About A Thurl (Ravenscroft, that is)

| M. R. Kessell

Continuing in my efforts to be less Grinchy Winchy and more Holly Jolly this month, I wanted to talk to you briefly about Thurl Ravenscroft.

“What or who is Thurl Ravenscroft?” I can hear you saying, “He’s from Lord of the Rings, right? No wait, Game of Thrones! Is it Game of Thrones?”

Nope!

“Is it some sort of Nordic death metal band?”

Negative. Although…

You might be on to something there.



The Thurl Ravenscroft I’m referring to was a singer and a voice actor who might best be known(or maybe not) for singing the classic “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch” from the 1966 TV special How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

This song really hit me, because I too have garlic in my soul. I should probably have that checked out.

After a recent viewing, I was shocked to learn that Thurl wasn’t credited in the animated special.

Did they expect us to believe that the narrator, Boris Karloff, provided the vocals?

Dr. Seuss himself felt terrible about the situation and later tried to remedy it with a letter-writing campaign to various influencers of the day, giving credit to Thurl.

I imagine it went something like this:

While doing my brief bit of research I’ve found that people have been asking Google this question: “Did James Earl Jones sing the Grinch?”

That’s a pretty good guess, I guess.

If only there was some way this confusion could have been avoided from the start.


One last thing before I set off on the sea of swirly-twirly gum drops...

In the spirit of the season, I want to share with you a special little animated gif that I created.

Please feel free to share!

Especially if you have ever been wrongly labeled a Grinch.

Christmas is Coming and I am not a Grinch

| M. R. Kessell
‘Twas a stressful December evening in the Gingerbread household.

In the spirit of the season, I’ve decided to create some silly holiday doodles. Hopefully they amuse you as much as they amuse me.

This is also an effort to prove to my wife that I am not a Grinch.

I’ll be the first to admit that in the past decade I have displayed some Grinchy tendencies; Complaining about Christmas music in October, avoiding being trampled on Black Fridays like the plague, insisting that Diehard is a Christmas movie, stealing all the toys and decorations and roast beast from Whoville.

But I’m working on it.

The past few years have seen our Christmas playlists expand like my waistline after feasting on a bacon-wrapped, Yuletide Turducken.

Below is my current favorite. And yes, it is a polka.

Must Be Santa by Brave Combo

My wife and I drive through suburban neighborhoods admiring the decorations whilst listening to holiday tunes and sipping hot cocoa.

I own an ironically ugly Christmas sweater. Need I say more? Yes?

Well, bah humbug!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention that we visited London earlier in the year and I acquired a reproduction of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. I’m terribly excited to read it. I should probably go start that now.

I will be posting more doodles as they come to me throughout the month on here and through various other social media. Let me know what you think!

By the way, do you have a favorite Christmas song?

I’m always looking to augment and expand those playlists. I’d love some new suggestions. The weirder the better too.

Okay, talk to you later, I’m off to meet my friend Scrooge.

Unusual Gifts

| M. R. Kessell

Need an unusual gift for a unique person? Or a unique gift for an unusual person?

I’ve reduced the prices in my Redbubble shop in addition to the crazy Black Friday weekend deals they’re offering.

If you’re in the market for original, weird and fantastical art on a coffee mug or a tee shirt, come on by.

If not, here’s a wiener dog dancing in a 1920s prohibition-era speakeasy.

The Return of Pumpkinspice II: Eclectic Boogaloo

Image | | M. R. Kessell

Guess who’s back…again! The Return of Pumpkinspice returns. This sequel finds one unlucky barista in the clutches of that most evil and addictive of flavor profiles.

Can he resist? Will he survive?

Or will he roam the streets forever, another spice-addled zombie, spreading this cafe contagion, this doughnut disease, this venti virus?

But seriously folks, I tried to resist. I really did. It was early. I was groggy and borderline hangry. One thing led to another and I did it. I consumed a pumpkin donut.

Now hear me out, if I didn’t have all those calories, I probably couldn’t have made it through the work day to come home and finish this illustration you see above.

This is a follow up to probably my favorite piece from last year, maybe you’ve seen it. I’ve been mulling this over for a few months. I don’t know if there’ll be another one next year, I’m running out of spice-related puns.

I’m not really a shameless self-promoter, nor a shameless elf-promoter, or a stainless shelf unloader. But I do have some original designs on tee-shirts and mugs and such over at my redbubble.com shop. Check it out if you’re in the market for some bit of weird merch.

Some Art and Updates

| M. R. Kessell

Forgive me followers, I have sinned, it’s been about six months since my last blog post.

I set myself some ambitious goals at the start of the year. But then I promptly forgot them, made some new goals, gave up on those, circled back to the first ones, fell into a creative slump, told myself that I need to just read more, got a second creative wind, decided to study French (pas pour la première fois), thought more about the original goals, binge-watched the second season of Mindhunter on Netflix, I had a turkey sandwich, and now I am here. Maybe just a quick nap first…

I’m not going to lie, the past six months haven’t been completely devoid of creative work, but I always feel like I should be doing more.

Sometimes I feel like I’m on the wrong path.

I’d like to share some stuff I’ve been working on recently. That hideous scene of eldritch horrors above is one of a handful of things added to my portfolio page. If anyone is in need of any Lovecraftian artwork for a book cover or to accompany any short stories, please let me know. I’d love to find some creative people to collaborate with!

I go through periods in which I focus on one medium to the detriment of all others. You could say I become obsessed. I recently decided again to work on this polymer clay maquette above, which I had started about three years ago. This is one of my latest goals, to finish this vulture goddess sculpt soon. We’ll see what happens.

A little time-lapse sneak peek.

The video above is my most recent work-in-progress, a follow up to probably my favorite piece from last year. Definitely the spiciest from last year. This is one of the last steps after the ink and watercolors have dried, the removal of the masking fluid. I should probably start the time-lapse recording a bit earlier next time, I’m just never confident enough that the piece will be successful.

Stay tuned for the finished piece and hopefully some other new weirdness.

À bientôt!

To my wife, happy 9-3/4!

Image | | M. R. Kessell
Woman running with cart carrying her luggage and cat at platform 9-3/4 in Kings Cross Station.

I want to share something a little more personal than usual. Above is an illustration I made for my wife’s birthday. She is both a leap year baby and a Harry Potter fan. This year we celebrated 9-3/4 by visiting London and I wanted to give her something to commemorate the trip in the style of J.K. Rowling’s illustrations.

The Return of Pumpkinspice!

| M. R. Kessell

pumpkinspice monster ink watercolor art

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the coffee shop…

I’ve been mulling this one over for a few years now and I’m very happy to finally bring this creepy guy to life while it’s still a viable flavor profile.  I had some trouble settling on a tagline for this imaginary horror movie.

“Revenge is a dish best served spiced!”

“In spice, no one can hear you scream.”

You guys have any suggestions?