New Portrait Illustration: Richie Havens (Folk Musician)

Richie Havens, 2012. By Travis Simpkins

       When I first met Richie Havens, I already knew he would be a nice guy going into it. That rarely happens. Such is the reputation of Mr. Havens and the general consensus about him, which speaks volumes about his character: that his gentle, friendly demeanor could never be misconstrued as being anything but genuine. He is a deep, caring man, whose musical style hasn't changed much over his decades-long career, but remains forever relevant. Perhaps that is what draws people to him, and his music... the sense that he truly cares about and means what he is singing. He's a great singer/songwriter, a wonderful interpreter of songs, and he plays the guitar in open tuning like no one else.

Read more about Richie, and see a full schedule of shows on his website here: http://www.richiehavens.com/official_site/home.html

Richie Havens- "Freedom"- at Woodstock, 1969

Richie Havens- The Key

Richie Havens, 2012. By Travis Simpkins

Richie Havens- Here Comes the Sun (Beatles cover)

Richie Havens, 2012. By Travis Simpkins

Richie Havens- Just Like a Woman (Bob Dylan cover)

Richie Havens, 2012. By Travis Simpkins

White Zombie (1932): Classic Bela Lugosi

      The success of Dracula (1931) made Bela Lugosi a horror superstar, and the "go to" character actor for directors seeking creepy, mind-controlling, strong accented misfit personas. Lugosi was typecast, sure, but he was so good in that type of role and he didn't seem to mind. White Zombie (1932), released a year after Dracula, falls into this realm.

     A young couple, on the verge of being married, meet the wealthy owner of a plantation in Haiti. He convinces them to postpone their wedding a couple days and have the ceremony at his stately mansion instead. 

     They consent, but on the drive there they see frightening things... 

     They arrive at the mansion and are greeted by the missionary who is the wed them. He warns them to leave immediately, but they do not listen. It turns out the plantation owner had an ulterior motive in inviting the couple to his home. He has become allured, enamored, fixated and in love with the sexy bride-to-be. 

     When he finds out his love is unrequited, he seeks out an alternate option of possessing her, going to see a mill operator (Lugosi)...

      who uses his black magic to control his subjects, converting them into zombie-like automatons. 

     Lugosi gives the man a serum, that in the tiniest dose, can make a person completely subservient and brain-dead. 

     The immediate effects look as though she has died, and to get her fiancee out of the way, they go along with it, having a funeral and entombment. She is returned to to the plantation owner/new lover as a mindless slave. At first, he is pleased at her mere presence, and tries to adapt to her aimless wandering around the house, routines... 

     and blank, staring eyes... 

     But the longing for her soul, the life that was once in her eyes, now gone, drives him to plea with Lugosi to change her back. 

     Lugosi refuses and turns on him, saying he has plans of his own for the pretty young lady...

      Will the young lady's spark of life ever be restored? Or is she doomed to a soulless existence?

White Zombie- movie trailer

Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968): Classic B Movies

     Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968) is a good example of how to take something that is pretty good and make it better. In the hands of Peter Bogdanovich, stock footage of Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965) is co-mingled with new footage to essentially fill the gaps in the first film.

     The story begins with a half-hour recap of the first film, summarizing the arrival of two crews of men and a robot on the planet Venus. The first crew had been lost, and the second crew was sent in to rescue them. Throughout their time on the planet, they keep hearing a strange female voice singing. This leaves them wondering whether there is indeed human life existent.

     Here's where the Prehistoric women come in. They are all beautiful women, who don't speak, but communicate with each other telepathically. Whether they are invisible or not, I don't know, but the human astronauts never see them.

     Clad in skin-tight pants and sea shell bras, the majority of their time seems to be spent laying around in the sun. 

     They pray to a pterodactyl as a God, whom they call Tera. When the Earthling astronauts kill the pterodactyl after it attacks them, the women become enraged. They pray to the Volcanic God of the planet to exact their revenge on the men and robot.

     The God concedes and lets loose lava flows and storms when they ask for them. When the men are not killed, and leave the planet safely, the women are heartbroken and curse the statue of Tera as a false God.

    The lava flow had destroyed the robot, but the ladies find the scrap remains a suitable replacement for Tera.

     They erect the robot and worship it as a God.

    

    

clip from Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women

Prints Are Available for Purchase

     By popular demand, 12x16 signed prints of some of my illustrations are available for purchase. The print(s) will be rolled in mailing tubes and you can pay securely with a credit/debit card via Paypal. They can be had for the low price of $15.00 each (plus shipping). Just click on the "Add to Cart" button under your selection on the side column here: 

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For the time being, only these illustrations have been made into prints. More to follow. I am open to requests as well.

Quiet Desperation #4, 2011. By Travis Simpkins

Quiet Desperation #3, 2011. By Travis Simpkins

Sophia Cacciola and Michael J. Epstein, 2011. By Travis Simpkins

Golden Bloom, 2011. By Travis Simpkins

Arlo Guthrie, 2011. By Travis Simpkins

Dan Burke, 2011. By Travis Simpkins

Hugo (2011): An Homage to Georges Melies, and French Silent Film

     In Hugo (2011), great modern director Martin Scorsese pays stunning tribute to one of the great technical innovators of Silent Film, and a pioneer in the medium, Georges Melies. It is fitting that the film uses the best, cutting edge 3D technology of our time, as it is almost surely a path Melies would have taken if he were making movies today.

     Hugo Cabret is a young orphan living in a Paris train station in the 1920's. He diligently fixes and winds all the station clocks from behind the scenes, having been left there by his uncle, who had taken Hugo in after the death of his father. As long as the clocks are in working order, no one has any reason to believe he is there.

     The only things he has to remind him of his father are a notebook and an automaton, which seemingly has the ability to write, but is broken.

     Hugo, determined to fix the mechanical man, steals parts from a toy shop in the station, run by a bitter old man (Ben Kingsley).

     After he is caught stealing, he must work off the debt, and in the process, befriends the man's adopted daughter. The two become inseparable, forming an adventurous team, sneaking in to movies...

     and eluding the station inspector, who is known to hunt down and capture orphans...

     Hugo eventually fixes the automaton, but it will not function without a special key. The girl has the part he needs, and the two activate the machine, eager to see what message the automaton will convey.

     The automaton's subsequent clue sends them on a detective spree leading them to find early silent film director, Georges Melies, a master of dream-like films whose work is believed to have been forgotten...

Hugo- movie trailer

The Quiet Desperation Sitcom Illustration Series

     From late November, 2011 to late January, 2012, I created a series of illustrations for the web sitcom (formerly of MyTV), Quiet Desperation. As the show is constantly evolving and including new cast members, I'm sure more additions will be made to this series. But for now, here are the completed works...

Quiet Desperation #3, 2011. By Travis Simpkins

Quiet Desperation #4, 2011. By Travis Simpkins

Quiet Desperation #5, 2011. By Travis Simpkins

Quiet Desperation #6, 2012. By Travis Simpkins

Quiet Desperation #7, 2012. By Travis Simpkins

Quiet Desperation #8, 2012. By Travis Simpkins

Michael J. Epstein and Sophia Cacciola: Art and Music (Songs that Inspired the Illustrations)

Michael J. Epstein and Sophia Cacciola, 2011. By Travis Simpkins

The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library- "Civil Engineering"

DNFMOMD- "Episode One: Arrival"

Holy Ghost

The Motion Sick- "30 Lives"

Grace Kelly

Don't Stop Believing (cover)

Michael J. Epstein, 2011. By Travis Simpkins

Sophia Cacciola, 2011. By Travis Simpkins

visit: http://michaeljepstein.com/

A Snowy, Musical and Artistic Evening with David Massengill

David Massengill, 2011. By Travis Simpkins

     On Thursday, March 1st, Janet and I ventured out in the snow and ice to see Folk musician, songwriter, artist and storyteller, David Massengill perform. After the show we three hung out and discussed many topics of note... my art, David's art and music, and little stories about aliens, spaceships and Jesus in an Asylum... and he gave me some helpful tips on playing the mountain dulcimer.

David Massengill and Travis Simpkins

for info on David Massengill, dates, etc. visit :http://www.davidmassengill.com/

David Massengill- Riders on an Orphan Train

David's classic 1992 album, Coming Up For Air with his own cover art

David Massengill- My Name Joe

Joan Baez covering David's original song, Fairfax County

David Massengill, 2011. By Travis Simpkins