Starchie's Pawn Shoppe

Here is a location in the town of Toybox; your very own Starchie Spudnoggen's For Sale and Trade establishment. This was done for a story about a scarecrow named Fishbone who's found by Ernie and Suda in an irrigation ditch after his butter cracker eyes have been eaten by birds. Selflessly deciding to help him replace his lost eyes, they find their way here.

Acrylic and prismacolor 9X11

--Starchie

Dawn of Suda

Suda's design came from a doll I built in high school. I had a contest with one of my friends to each try and create the most horrible doll. Her hands and head are clay, the body cloth and the dress was found in a thrift store bin. Her eyelashes are made from an old paintbrush.

My friend's doll wore a pink dress and looked like a toddler who someone had deflated. He kept her in his closet so he wouldn't accidentally see her at night. He wins for horror but over time Suda has cute-ened up. She's extremely difficult to capture but I know it when I see it.

Suda doll: Red clay, acrylic, fabric 16" high. "Family Portrait" Acrylic 6"X9"

--Starchie

The Mermaid

I used a 60's GI Joe for the diving suit reference and wound up painting this mermaid three times. In the first she was more feral which in retrospect was perfectly fine. The second had a new face and was topless but felt unfinished. The third take includes the pearls and not very original shell bikini which at least breaks up her coloring. I think she's creepily pretty so I'm ultimately satisfied with the piece but sometimes the first idea is worth sticking with. Stop me if I start repeating any of these. I'm sometimes forgetful with the lead poisoning and all.

Acrylic 9X12

--starchie

Vintage Suda

Here's an old one. An early Ernie and Suda portrait. I made this image to fit an old frame I was given which once housed a gorgeous Jeff Jones painting. At one point I had real cob webs and dead spiders draped across the frame to add a little atmosphere. Over time those trappings sort of fell away but I still like the idea of customizing a frame to fit a painting. On that front I've still got a few ideas floating around in my skull.
Acrylic 8 X 10

--Starchie

Ditty

Here's a Toybox piece done for a charity auction. I enjoy doing figures against a chopped-in white background. I can have fun with the characters without getting bogged down in a location. And I like letting some of the under painting peek through.
These characters are still puzzling to me. I can never count on the way they will turn out. I'm fairly satisfied with this version of them, though. Any time Ernie plays the uke, it's a ditty, hence the repeat title. Somebody let me know if I start recycling my posts.

--Starchie

Ernie's Holiday Ditty

The Visitor Pages 8-9

The Visitor Pages 6-7

The Visitor Pages 4-5

The Visitor Pages 2-3

The Visitor

This holiday tale appeared in the Hellboy Christmas Special, a one shot anthology published by Dark Horse in 1997. Besides the feature story by Mike Mignola, the book contained contributions by Gary Gianni and Geof Darrow. This story is lettered by Lois Buhalis.
Maybe best not to read with kids who are still fond of Santa Claus.

--Starchie

Picnic

Here's another Toybox greeting card. I enjoy chopping in the white around the characters and looking for the simple version of a painted Christmas ornament or a bottle. I own the blanket, and used its colors to drive the rest of the palette.
Acrylic 8X10

--Starchie

Sleigh Ride

An early "Toybox" greeting card. This one got me onto the kick to do paintings of these characters just for fun, with no overly specific narrative in mind.
Acrylic 8X10

--Starchie

Toybox - Page 12 - The End

Toybox - Page 10 - 11

Toybox - Page 8 - 9

Toybox - Page 6 - 7

Toybox - Page 4 - 5

Toybox - Page 2 - 3

Toybox - Page 1

This story was was painted long ago for a DC comics anthology called Fast Forward. The mandate for the stories was "Do whatever you want." I had this handful of characters rattling around in my head for a while and tried cobbling together a world for them to inhabit. Posting the first page today, then two pages a day until Halloween.
Pen and Ink on bristol with Gouache colors. Lettering by Lois Buhalis.

--Starchie