a conversation about a tattoo. It completely ruins it for that other 10%, but if someone is serious about getting tattooed it takes less effort to pick up a phone and dial a number that someone has to answer than it does to type out a message that I may or may not receive in a timely manner.

The Sick Walk Among Us

You work in so many media, when you have an idea for something, how do you decide if it’s going to be a painting or a pen and ink or a tattoo?

It really just depends on the piece. My art generally tends to explore the same themes, but different media allow me to express it in a different way, for example “Grown Together” and “Slave I” and “Slave II” are all explorations of not only our places in nature, but our relationships with each other and different dynamics within those relationships, but each piece has a different impact upon the viewer, and I think working in different media allows me to further explore these themes and more effectively express the different sides of them.

Tattooing is different, it’s the medium with which I have the least control over the subject because it is a collaboration between artist and collector. For the most part people come to me with an idea and then I kinda go from there and create a design for both of us, but there are some people who feel the need to have complete control over their tattoo design, and are just looking for someone to replicate their vision of a tattoo. this can make the process especially difficult, and if you’re one of those people that knows exactly what you want and how you want it then I’m probably not the tattoo artist for you.

“Autumn Undressing” Acrylic on canvas

Speaking of many types of media-how did you get started in each one? Did one lead into another organically or were some types not allowing you to fully express what you were trying to with certain pieces, etc?

I’ve been drawing since I can remember, which is what eventually led me to explore other mediums. All mediums are limited in their own ways and I am always looking for new ways to express myself. As technology progresses there will always be new ways and products for the artist to use, but when I look back it it can all be brought back to a little kid with a pencil in his hand.

Your pen and ink drawings and masks are very based in the natural world (literally in the case of the masks). How does nature inspire your work, what’s your philosophy on that?

We are all a part of nature. As a society we try our hardest to distance ourselves from our natural origins. We would rather defy science and reason than admit that we evolved from “lesser” lifeforms. And we would rather seal ourselves in concrete vaults than face the idea of rotting and returning to nature. When I was kid I found solace in the woods, and to this day all the answers that I seek can be answered in nature. There is so much much beauty and wonder to be found in the natural world, and no matter how much concrete and steel we surround ourselves with we will always be animals, interacting with other animals. I could really ramble on and on about this one, so for the sake of keeping it simple I’ll just leave it at that.

Garden Song

While on the subject of you pen and ink, which are mind-blowing in their detail-how long can they take? The time-lapse of Grown Together was eye-popping. And what materials do you use? Types of paper, favoured pens and inks and so forth.

When I’m drawing I become so engrossed in the process that I lose track of time. One of the reasons I starting time lapsing myself working was so that I could have some sort of representation of the time that goes into each piece. I’m starting to increase the sizes of the pen and ink stuff now, so I can’t even begin to estimate the amount of time that will be involved with the larger stuff. The time lapse of “Grown Together II” starts with about a third to a half of the drawing finished (not including the underdrawing) and the time lapse itself represents about 8 hours of drawing time. All in all there’s probably about 20-30 hours in that one 16″x 20″ drawing.

Years ago when I first started really falling in love with pen and ink I used to use Pilot V5 and V7 ball point pens, but in subsequent years I’ve come to favor Illustration pens and pigment liners by brands such as Prismacolor and Micron. The variety of sizes and the consistency of the inks really appeals to me especially the smaller sizes like 01 and 005 for fine detail work. I’ve also been playing with using different colors of ink such as the Sepia tones in the first “Grown Together” and ink washes on top of some of the drawing as seen in “Garden Song”. Paper-wise I’ve been using Canson Illustration Board for the larger pen and ink stuff, and Watercolor Paper for some of the stuff that involves the washes. “Grown Together II” was originally going to have a series of washes over it, so I was drawn on watercolor paper.

Grown Together II Time lapse from Sam Guin on Vimeo .

You owned a gallery in Wilmington, NC called Wicked. What was the philosophy behind the gallery and why did it close?

My ex-wife and I started Wicked with the goal of helping emerging artists gain representation in a largely conservative art scene. What followed was definitely a two year learning experience in dealing with artists and attitudes towards art. There were several factors that led to its closing, but in the end I think we both just needed to move on. For the better part of the last year I was minimally involved in the gallery focusing instead on making art and more personal matters.

The Grand Facade

Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me-your work is incredible!

photo by Karen Girard

Twisted Circus Productions is an effects makeup company based in Wilmington, North Carolina. It’s owned and run by Karen Girard, a one-woman force of nature. Recently, I had the opportunity to ask her about all the things she’s got her make up covered fingers into.

How did you first become interested in doing special effects make up?

It started way back when I was a kid, I was actually horrified of anything having to do with horror (even E.T. scared the crap out of me haha), but once I figured out that it was just effects I told myself that that was what I was going to do…plus I wanted the satisfaction of being able to scare people too. I started playing around with effects when I was 13 and soon I was obsessed. To this day, I’m entirely self taught.

What genres do you specialise in? Do you have a favourite to work in or would like to do more of?

Horror is my mistress, I’m in love with the darker aspects of life and art and I think it shows through some of my work. I’m trying to improve daily, there are constantly ideas knocking about in my head and sometimes it feels like I can’t create them quickly enough.

photo by Karen Girard

Any favourite brands of make up, from the foundation right through removal.

Oooh lord, there are so many. I love anything by Kryolan, Ben Nye, and Alcone, those are my old faithfuls. I dabble in a lot of lower brand names as well, I’ve been known to go crazy a time or two in the makeup department of the Halloween store in town, if I wrote them all down this would turn into a novel instead of an interview!

What are your favourite non-make up materials to work with? What’s the most creative material you’ve ever worked with?

I’ve MacGyvered some pretty random things together to make a few pieces but they work! I use a lot of cotton, wires, fake skin, and occasionally I’ll dabble with tissue paper for different textures. I have a cart STUFFED with a huge collection of things I’ve bought from art stores that ranges from faux fur, textured beads, feathers, sand, pretty much everything you could imagine. I use what I can and it’s worked well for me so far!

photo by Karen Girard

What’s the longest make up you’ve done?

The longest one I can remember was about 8 hours. I did a head to toe third degree burn victim (this was before I had an airbrush machine so everything was hand painted) and it was still in my learning phase so it was a step by step process. I’ve done makeups on myself where I’ll sit and work for about 4-5 hours straight. I’m a total perfectionist and I doubt myself constantly so when I put out a piece of work I want it to look absolutely stunning.

What sorts of things have you done make up for? Films, commercials, etc?

I’ve done a few independent films here in town as well as makeup consulting for the local news team. I’ve done makeup and painting for a handful of plays at the local theaters, I’ve taught a few basic special effect classes, tackled makeup on over 200 high schoolers from a hayride I helped design years ago, and makeup for anyone that calls me needing something specific…I’m kind of all over the place!

Who are your effects idols?

Tom Savini is the god of gore in my mind. To attend his school one day would make me the happiest little horror dork in the world. It’s something I’ve been working towards for years now and I can only hope to be as incredible as he is eventually. I’m also a sucker for Dick Smith, Rick Baker, and Stan Winston-they are monuments in the industry and I have the utmost respect for all of them.

photo by Karen Girard

What are your favourite films solely in terms of make up effects?

I tell my friends constantly that this is a trick question! I’d have to go with Pumpkinhead, Hellraiser, Dawn of the Dead, Pan’s Labyrinth, all of the Hannibals, Frontier(s), The Devil’s Rejects, and Midnight Meat Train to name a few.

What’s the next project you’re working on?

I was recently asked to design Victorian era Star Wars aliens but it’s not set in stone yet! I’ve currently been working on my beauty makeup portfolio because I hope to get into mortuary makeup eventually, but if all else fails there are a billion different photo shoot ideas floating around in my imagination that are dying to be set free.

When you do photo shoots you obviously mean make up, but do you also take the photos? You’re a photographer, as well, right? Tell me about that-how’d you get into taking pictures? And when you do your shoots how much control do you have over costumes and such?

I do! Anyone that does a shoot with me will tell you that I’m all over the place with my camera, I do a lot of weird angles and I encourage my models to be creative with their poses, the weirder the better! I put them through a mini horror boot camp and we go through different types of macabre art and I have them study different looks of pain, postmortem photography, etc because I want it to look as genuine as possible.

I’ve always been interested in photography, when I got my first digital camera I took pictures of literally everything. As the years went on, I became more and more curious about what else I could do with it and it sprouted into my version of dark art.

When I do photo shoots for my portfolio I have control over costume pieces and props, I give general ideas of what I would like people to bring but I tend to have costumes pieces that we can add on to finish the look. I have a closet that is STUFFED with boxes of props and costumes that I’ve collected over time so I’ve always got backups!

photo by Karen Girard

You also do great little clay dolls in habitats. They’re a creepy/cute combo I really enjoy. How did those come about and do you have any plans to sell them on Etsy?

I’ve always had a fascination with taxidermy and as twisted as it sounds I’ve always thought the little animals that sit in formaldehyde were absolutely precious. One day I decided that I was going to make my very own little jar monsters because I couldn’t afford the real ones and it became a bit of an epidemic from there. I give some of them “habitats” with random little props in them to give them more personality and also because I thought it more fun that way. They’ve become quite a hit and once I sculpt a few more I would like to open an Etsy and see how they do (also because my friends insist that if I don’t my monsters will eat me in my sleep from disappointment, haha).

If someone were interested in hiring you for make up (or wanted one of your clay monster friends) what would be the best way to contact you?

Currently my email is the best way and people can reach me at anytime at [email protected] or they can find me on Facebook and message me from there. I’d like to start up a website, I just never knew how to go about starting one.

WordPress is your friend, my friend. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me and good luck with all of your future endeavours, of which I am sure there will be many!